 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The$ P" v2 A( |1 l; j: D5 m. z' w
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! ]; p/ ~* _0 j6 D1 ?) ]: Q5 k
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," C* o4 o, o8 g/ a9 _, v0 ~0 F
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 N2 y2 [1 A( V1 E8 T(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ }% k" q" r% Z6 K5 s4 T: G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).0 _. t6 d: f/ T% M& Q5 L; i) d8 h
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* l5 I( l+ {- I/ x+ T* e' f[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
, k. j( N& o* Z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
! r- P* {: B Yretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- L! v8 ]* q4 N* m! s* ^0 X* I9 u. v) gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* v' I1 @( p9 Q+ ?* c7 q0 e6 x0 f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ E5 ?4 \6 U- G! O" ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a' }! y" r# P. s0 h+ v) R' A3 H) V
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 x2 [) L' q# p) D; Mend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In. D N0 u: H1 z: T+ L! ? n) P
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 ]# t( K6 M, z- y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..4 f# B* E, g) \: V( q O
2 `' k* W/ D: H+ V7 t% t
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)* \$ v# l0 t5 H. c4 U& B
and American speakers of English, |
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