 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The+ ]7 x7 C! J0 G" f3 \$ i u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 A- c: }7 V/ x3 Q" Xsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, q9 E u% h, {7 h+ J( R. k% s
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' z4 @- |" \( L$ p2 }& |' G+ d
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
; E8 Q6 g% x, `retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. N# s3 q' N9 |) P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=5 u5 X- Q/ c- X
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 b8 ]1 ~% A, ]# ~: Y(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ Y; o- A3 f. A1 y7 T% U9 s) `5 W: Xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* G7 g! {( y" F a0 r/ D, W! @possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" A/ [- ]0 n" f, j/ h(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 n ]' u9 c. Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: e; S) g! d( a8 ]
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ i8 G8 k4 M0 U s; b, B4 T2 G) x P7 ^
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- K5 M4 h8 m& y* C: n1 `* I& fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
7 G# W* J, u( ^1 ?+ N/ n! Wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! b% y+ d+ F' N1 F0 @( J1 r- F- J: L
: L$ [5 h0 ?' T2 l4 C0 O4 f0 D(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): {' e2 B2 @0 Y# P$ s4 M% t G& M4 X
and American speakers of English, |
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