 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 R- S) V$ ~0 y- O2 uInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the$ |' a+ A( O: V3 A/ }
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,; |8 E/ P' A# y- x
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* \0 r, r/ V, W7 ]" E1 B& o(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ M# }3 S) Y: J. W( a& q% I B
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 U1 x9 t$ G" ^
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=) t3 N0 c; Q. d2 X8 ^
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
, A9 w* U) ^& R+ _(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 `0 I, I' f7 W: _% S3 \- |
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on G, l+ Y, i* W. r. x4 N/ E
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 w/ V9 R) t, E3 S% n, M& E8 e; ^0 M(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 S' h( T* }9 E
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
q" ~6 u5 I( \semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
! K3 c( V8 U; T) Pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
# P3 v7 O8 r/ b0 V( Wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. L" p$ F- [2 c* G a. uthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ e1 [* v' U+ f' p! K2 T" T+ k4 ?* l l* A8 w& m7 A2 j
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 t' S( l8 g0 r4 |% P
and American speakers of English, |
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