 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' H2 R- F4 v# ?1 gInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the6 L$ S. t9 j; e$ p5 P6 @
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
$ @, Q# V1 y7 w) W d* |and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
6 v# f7 j4 t. H3 b" | g! O(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of2 h \1 T6 z, T X
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ Q# g# Z: l4 P: |3 L
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
4 |, Y j/ Y! p2 M+ `8 m2 ]+ E[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 o$ d% c% n, R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ B( e7 i/ j; Z# I% L1 T2 |
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 r" [' _ e' s0 Apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 z( l9 L# g5 u( B& H4 y, G/ o* m
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* ~9 H( `; n( F1 F4 Q* r% ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a0 S; V* Y6 @5 \$ n5 {% v6 X5 x
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.+ U" }3 D# N) S/ ]3 ]; k
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ |1 v' o9 k; f# R6 g: C' M
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,1 l2 ^( D4 |1 Y1 d
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
* V% [; l2 c, ~( A4 _' i/ k2 r! f% ]% [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 ^6 r3 k/ w% V. Vand American speakers of English, |
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