 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 W$ U7 O- ~0 E, w7 _8 X+ ]( BInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) R% I) U/ R; t7 Q8 P. ^# s4 x( Gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
4 t" i7 k# c9 K2 z$ O/ xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( F8 l1 O, a- }3 p$ G6 ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
+ n) W1 e* O$ H/ E" @# G: Uretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 z0 S1 I8 j7 q# j: UA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 b9 R$ d, a+ M1 Q
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
. N& {! m; Y' Z8 I2 k(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
B( z. k5 n; Hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( {% G" d: y$ z. S, a2 P3 w& U
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset# H6 L# }; D" W' k- G
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: s0 `1 D9 L( gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 ~$ L. d5 r, D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ p6 v# q( @: u) X* K
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
( ]! V' U9 x. F/ d/ o3 S+ {compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, h9 S' k& _5 y* R
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' Z7 o T6 ?! {0 R! L' l* f$ W+ v
. l @' q* E5 }* ^1 @# n(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& _9 R3 V) S. R9 P$ z2 Z$ ?: X
and American speakers of English, |
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