 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ r4 K n2 F! @% WInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
: w9 ~$ ?. a4 a( u! o, `' Nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ r- w! h: u4 e8 w* T
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 ~. x1 Q. r" Z3 T2 u2 F+ @
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
% }; `; ~$ h) h" i# A7 R5 |+ G9 f6 ~retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 x- v& ^; ^- f) h( w8 a
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* b$ r: S, @7 |0 [$ J! ?[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 ?) B& }- `7 |, a8 D; R(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
) y' ?4 o* I3 Kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on) a7 G) P- u: h( j1 t* y9 A' B' p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
/ b$ q: [# O3 l5 D& u; X Z& S(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% V* m$ I X; \$ g4 U/ l0 y% l) ~2 osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
! `5 C+ `0 j1 W: v! fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
]; j) Z$ s5 W6 N/ O& cend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 B9 t) J$ Q% b( T# Y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 Z0 F8 `9 g$ y6 Q! Q; \the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: I0 u0 S- Y; ~# O$ j; V( g4 E' s- Z7 q7 A
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), S2 G/ K5 q6 o$ o S
and American speakers of English, |
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