 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 d6 I) |0 |) m$ W2 M* Y
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! A1 E, i* S/ u2 E1 Lsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
u1 ~0 m! l9 xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
) k8 G6 ?1 C( r8 e! X6 ^(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of2 \; ?6 |, h: g- }' ^- I7 z
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 u6 u4 ?: l1 M5 {- {A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' Z* p& v- T# B[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 @( n* _" l2 M4 G, L8 V
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, ^5 j- C8 |' M) b& q! Z' g# `5 Qretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on5 H+ k Y2 w% L! N4 L. |
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: t; [* |0 B! i( L
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 E8 `' g. `2 S% T- x6 ^* ?segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 T/ v. \$ [2 I& `8 ^7 gsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.+ u+ n0 f* q/ S
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; q& |$ q% g8 L: `
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
1 b& D. v; M6 |0 m' ]( l& g) ?the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... B5 E2 P% s0 v' B1 \' b7 K
( }. C/ K0 x" w, | _ l9 v4 U8 h
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)9 x7 J' n& n: E( H- e! q
and American speakers of English, |
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