 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) i+ O2 M7 M. w* b3 Z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 I* x/ [( _8 H% osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
# k# ?5 C9 \/ g5 @3 S; {and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; l5 ?* q& r9 g$ w(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
2 c0 ~3 f* ]1 G) S* Aretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).: j+ j6 i% M! e2 j' p
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
/ ~# i$ [: |+ L- f" X[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]$ V$ x8 _0 ^. N8 h$ P& S- ?
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving; @: p% O, U* H8 g7 x: R8 l0 l$ M
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on: b" q; w2 L& @+ D' p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
) a8 l: s; L! H% S/ x7 P* L(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
" o) |' \2 q& d; v0 lsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a& q) E6 q1 E5 E+ {( `$ s
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 C/ d2 G6 m0 A; b8 M W( kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' s! v" b4 @, l5 J; Ucompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 @+ L/ C* d6 s) w- F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..* J; E% c# d* f* H6 X
! }/ ~% m2 D$ b5 W3 N
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 i+ r- @' R7 a! ?( R ?! U. Z" M9 ?and American speakers of English, |
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