 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: {& _5 E" G7 {! O3 Y3 c( i/ bInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 y5 z; w% ?, @* hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
$ p, e0 m. H( d8 e1 o- |- Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: l! Z! A2 B" p" m, M' a
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: M& C0 @' P) ]6 S0 d
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
4 c$ |* Q/ [3 X y4 [1 d" dA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* \: [2 E' s9 R0 I) j6 M
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
% \ }$ K& o7 C- Y9 I3 j9 ~(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving9 k" e- x7 f: @) |- L
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
6 x+ G7 {: z D! Z" D2 s- f3 Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 ]5 l, i1 H$ n- @(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ A1 b# w; v' \segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a, n* s3 r) m2 H
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& l. K, I2 ?9 w( P7 a: t! L) Y, `end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. }. d& d4 u9 b1 [compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ P$ {& X9 r6 w& ]. Q# f/ Xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
! Y" u- P) ~0 m1 z3 F" u
& m4 n9 ]3 ~& R(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 X k( |0 }% d
and American speakers of English, |
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