 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! J# B& ]) o0 s' F* ?8 b# W
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 Z# F C9 {/ E0 E5 y9 R
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- Z; W( B; U& j& O2 g9 f9 y: \
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 k. N7 r$ P6 G
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of7 [: J# Z. P1 L
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 }5 e7 ^+ m+ K- [' }
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=2 L, [6 a* y; p9 Q+ r7 U
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( o' m+ S& X. u, p3 b: ?$ L1 f- ~. j(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving% i% d' @" o7 F8 P0 l3 N
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" {, z5 N5 y# B/ t2 p9 n2 H* ^! Rpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ B+ ^. ~9 e& R0 B
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two/ z/ D4 Q4 @6 W- j0 y& L
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a# }0 f( A' t4 W- t0 M, n! N
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., H5 G# t' Q8 [% Q! D& \; h0 [
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In b+ ?7 R3 w X; T0 Y# w. S! f" W
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,6 @+ O5 f# c0 M6 R0 w% l7 t/ L1 `/ b
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 C5 ^4 a) ~! J) U
: I* @& B$ w+ N
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) Z+ w1 N6 V3 x9 b# B
and American speakers of English, |
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