 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 X$ g% z. K. t
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the& p) F' p# U8 {9 \7 r- M) m$ I/ V
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 j5 y+ B5 `' n# W- Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" E/ Q# i3 a3 S3 c. P2 U, ` l(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ @5 k H9 Y: l+ C
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& l/ F( w8 Q1 P8 N) GA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=6 ? o, P( o2 g5 R, E9 J: G
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ P4 [; M* e: i1 ~1 P(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ ?' \4 p. J$ N7 Z' A6 j* tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# _) B, e1 {( G. s; Hpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 o6 X( O2 Y' S; N2 ~; I, J(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two8 l: K, L# u! Q2 b% Y( L
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
/ T$ F, {# ?1 W4 E1 l1 Y- {& @semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
" T, ?' @% e1 D9 g- X$ ^0 e& Vend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
" W2 |6 f* d$ ?8 b, K i; T+ T# ncompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,. P, Q7 r6 q: K4 D% |. j; D
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
; u' b. u( p3 ~" Z0 F! t- j
& `; F3 s3 b* X(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)* g% e3 M: D* @& x- I' k
and American speakers of English, |
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