 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 a4 \7 N3 v% D `
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the {+ ~# o& Y/ a$ X7 B5 f* i, ]( E
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,3 W$ Y/ x6 ?$ P- y3 f0 e5 W+ ]- w
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ a. a n' B* X: s: |+ |0 `(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of- ]; ]% Y2 m H7 @* V
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 O) d* M4 d. J+ y$ DA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' w+ O [' m* l2 @ z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]* Y. I( [( r, G( b
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ T# b2 M8 @( s
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- Y& l- e3 M* N
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 ]8 t2 g5 ]4 V2 |
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ ?% y1 K/ E% u+ A1 Q" `2 Z# Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( N; A* X/ V3 l, l
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% l7 P; h X% l% K( @2 l8 q) g- V& Kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, k1 l" e% l- B; g: E( v" m3 X8 xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, _5 t! T' S& _6 W
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( \$ s+ {% n2 R6 R, w
0 P( G8 l% {$ B" h1 p0 p5 g(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
: R! O: ~ N8 |$ L2 w6 qand American speakers of English, |
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