 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' N& o) a; Z! \/ S7 @* o9 N
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( C: F7 P1 p- N6 Nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; D5 s$ w) U7 l, F6 w5 J( x* a8 K8 E. Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" Z% ]/ I0 f8 x/ i" I(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
$ d+ n$ y7 ?3 k% r. W @: Aretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).* J: b) F2 I' {% B9 [8 o
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (= M- J5 I# y5 g. t8 r. E
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]* R* k4 [: Z. w6 F1 }7 l4 w5 J
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ |- q% R% [: b/ W% U# W* R- a1 R
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* C4 Y7 O) q4 s$ Xpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 x% n$ M# q% C" {+ o
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& A$ a6 j) @& [+ j9 E+ Z9 e% |segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 e* G1 v3 E! }8 A- L5 q4 Esemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- J5 u2 u3 `! ?# Qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In: b# y0 x4 J- e# ^$ f$ o
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 `# V# i. D+ U6 y2 X7 ?5 x9 M3 P3 Jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) r; m3 q3 k0 \' Z
0 O, `% L; w$ x/ X' y- E0 I# z(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! E4 ], z1 z2 \0 P0 f! r
and American speakers of English, |
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