 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& O: G% Z6 O. T; |# P
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 z0 u9 t0 l( ]2 _3 j( ?% E
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 {6 L3 Z9 u0 Y: v O- Eand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' T% V) k/ f6 _# H5 T
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of o: v x" D5 X w: c& p0 c
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# u7 Q1 \ m# A! b% f; W( ?- S, [1 E
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=! _# o& F- o- T( k" r/ |
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% u6 W6 P/ s( I
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 k o3 B+ {8 L: V/ _8 i) K% i
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# i8 I9 H% ^- a: [possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset% i u `8 G" l/ |9 u; q! N
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 ]6 ]- W. u/ p$ ssegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
- J) j% v+ u: c' Tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.4 J/ h. y' E: b: A
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- [( a0 m3 I) r0 @7 `, u
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% u, H! W7 G; M/ \
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) J& S5 E( a3 w; P3 S: { y
; [( I4 D3 t8 }' J4 J$ `
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
+ k: f$ L* p) g; W' w9 Cand American speakers of English, |
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