 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 i3 h6 D) o8 S/ w' fInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: |9 U# c, r2 a3 t, c( t
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ E6 u& ` B$ O$ S, T+ _
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ _2 b7 W0 i# P; G4 Q(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
! y( x5 ]) w5 E! g! d$ M: G! R+ iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 S$ T! S/ I _* k. Q# H8 }
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=- `, e& f% V+ s# u' G: }% f
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# O8 Z; f7 ~ a(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving- A- t5 d" r" H- O
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# D8 @ {: e! A, T( m, @2 bpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. k; {8 ?' F& W(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 w, r7 | F* i5 Z# Vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
; W9 [3 H9 m# d, A4 {semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 F& v6 q- ]1 C) Xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 _7 d3 K# a7 P5 S* n
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 k* s2 _2 b! y" P, v, w$ Athe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ D: S' B, ]- g4 M' \& B- a. g
/ V6 j$ b; }# h! N& j0 [! z
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 m7 T7 t" P3 H# Fand American speakers of English, |
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