 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; O. u( a$ z9 x/ q% o% WInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 e. K6 f/ u" D4 W: M6 [9 v5 s$ f( Hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 b4 G8 {( I7 w- R/ C- t3 b/ kand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; q5 x) ]0 F( B' W! a G(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ B$ _1 E; a9 E9 b8 T- v
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)." T7 ~+ U" K* |
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=+ y$ t/ l& E+ | x! ~; b
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 j4 r8 M3 Q0 v8 ?, [
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 t4 @. @# Q) L; Jretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
7 k7 T0 {6 H5 ]8 \' y# upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. { q0 p, P1 _% t, f7 \( J(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 r) D% m+ K. k; {8 g4 ~
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% s/ H9 Z; e% E7 i. T- asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 \0 F6 _6 y* c0 @# O5 c8 gend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! j1 G9 l' u K& X' r
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 g. m: m! f1 `/ k, [8 w! u7 Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' z# H5 l# b u7 V2 {( s
7 ~+ `0 x* _' x3 i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, j# P( j' [" m0 L+ f, f+ gand American speakers of English, |
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