 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
2 z3 s% ?3 T; a+ j# b) gInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' u/ _& d' y. ~1 M# P4 M+ p0 msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 R% \ n6 s. U0 nand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 s q) W+ D2 C(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 M- K! t8 o- ~0 h6 f9 f& F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). S. b4 J% K8 d) c
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" t) D- v3 j8 p% e9 O[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" l" F& t% R5 U" o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving; C. B6 |4 D" L4 Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- M1 [ u) E4 }& zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset+ [: o# V8 o8 [- Q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) ^$ T4 w7 L, Csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 x# w) ^0 T n
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, p6 L8 g6 p+ ]end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( | P0 _! _% ]3 | ^7 N6 S* f
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ H8 _; i) X. Z+ m9 {- r; Y% M
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' {- E: s9 Y7 A6 c- @0 K0 U( ]
3 n- }; d* I" `( K* g* {7 m(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% [3 F3 M- g# k
and American speakers of English, |
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