 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The$ D; H# [- i+ q% f5 u! I) I
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, p1 D. p, [ A% m( M i
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,: ]0 f, c. T, F/ D2 b
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ X2 F1 h2 Y8 L8 h1 B% h
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
; ?6 E* \9 w6 M" @retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# x5 P' c( }+ S0 U* k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; b, V. U: _! E9 T7 {0 |$ `
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 I/ S+ ?9 W* a3 w: t: L6 g5 V h& v(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 j" b: `8 G8 @! q
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on9 H/ g2 [1 y2 y$ Y) q6 w% X4 f$ z- q _
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 M4 _- S: @( t& ]' y i% m(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% d5 w4 p4 t: G6 I* u) t5 u" U
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 r7 g7 b' }4 [% C) z. R
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.0 t1 x. h- [# ]7 x
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- ^& V ?% y6 _! @# T! M0 E) c
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ w( g% W6 r* T8 F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! e# b5 C5 u# `4 f6 M
: Q% j4 w- Y% H$ |+ C(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) d6 f, e0 w) b$ ~% Pand American speakers of English, |
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