 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 W- d7 u0 J& f, E9 f# H. N+ p
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- \4 c- d) w# C% w" g
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! C Z9 O8 ?7 }
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
) Y: Z n" ~9 s* J7 r: j9 m(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! @: k( B e6 T- `
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% L O6 U* X4 L6 ]) C, E" `# F
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ |0 }9 Q/ e6 Q) u- P O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 d6 B! G& C- g6 }(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
d* d/ F' f4 d/ _0 Q$ u1 mretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
( h$ {( N: b7 |possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
; F! s3 x: X0 `) W# s K0 C(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- B' U6 W. p& n m5 e5 J
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a+ A' Y% H# j5 t( F
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ f; p4 f* W: j1 r. Kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In) G3 t/ h. K/ M2 F0 j+ s( H) z. U
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ l, m! ]& d. G" F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
t" `5 B) a; |! {
8 ?6 _( _ m- L/ \0 L(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
/ H n# {4 @6 }( M: E1 h: V) Vand American speakers of English, |
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