 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 Z+ J. _ }' ~9 ?- V+ Z) O: MInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the6 W/ _; q. V4 V) a; d
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,7 I6 A7 l q- x' V$ s
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 W. m6 {$ o$ ~3 H(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
) o7 p) ^( P# Z7 l% L& [0 d' d; Rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 o. I0 c# @2 @
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ J3 J2 S' m, i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
/ T& g6 V \$ v6 \# h% Y(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ W; L# ^+ z2 o+ w& `retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* J3 L4 X" R; q! `3 q$ c; Dpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 n) d/ @+ ~+ O0 ^4 ^: K: m# \/ N# X( C
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 _- S& g; a' ^; E" q! X+ O% r! @
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
k# e1 w9 F. ~semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
! K) c2 K' s9 w4 {+ Xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 P- o, D `7 o% u* V5 v
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,1 I. A( j, `8 A2 }( U2 F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 }+ f9 J" N1 O" B; \& y
+ f2 E1 x" w2 k9 u' n(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( }) r4 j n* J9 X
and American speakers of English, |
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