 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 e1 G: r( B! Q: l. M
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: K! M- K# V( r; o
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
5 N' r( Y, L5 \( Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: Q, Y# ?, k# F; Q m
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 C5 O/ r8 ^' M. P( B5 r& f) O
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). k d H5 @" O7 P* E* Z* f
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; k' k, ]0 O |4 x [
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 ]2 t1 A6 ?" o! u! _; l
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving: e( W. b( s0 n; L7 L' T$ W" n
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! N, r2 z* p9 c# f7 a' L0 v5 ppossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset, n# d/ V: L6 ~; ^6 y" N/ x2 Z- ~% V) c6 X
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two/ Y: v* Y/ L2 o
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
' p7 P# v) d5 ?, S, Fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- c% d" s! h+ i- L3 Q9 ~+ Cend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 b0 [. O$ q r: k; s$ V+ l
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
2 u3 p, q' [# r7 z6 m" Nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." u( s! H( u8 w W, f
5 C2 V0 C. i# ^' |- r5 H
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 Z! |2 ]8 ?! s& P, Pand American speakers of English, |
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