 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& H9 h: D' i% o7 g
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
~1 b0 M3 T Msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ f6 z) j& b& F- U9 |6 Z) @6 @/ V4 h+ sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
8 c' _! q B9 b ?(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
5 }8 ~1 w' {1 R% g2 w% [retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
6 g0 s6 r) x/ _, i+ yA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
0 j2 u4 V0 w5 G+ b9 `2 \[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 o' q6 U1 B2 U. n9 Y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
" z) ]7 F9 ~' @ t- O; a: l; n* kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" o* z& y2 U3 i( Q% i* Kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 {5 S4 r }7 Q" X3 o' t6 l
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two* Q8 y7 o+ Z( q8 X* n
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a% H2 M6 e- o/ s0 e" y* ^
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.1 W% n1 ?2 w. y! ~ f5 L* Q
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, F# ^1 ~$ u* ]9 K1 Tcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, Q! a* {' H5 K3 J& S/ D
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& W4 @) X) g6 w8 ^# _+ h8 z# t0 p a' p# B3 T, q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& G6 V2 C0 h* B7 K# L @( Q
and American speakers of English, |
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