 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 J7 w. q# m) f5 Z( y, b& {( P" ?Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 s2 L! U! Y& B% Y. G
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 x* z3 E x* M# eand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
/ M6 x; @: X/ m& f(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- z5 O- B+ C7 E; pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).* V0 T1 B7 s( T6 [$ x& b5 g
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( n ~# J" o# {5 [[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# e! i; T5 Q |2 ^1 i(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving- B, |/ V" @8 w( m& ^5 S w
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; C3 _( v3 J3 N$ R. Epossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
' E- d6 [ B( M% F; n1 W(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two" e% I ^7 Y; X. t" }' z& _
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
& q" X$ V9 j& e5 L9 V/ L0 b$ tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
: @4 g; P- F0 D- y Wend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! K5 p; n4 y0 A4 P
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ A% K& k& d Q8 p6 C) l
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 U8 F" v5 n6 b& U& {4 a5 L$ n
5 d7 \' T5 h& a/ z' ?& D8 V( d(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 W" v9 D8 {1 Y1 i2 i9 w+ |3 Z
and American speakers of English, |
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