 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 Q, |$ a3 G [3 v( w8 O( a# O
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the d8 B% W7 O" {) b# N9 }9 U7 L2 s3 ~
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 Z$ G# v: a- L; p2 j R
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
% ]( F e" l) m* s/ {(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
. l0 W3 M1 [6 {% B& X! h/ @retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
7 e" ]3 t4 L6 ]+ _1 l1 v$ k nA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. a# i$ J; t$ X0 x+ }[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 `! X$ x6 k$ b
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 R; ?1 j3 { |; n+ g: {: z5 A
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
% d) b' n Z- Z! [/ _4 }* m f) `% Upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
5 y( H1 O; h) k! y( v- b(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 ~# O* g+ n0 b0 c1 Dsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
' [* w2 q' F3 W* [8 _2 P, O5 Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# E, D$ Q0 J' c' @/ yend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( D1 o1 @$ K* W
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 n% V5 O+ I; o+ Xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 d4 ]9 F @' G, x* s
% h" N( [7 N3 N/ R3 [& r) J(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 o: e; i5 R2 Q/ O5 }4 x
and American speakers of English, |
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