 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) `: S! I) s/ `8 b6 m) ^7 J
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the7 o( _2 N% [+ Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
% b7 y. I9 T3 |3 U; U1 i$ Cand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* Q4 w9 b0 A$ ~6 Q4 E J
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
5 p/ X+ x8 U) M6 Z" K, Rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).$ j! z0 {7 r4 d; f7 ^! ]3 J% }
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( N/ J/ }0 J* Y2 R0 E4 ][y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" X- e% ]# ^* }! o0 p+ I- S(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 e7 W' I. L7 s/ Q) r# Q* Oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
. _: T8 _; S- Ypossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- H+ X- n s+ Z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two& S1 I, t3 c- q/ ?2 q9 N
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 C. C& Y8 z0 g; h; a% F$ Wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.! Z# z* _! H6 s+ O" P
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In+ I' U9 U* t: Y0 n2 f8 N* C5 T5 G
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
- p/ x& ^% I' p. r) k% Q1 U) ^the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, |% Q9 s" u: W
' k5 {; _ D6 m2 _- U: V(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, n; \/ O5 p7 J8 e1 r( Jand American speakers of English, |
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