 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
. d) h7 K8 S j- o# N1 U/ M6 mInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the0 @( D X; l {/ ^; L/ l
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 ]# E5 B9 V; F! V3 b9 _; m+ a
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 o, X% w' Z& v7 x1 D: `7 x) z' b7 ?
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 c7 q$ N7 X( c0 f/ R% yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, w: w# Y3 ?6 L+ q8 VA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 _* L* Q3 P2 C8 ^, P# g
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" M# e4 `) q( y2 b2 m- s) j(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ m( P0 K" @% O$ b/ u
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 s% c s9 H9 F8 u' y0 u0 }possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 Z* r6 g- {% {1 X! Q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# K3 E& Q7 M6 W- \; psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 V; b$ P7 E3 D. g/ N3 z" j
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.1 w. h' c( Y, j; U8 v/ R( |& f
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
7 ~$ ^2 ^ x$ U+ @compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,: z: @ s% L0 ^( v
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 ?" s# b9 |# [: T6 l/ V5 Z, \( s& t, ^$ V1 U: i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
- n- u* r& |- ]1 band American speakers of English, |
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