 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! v- h$ N. O9 A* G/ B
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
; B5 v8 I: E* B' M6 u( o% h+ c) m9 D& Usyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. @- o4 J/ s# `& H band uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
, e1 E+ t9 I4 ]( h6 O8 o& _(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
% R# [# @# x/ ^+ ]7 g* ?retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& F% Y( B) V( X4 l0 [( [A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
6 _% _5 F. N7 o[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; x; y" F+ i9 ^- L3 |(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving, B5 P& K3 P% Y, C+ k9 M: S" R) y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
1 G5 [* c* M( W* p4 m" W P+ U; ]possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* j8 A, z) R# y% T" O# Z
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two: W, {' e1 l- e, C
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a4 b `6 k6 v A* X Y6 N3 w
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
) V& ^. J) Q1 a! b* L& Y( Wend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In6 @- ?$ C. H# l$ D
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
$ T' L" n. s3 V1 J. \* ^0 R' Pthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 F4 L3 n5 b2 S* O1 j* l- t6 ~3 b( i2 n4 M1 o; v* i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
y& z6 X+ N/ z: Sand American speakers of English, |
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