 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
9 e( s& w: D |) D# `& LInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; b* w) ~+ V, w) Y! O9 U* m
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,) m1 V: T1 L7 h9 r7 w, k
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ U& F u9 g3 k& Y6 y# j+ Y
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
5 L2 _7 C; W2 ^) k7 cretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ Q, e* K: q' y z& g1 p
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 _3 |$ @, w- v$ J
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- Y$ H& |4 e7 G. i' d% d
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 g3 t& n- Y8 C* Eretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( d, c: ^$ ]& z' h5 O
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
! A7 P/ p. x4 w, W9 m3 ?) r- U(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' e% |7 a# W7 {1 [: \) L: d Vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( |1 I3 R) o2 I: d0 ~5 Esemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, x5 d; f- C. w+ U7 Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( q8 M, V: L0 C9 r
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 |3 h+ ~4 ~% j: L+ O
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ U" H" G( x4 i5 R6 B# i
% T; b+ E6 |+ A% @8 ^1 E7 Q(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& `7 A! |5 ~# c- I& T% a# Z( L
and American speakers of English, |
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