 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
9 Q9 t. B" |2 M' ?) G TInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
- f5 l$ C# H# A7 c6 Asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# C a) E! C; ~( m
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
R6 }) J5 G; x* O$ o9 ?(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
6 L& |. x& d9 p7 |5 r9 R( Eretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
! V: K. s3 x# l3 FA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ C6 d- L1 V' ?$ r5 E( n5 ?8 C[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]5 b# m, B* U5 ?0 f& B
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
) j y, @! \$ W. M7 } V* Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
6 U3 G) q3 ^ w) f6 A A- J3 V7 epossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset; {7 c# P5 l+ {: {% v5 i
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two* D' f& a1 u$ C7 e9 b
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a0 f( ^( p3 k, J& `- O( f L
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ r: ?* }3 d* t) C/ Eend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In, l8 L- A' Q* e1 p
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 H( a9 s: O' n( Z4 N9 O& k9 [the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) C- L( c$ h- o. ^) q3 M
$ V) }9 U, I7 p d' N! @
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% B) p- u# A- V& H( Y9 h1 O) Z
and American speakers of English, |
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