 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 z( y' z5 w7 S/ r4 A0 N ~8 Y: @
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. B& Z) }0 u3 M6 l/ Q* V# N% G7 R" x: Tsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 @, `$ ^) x4 O" d
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
. Z3 Y4 X$ l: q(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of) C% O m6 I2 P
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).( a V+ E9 R2 g
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% d T' g' p! S* G[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 z, M0 O: p4 H/ o3 h( |(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving! s. F. E. M# K8 Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ R. g% e6 t3 epossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* ~/ q" F4 x5 F, ^! c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two l! M" B# G4 r* S) L
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
- g8 u- R* A- [ s* Asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
1 M% n u1 V' s( K1 Y* I2 Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ A# Q3 k# u% h- d. j3 u7 g
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
+ {' h ^2 y; Vthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
- x+ {$ F% J. @+ _5 S9 }4 O, M6 m# Q% P3 Q2 y$ e
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ ~. ?% ~% F, U+ U/ d& v1 S b
and American speakers of English, |
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