 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 h- u' K* d L- |) K5 ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the5 o5 c0 M: N1 }3 E9 k! b g
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
1 ]& \# G; E1 R0 s# @, yand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial- {( E- i+ l* b* Y# h' X
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! m; P' p) U/ v/ h
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).8 G; G& v) X5 Q" F. A
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% s! V9 W$ A2 H1 r[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], l* V3 e$ r" y: [$ S" @5 p' |
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving0 R+ k: C" [) i7 s4 U3 C
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ M [! K6 d* C: tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 c' l6 U8 u: Y4 W+ o3 l
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ }7 t5 p2 f( g- t6 Vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
i& B4 F# G' T0 V- r" ?: Asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
; r8 p" c1 D( Y+ pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ I+ z( K9 m2 d8 O V4 k$ d
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,/ K5 ?9 \+ M. h( o. Z- S! k
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 p! G( B0 Y( e2 |
, e$ V7 X; G! h9 K(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)' j1 i; O$ S4 c. a0 n. J5 a. A
and American speakers of English, |
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