 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
( u( Z* P$ }. B" KInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. X& V' `- Z4 ]. H: C psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 B4 D& t6 S/ m' X' B8 k( M& ]
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* E, i5 c n0 H4 D5 ~+ O(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
* R/ \9 t) O9 o. ]7 M3 @# zretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ A# e+ i2 \$ E8 q, h8 F8 L1 zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=) S) b1 `) i M! H
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 \1 p5 W5 ~' X9 |+ z8 e" R(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving+ W/ n: z) Y; e, E" U
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! P+ P5 |! k. k* |* `- W9 g1 J4 Xpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: X3 t) H& Z4 n! j(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 r4 u3 l! a, L5 psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 B* r% [/ U0 `6 @- ^semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 t- c3 |& r- h: send with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% b4 F+ Y1 \ A: l) p1 q; ccompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 r* u9 } U2 M4 q% h6 i
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( y6 D" E9 d2 K# R3 V" r& \5 H, ~9 M: D( A) U2 R8 r
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
' ~9 N/ M7 z6 ~and American speakers of English, |
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