 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 Z- u* G0 b$ |; u' q5 i1 \
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* Q4 g) N6 E* c( n, F8 v, ~9 E: f# Q# V
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
0 [5 |. _! K& ] Q5 Aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: a3 n, ~6 r8 Z& s( [8 U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ D. Y/ k7 d3 {$ p9 L7 Lretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 ?2 ?; _0 k1 V; D! X; o3 j( z& YA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
9 |0 ~( B0 Y4 X5 D: c }: d[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 w/ W6 E& |& L- [$ u
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 s+ i' R0 g5 Y; I$ s; k4 W/ ~4 lretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# A3 m: V) b( e- _2 Zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& {% V7 V3 _. }8 V: Z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 S5 U! Y( O4 |! m- p3 z8 R+ ^
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
/ x: V$ x b3 g- _; Rsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( J V0 @* Y `0 B+ ]+ Qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' H7 ?4 W9 r; xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 _6 O' Y3 o8 ~ \) Lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ v B/ `7 Y- R d* w& }( A
. B9 d6 Z& x9 v3 S(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 G. s/ N1 V9 ?9 O
and American speakers of English, |
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