 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. e* J( A. @6 p2 z$ ]9 o& S1 z5 b
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. E, r/ z1 ? `7 W0 Ssyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! [; U2 n+ v- J% h! i8 w' dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ T# [' E" B$ L5 T, u3 k(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
, F% ]6 o9 y, Y7 nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 V) e4 x/ T: ~7 }
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
# i4 u- @& P* R! [: |$ c; I+ F[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
8 b; }8 i& c% a& y; b, p% K(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& o0 }/ R: U+ r2 ?" c4 E' d( q
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
) D7 o- `) m3 ~6 U; P! opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 n7 F9 H ]! K5 Z% w+ A8 z2 m% K
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 H5 i3 {- j' k' k% Jsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a0 ~: o9 r/ f3 j- O; e0 T8 i
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 C- i8 W; Q! `' P" d; bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& _1 M3 X$ @) g% v
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
- j) x8 e w$ dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! r y( l ]5 _$ A. u7 i; {' b# d
, G8 X) s3 ?, [4 \/ [) K(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( F% e& m0 J; C8 D9 h7 r
and American speakers of English, |
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