 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
, s& o( n( p0 h2 M7 AInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: I- q3 f! h* S" N. |+ ~
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. C3 ]* i8 ^) T
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial4 p4 X' j5 d5 S5 e
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 ~; g" F X; q2 F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 D4 I6 t. Z$ ]: h1 ^7 v
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% L, r* M) Y- j[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( \1 d: _: I- O. t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving+ c4 C7 c/ u& N; g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on$ E3 f, ]' Y1 Z; N8 o; y/ G* D
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
4 _ B. c* E8 b/ {# \& \; Q(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ J3 t# ?9 \% X Isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: H6 F/ J( f, i$ Hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.+ G& [4 N& V2 @, l/ w8 ^
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- p/ S4 Q5 C: qcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& `) I9 }. W% U& `' m2 z; m# Bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 g6 k$ g8 o) \6 u
4 d0 ] ^' l7 }2 h; \( g(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)5 m3 _# [! B8 p
and American speakers of English, |
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