 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& B' p0 W# t0 M" r3 ^% X' w1 ~' A* [
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the+ f5 Y: m3 V# W+ F: k. U c
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
: [3 D. |2 x6 Z; }. H" ]/ iand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 j$ d* S( p, F! F: C+ n6 F
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
2 I' E% y; L5 }9 X% fretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
5 p/ F% E+ B4 K! r. o( L: OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 D1 v. N; d) t
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
& X, p) _! F, ]9 V. l) Z& m(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving- o" X8 I8 i5 t8 y. J5 r. z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" b$ c& a! q% Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset e1 p0 G7 S- a! R/ v# q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two! d, Z' q! d. u" ]
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: ~* N [& `5 `5 Z! Z& @semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.8 E. p! H9 d9 u; V2 L
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' H s2 m4 k7 o" N8 l; U/ Lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,: {; s; `: `% w3 i3 s; H# H
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..( t! k9 I8 d) O" p" Q6 I$ z
2 |) U" O7 g F+ g0 S# q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 D2 G5 r4 i& N7 i) z* z7 h* @' N
and American speakers of English, |
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