 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 G, C) g- n% o4 r6 B% W. l! YInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! |& p6 F, ]; i4 g r% q( |' A
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
) N3 o* c( n# y) O/ b. G% Tand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; Z5 B" S& |4 ]: D P8 J+ q6 j' f
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. c# L' z, i4 z/ _5 `8 J
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; A9 O! |5 N, N1 y4 G! N1 IA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
8 Q" G0 k0 K& b$ B/ f5 L; e, s# i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]) s5 D+ C1 r' _9 Z
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 D w' L+ _9 a' F7 S5 W/ k! Q( l3 ]
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 R$ n. m ?, l5 kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset. V* R! h0 x- c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. e; |# W' y6 K6 U: Dsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 y6 g# h8 p2 {5 J1 O' r' @- i6 r
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.' q4 t3 D+ H2 F6 O( Q: W
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; ~- s. ?! x/ e/ R; bcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. V. S" _& J% W8 }' S# \the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ M5 v; R* b; v/ r! P
) v1 v- D& g" d! Y(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% \: @' w# k7 o8 vand American speakers of English, |
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