 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The8 A6 I0 L9 g+ G5 T5 n& T; y
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! b* C# u/ J7 e6 r. m) m. v/ Csyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 H3 [9 c* A7 X' Y8 z' T( q. aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 j7 O" M; D& q; g4 Y. }- l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
5 S& \7 v( _# `+ Qretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
6 ~! a5 f) Q# a% A) B4 NA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" s. g, C: l! D5 F2 p9 {[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]3 ^8 M/ Q; ~4 h9 `
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 E. v( p. ]6 G' O6 ^) C+ F( z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 y7 N, y5 ~" R7 t6 G
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset$ Q* \& r( q5 P% h' H6 d4 c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( a d- O9 H" j9 s& K: fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a, J: |! o' C4 q( v3 W1 o# m N/ I
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e./ a q _' ?% H
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
5 }2 h+ n w" K8 ]( _compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 \- u W7 t8 m/ }; J* h1 ?7 m
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& @6 h8 O# E* Z& N& n$ G; L
3 P2 N, C) E7 h2 \6 Z9 {' n(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)9 c# d* c) e" c+ J
and American speakers of English, |
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