 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
3 ~$ A/ N7 F! e/ UInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- a1 {( v2 M6 p! N- t
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 e4 J6 V( T) G5 I; t; F; g
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( ^0 Y" K" k9 _/ z
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
9 w! m$ {" W3 `retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 @1 H' i$ `/ A% P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' L# {# I3 u3 s4 ~& a[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# T$ [6 j( g4 C* A! Y(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving, J$ Z r$ G% N2 G# y1 a
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on4 u6 r( }$ F) E, @ ^7 ~( r
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
' I \+ v: W4 u3 G/ R/ F(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* N3 K# Z6 x5 zsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* o% k% ?) v T% ?$ L1 R8 Xsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.9 I" j u) X" R. e
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; L. k5 g2 m. d( [# R2 q
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
7 C7 M& `) L. J m# K8 k+ Tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... u$ v1 X1 {" d* Q- Q( Q5 t
' s1 j: t, g8 M! d# S$ f! o
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) O( H4 S2 u- g) V1 c1 {
and American speakers of English, |
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