 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The* S9 P% i, X; N6 j6 ?
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 E7 U: y g; T
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,& q8 V! Z8 l" m( b6 @( _
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial x3 j+ _/ p. A& W3 d! I8 I, ^
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 b) ?$ W& E: v) u$ \retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" {& a6 f9 _, C$ N9 DA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' S( M2 I# [: ^4 @& q% r0 O[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
4 z& |( N/ B$ ?(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 T, h! m9 z# ~+ gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ L9 i: C0 R" \$ w1 `possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
4 i2 ~4 |; A0 ?3 A8 |- U- c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& e) N0 G0 V4 n4 L1 y/ `+ Osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) d0 g* p2 E0 u4 D$ D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
: k1 r7 ~- I% ?$ a1 [+ p& W, Zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) w; q* U* i1 u( j7 L& vcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, k& o, x7 z5 e: j; V( P
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 b+ h! v( Q/ s- C- E1 n9 j2 }* @& N9 D3 ~& N; O- f
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
+ Q) {8 s7 p: P3 G8 |0 p j& iand American speakers of English, |
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