 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- v5 l" I6 R* z, [- T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the) ~% ^' I7 w/ f6 W3 h
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
1 J; d( c* o% E0 ?+ Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial. W* A' c9 b V: ?$ X* W
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of* t: W1 R* d% }" P
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).7 K2 A# o5 f1 z2 x8 q( F
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
! W+ A F ~4 y7 u" u5 i1 U& p- o[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- d/ A9 q9 U C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 \5 |0 l$ l7 b
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
. L& ]* [2 p: @! Upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset+ L4 b3 b1 k6 ]( n; t
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( w1 a, S$ v& a: w; R* [" n
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a Z1 g% N5 q$ Z) }' w
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ V' k& ]1 d, @1 G; }end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- g, K& ?, w# s: S) k9 x
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
# Q# b3 |+ t2 e7 Cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 M6 ~: v! s' |/ t
/ \1 z# V% ~7 C" l$ O
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
5 w% M4 a M6 d4 G% W5 Uand American speakers of English, |
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