 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' D. K5 v; g8 Y/ b5 ^1 r' zInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 e# B+ S9 V8 D9 f0 X" wsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; R( p" @: B: `( \" Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& R6 `7 [; [8 e( g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of N8 A z9 N. E1 j3 M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 S) n7 ~; @. \5 Z) S( _A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=" {, ]8 K# o6 i. ^; |- d& O' Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”] t# t$ n O) |* @- B2 m
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 W; X* A( B X0 m6 kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 [+ j4 t/ W/ I6 D2 Q2 ipossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" S. ^* P3 D" h6 u; e: }(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two# v! V1 U1 s7 z! \
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
! I" O5 d* o, I& B, Q4 x1 Wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( G3 ^- {% |/ G( v- A4 G% bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 p& Y5 I7 V# r L
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
" ]7 r+ {, D m; Vthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
% Y% X4 l" j* e# `% k' P- Q' n; Q' [& ^
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
+ @6 r% N1 ^# A4 \9 F; X3 |and American speakers of English, |
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