 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- S* ?* w9 v+ l( ^, M
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
& Z k) ~5 K7 v/ Hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
% u& Z1 j2 |3 l8 D `8 z$ |) @$ Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& u3 l8 a+ e0 ]/ v
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 e# }9 X4 T6 [5 d3 ?& v% w5 E9 rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. Y; X+ ~; X& E F8 f3 W
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 L- m: l8 C. W1 V/ i% V
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 G' ~4 w4 r( c. y( t( U2 [
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
% E3 I9 @9 K6 w* D3 X0 P. mretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on8 j2 O$ s8 c6 U# |9 w
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 V$ K& k/ T8 O3 }( d+ K
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two4 i& J; ^# C* j, k& P, H, P4 `2 N
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a% Q; ~ r! i1 `. D& y* {3 Y
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.& T3 l+ X S% Y. j
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 l: b; q. a+ v/ L! l8 ycompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 h, H1 W% \& v1 u9 z
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ H- ?: h( ]( Z% `$ p7 |( s( ?- m
) g+ H* d* S/ W1 [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
; Q6 N$ U3 X6 k8 \/ ?* Cand American speakers of English, |
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