 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The8 y2 R8 j; [" ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the W2 J7 A3 W# j
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,: l# A% t6 y& l
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
5 d$ |6 V) K4 A" W' @6 Z(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 S, Y' ~. g8 ?. d
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).* w% Q- |" h4 K; q
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. e5 O' a, K h+ ~; }! O, A6 Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
! \7 f9 ?* {0 r3 u(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 L2 S, B* e+ g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 r/ K7 b2 M3 Q; h6 D" Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
; r5 U6 O4 n" a(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two/ H6 k% C( t* l
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 y v. L6 U( |* N( \$ I6 Z1 J
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.- n' u p. n( B
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 o5 g# ?2 @5 ]2 Q9 J7 ?6 c
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 S- R) G! z! F b- @
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..1 |% `7 n' R8 [2 D/ N
, O# ?7 C1 h& G* r8 Z- [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# P) J. H: Q0 yand American speakers of English, |
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