 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( f/ |0 v* X/ i- k' f2 A
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the' B( [' Y. m7 o) Y I% S7 I
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,' W# v6 s, A& L+ T, Q$ h7 l
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
& v5 B E$ t2 g; L. G$ _2 i(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
' M: z: s7 c0 Y/ x! Iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) @: {6 D U. f$ a) S( QA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; m5 O) Z$ [1 X8 g6 U: `: Y( A
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; a0 O) _/ ], Q/ ]" a* L
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving/ K' I1 E& u( L% C) |% h& _! r! C
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
2 i. h1 |9 o- \8 Fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
9 T, q: q$ D5 \1 c" z3 U7 k(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 {( @0 J" G i `segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
6 S1 \1 s$ N: f" b; S( ]! Dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ f8 ]$ Y3 N7 h dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; J7 F7 j+ c: v8 O8 x
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
, I& g( S) X4 h7 B: }" }the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 v7 t2 t, I8 {$ O# L6 J) A$ Y1 v: ?) h: Q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 G- c2 V9 p' \: V$ Y3 w
and American speakers of English, |
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