 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; M5 y4 D" I; L' nInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 R2 ?: O) U1 Z- Z& Q6 |* H
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! j2 S m1 G9 `3 x) r" c; Eand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial M& M) g. N9 ^: r. a0 D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. f' ~: ~. ^+ K1 @+ B% }
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 |. F: Z H+ ]( J% ~" a3 x! c, C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; r$ G |) M, Y T: N" _[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 a4 J9 I7 l1 h* x/ A( P
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& p" B1 I+ {; `3 y N4 F/ L* G
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on9 |+ H( ?) C0 C
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& @# `1 ]! y, \1 K! \& u, n(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two0 ]/ N6 ~# J+ c) w7 C& x
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 N3 d) b5 F$ B4 b8 l1 h0 y$ B
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
2 l1 _7 Z0 o) i8 Z9 v: Mend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, r( q% {" g/ ~! D8 X. C9 ]' Dcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
1 [; `: X9 |0 L6 _: s4 l/ dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: {' Q3 c4 Z/ b# ]1 G9 N$ l, [7 t# a/ M* ?$ `7 g6 ]0 b* R2 p& n+ P# v+ f
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% j! W( I2 j0 |: q/ I. k Nand American speakers of English, |
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