 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) v/ ~6 k) N! ~' A5 q+ U8 ]; P1 a
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( ?" F6 K4 G# v+ N, wsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
% F2 p2 r' C- y2 n+ O+ Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
0 N; |. `# g( C2 A$ b1 E(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: O% |! R$ H2 yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 U& o# n4 }9 a; Q. e8 T
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
O% i! I) O, ?1 J% X4 W[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; z% C) _* T# f
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 Z8 A9 m2 @) O; @* B
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 y5 H+ ?# I7 e
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
\1 t- N& F& \3 n4 m. R(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 W6 |" \ o3 u+ R1 H% ~' \* wsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 k: L' x+ c# J4 _% d7 S
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
! e% J/ T0 S5 i; x" T' zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ \& Y$ M' R& V9 R# f" I; f% @
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, u! ]% v5 E- R# b2 x
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..* o" R0 e" d F
- y+ Z; F" n8 g(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) ]" q7 a. p1 A( y# t9 o9 w* U/ n
and American speakers of English, |
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