 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 c) P& O, V k! {" b
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! \% s& c, i" l+ k
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( F* y" I' J. S7 e9 W w
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
% k8 u$ x2 B* ]: x(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ R8 k K8 w' E% K& @) ?
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! `; ]2 ~: S# f, ^ V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 {5 V4 i( D. R0 X1 d+ l9 m
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( {$ m) L4 }2 {( D6 p8 r/ B, u(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving" R9 i4 g/ f8 o& P$ M% p: S
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on2 _$ y0 q3 c* Y! T+ J0 `( t' V
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 b( B+ s6 r5 v/ }4 D7 `- _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% z- x) o: ]7 psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: V5 k8 Q) \ ^4 _# r5 c1 M; Q+ O
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. m& P* B% m. l( Q" ~end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 w1 H* T' L0 l/ o: X @9 G% [
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,1 f/ O' G7 o5 u* U2 h
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 i4 i* C- ^: T. {. }/ k+ l* \* F% Q8 j q+ R% t/ n
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% K! b3 O+ T0 _7 k A" y' _ U
and American speakers of English, |
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