 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 r" Y! W9 @9 N$ K& z3 w
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the' @( e; }. N( r' ?4 J2 Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# O: k( J. H* t4 L. W
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ e+ E* K" u! Z; ^" r: L% i! y(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' \0 Z5 W7 q% `9 f
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).0 _" K* E; Q( b9 g. E) q) m9 _
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 q4 k6 O4 b; V5 @6 }( S& J- B0 J: z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], M0 c. \8 `* v$ I& g; w
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
; y, N) \' L* h H/ ~% Uretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( ]3 z8 f" ]6 \' R
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, }' N& K4 A& p# v& W8 d' p+ ~(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ f* e( t% Z- j& H8 ]. q! i+ ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 Y5 g9 O* p" \6 X* E9 z. Ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
1 O k b* s% P/ ]end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) k' V$ K! X& {compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,+ I7 C- Y, ?7 i4 _$ h
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ Z2 F. P3 \+ I; A# a! ~5 Z; p8 Z2 V O, h
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 e x) q, f1 Mand American speakers of English, |
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