 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& ]: S) E5 \. B9 h9 o0 e- kInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the7 P2 a" g. ^8 A/ f1 o( m
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
/ S2 X$ Q9 j7 A! zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
( p* Z4 _, |' v2 ?9 }" T! c(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! h: Q0 G& _, U
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% O8 i& Q8 M3 s( E" ?2 _& L8 x
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 W1 S$ Z E( f- x- x
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
% `3 O7 k/ C6 Y0 M% m8 r9 o: W(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 B& r; ?4 A5 x; s% a+ Nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on+ l7 M; k- R" E# R1 J/ P
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
' M0 t0 |+ I1 k. e8 @& B(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) E" N1 r8 ~& h5 {segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 d) \) t5 J2 ]7 \6 H. T
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. j4 L! ^: K( G# ?/ \
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* O& l& o. d, z T
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,# }1 X& o f6 L; \3 o* O
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' d: c7 G* `5 p P- R
4 k( r6 ?$ ]- D5 e t1 Z* [4 x! f# I$ F
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
/ n1 c1 t+ P4 b% t/ Pand American speakers of English, |
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