 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
, H9 ~# C8 V$ EInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
5 j E; ~0 g% {, d y) v: t5 |syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
, H) @3 J7 Q# r$ V6 dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; V) k2 w! W Z6 W C8 y$ y- G
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. b5 O" I1 w' P2 u9 x: v0 K% P0 b
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
- Z2 u3 d& v2 x4 i k9 a" OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% e* m' S8 [1 ]3 L8 r
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ E$ M6 i4 b8 p8 Z- G0 Q; A(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: M, H. _4 z) B8 r: G( Oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
) z$ O) M A% \6 x* Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset g) C* h1 R0 X' W1 y0 c1 w
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 E# ?3 ?5 Q5 X9 r2 P) fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ E% |0 c$ {2 W4 H+ `
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* _+ u) q. O( k1 R# [
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& }, f( G+ M7 ~8 T. T1 H2 s6 rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 A% ^8 \6 X! J1 U6 d
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" ^4 U2 O8 h& S5 j% Y
2 K2 |$ i' d! C$ n, p( a& D' n9 \(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ V4 x8 ]& T+ V+ a$ ^2 i% R
and American speakers of English, |
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