 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' W* b! A" I1 e* [
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, K2 ], d( {3 J$ }8 H% |9 u
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! m) M; Z, _" H) T0 f0 ~& ?and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 L5 _. W' {! o) `9 N(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ Y& {; U6 w1 t5 m: [7 q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, D! j c: m/ J4 }A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
8 T" p& Y; U5 o1 d[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 }) R3 [5 X% i, X
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 ]* G7 }# q- K4 I4 k4 iretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on u i/ m* n. d5 S
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. f5 T r Y/ d5 f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
" ~- n7 S/ W4 msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" n7 j8 Y1 O/ c g
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.: Z8 ~! D% V2 ~. h" i I. L. p
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
! L( R$ z4 a! @* d+ Fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,: J# \% G) O+ v& h# G
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# L/ m9 R- z( p0 E- Z% h' U
# t& X* [$ Q" j; ?(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
L& `$ h% I5 ?1 U4 r4 n8 p0 wand American speakers of English, |
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