 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( i' D# x- w* {" W. ]+ Q9 p( U' Z7 D
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
8 p0 I! {! @# z0 G6 Y8 }9 W( Zsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ y# {1 t$ @! Q L
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial/ b6 q0 u: z9 W4 Y9 p1 a P& _8 w; B
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
. `4 w4 l8 Z* X: A' H5 L' nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 S2 N* o5 b% Q% E1 B8 c- OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% T3 p* N9 }& k[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( W. K: [1 n9 k' D2 ](phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 B$ n& _1 Y1 F- `retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 N, r+ {3 |& K: j6 C7 n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 K7 p- \6 [8 @- c; |3 k9 {) i3 R. T(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two! A, e( ]6 L- C) n) b. S$ s
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a4 \* J2 q3 j8 V5 p& o" P
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 w, _ O3 u* W' s, Jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 Q3 J" p- j3 A- U) {& {. rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,1 r- K7 o! c1 ?: P L
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 O; x7 ^3 d9 D1 [$ s6 h
) g; ~4 t* M' b- Y0 d- A
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! ]" M7 B7 d' O! C W( Q5 @and American speakers of English, |
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