 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! S2 [# O0 I6 @0 a3 x+ T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the x- J$ }% B3 D! F
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
0 N! J" f; q8 w" D0 @, xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; v& A2 t5 I+ m$ z(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
% ~. _: ^4 v% i- }8 Oretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
1 u# i; J0 \ k3 NA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 o( v- M o( K/ u$ I! m6 a) M# Y
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]) d8 [. c, _! k" r* f2 x. R! J0 `! R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving8 O6 Q, O$ E. k8 o
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% c( \% {& V2 j) A1 p! t4 B
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- m! |3 a! ~$ t- [# k(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 ?. M7 U$ g7 o' Lsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 J! x! o2 B; a# f
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
8 p! g" C- L- E) z) jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In5 B- Q8 R/ {6 g7 r$ Z% [
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 H( K- s1 Y1 ?/ I0 sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! C+ v7 L4 G2 g6 b+ x6 b
8 i$ r3 z1 M& O+ k9 U
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)' ^# C" k2 W% f7 D4 a$ c
and American speakers of English, |
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