 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( {* h I! d* B0 L
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the0 T. P6 H* j" ^5 X6 l! m9 v+ w
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,: s4 k( G! ?9 w
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
/ s6 O. o7 Z% ?5 [0 f- T0 D/ V" w(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
R: m5 r9 U6 J1 y+ u3 c* gretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)." r5 I( H* e( v2 n
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" X: B7 J' m- I0 r. j" e3 J[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: w d4 j1 D2 u! O
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( `0 M1 S3 S) N/ J" N
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' b. g& q4 M, X
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* ?8 {8 X c2 w( G
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two" r t" S- m. |3 g
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
, j5 M* p9 @3 E4 _7 c. vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
+ a4 d: D1 p: R6 o$ ]end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
# M7 @+ M2 e% f6 T. {compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 ^+ j$ }) W+ Ithe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." ~3 f9 l6 }1 m+ x
7 r6 [; o% k# q7 V- G
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! N! T6 J0 [& J: ]+ c5 \2 Hand American speakers of English, |
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