 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: O% h9 G2 A3 n- c4 ^Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) _4 W! w5 i4 ?; n3 W7 qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
/ J& h/ o' i7 p4 t. g4 oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ a" v/ r0 Y+ @( ](or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. T6 [ _! e8 G" } F3 J
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).( L% n! x/ B% K0 z8 f
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( n* b# r0 v* u5 _4 _- a[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- d& [8 A2 |/ K c" `3 @
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* P4 F, g; ]- V) O( s% l0 C% Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; V. g: |* p, j# {4 Opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* d1 n5 M& C# v, H3 k4 B# f# _(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& ]2 K/ i, G* s& Xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a; G0 U2 o* d/ G! F4 v u
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, t/ T# r( b6 v7 L6 F1 _. X/ wend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
* T" q' T! [4 _6 N! I7 N* Hcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% |$ r; J5 y, O' l1 g$ y7 M: d& dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.. O3 h- P* n4 w/ P0 I7 v
9 c" _; |0 }1 ^( H(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! V! h* X0 x3 C+ {and American speakers of English, |
|