 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 x; {2 B) u2 s* K- a- U; ?8 x
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
% a2 O! H" a# `/ L( z; \5 r# ?( usyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
' x. c6 G8 h; q% A. Y$ kand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
% o: A, w$ `, }4 I) z4 j* e0 _(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ o, b" G# r3 F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
1 R/ J8 E6 V/ m- i8 o9 j8 kA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% T* |" [1 Y/ G1 V/ K- v6 _[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" Y" K; Y, B* R) r& @7 u" F- ~: B5 o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. d; N0 Q5 \5 y4 q
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on* h o: |: R2 h2 h& z! y G0 o0 m3 U* l
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 K% ~8 x9 p5 n. E( k" ^
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 B, P1 y: g# i- j! J7 rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) Z3 w, _9 z. }% N4 hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.5 o/ D4 N5 D8 _% Q) j
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ [* E9 O7 z# V/ X$ F: Icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% I" O$ A, i+ N: I. j* Uthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 x8 [. p: s3 U! Y& [* |: |
+ ]) |+ e. [8 i- J(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
1 B2 A. _6 l: L. k: f$ z0 ]% c( tand American speakers of English, |
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