 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The% q6 I! z" t$ e* o5 p
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the8 i/ F+ L( f% d# P
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- B i2 l6 I- Z6 X! \' p! M
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
`. t. h3 U1 I" Q ~(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: q1 y+ P# g* X5 m/ Xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 r6 H4 X$ z6 R* TA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=$ ?0 x) t; O) P, I9 T
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], P% r$ a) J( F7 _
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ o1 x+ b! g* [
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! Y8 Z# z7 u$ h; j% tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& K( [, N$ q5 p& J(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# p( Z+ f5 p0 G7 Q" Bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) b, j' g6 o8 T" R3 C
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
7 \3 L* m+ Q: r1 h1 u$ Kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' }% |5 {/ e' ^5 n4 [compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,# K* Z' [9 ?: @- V6 S0 w
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 a6 f) w2 y1 k
7 K9 S& y0 S4 X(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)' Y) D& d1 ]$ p" p1 ?
and American speakers of English, |
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