 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 M7 R# T7 L F( ~+ e- C! s" IInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the. T$ K4 |% g$ z: U. w
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 q" G. s1 |) D1 h
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
8 c9 K) _# ` d4 I3 o; T; |(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of% @) w1 M- r. G# F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). v6 x# f+ Q" H& B1 Y
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
9 a0 G2 z. ?/ e( H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]3 L/ [# A$ |; ^! W' x
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 s9 P' b7 V/ t+ @0 pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 N- F3 _7 y" j' V& B( \$ R
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 _5 U9 `$ G" M7 G
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, O$ F* K9 m Zsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 n* _( m- }' z% C, Y3 m
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# d8 Z y Q& w k" u0 F
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In. E/ l7 k- b- s
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& @9 N; C: _" ]% G2 E
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
1 p% R0 \% {/ g) J5 O0 k# Y. l
& O( j, S2 |7 o6 S1 x(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 m9 S/ l9 `1 g8 m' \6 w
and American speakers of English, |
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