 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
. c8 c5 Z, e: MInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
& @$ W* e/ a% P7 r2 q( Hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
- ~* t2 A% V1 s" wand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 `( `( U- f0 N- B+ E& s# L$ k
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 m; k! _/ }; R! D z$ F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)." x& c/ X& Z& s6 H
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=2 s# n: \4 v2 a# g% Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 r2 p2 |3 c; ~2 \6 D# {(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
! K; p2 @) d tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on# H" t1 T' {0 u: a4 d3 s
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. X* T: b% C U. F e(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; v0 u7 n) E7 n- y& @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( E; O0 G4 z- R) xsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% U! R+ e2 o' d5 }0 _* ^" L6 Bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In4 c% z- R; o) Q% o0 z& N
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 g9 }8 t, f( V1 P! Z4 ]) z/ zthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ v7 P5 {1 i' \( p- z
1 v( z: N2 B0 R(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)* y- T$ X# b1 s+ x5 y0 O
and American speakers of English, |
|