 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 a' v* B' ]$ D
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 ?1 W/ A: i# {8 |* S
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- S0 z- D" s' Z. _4 V" ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
, v9 P( i2 @9 n: R. A(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: `0 ^7 G5 D4 d1 T) T8 H9 G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).: ^$ p1 b0 j. k4 f1 E
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
$ h3 T) M; O! p5 h. t8 N[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 R+ q# w/ P t
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
( o, n* _. q1 ?& E5 Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 J& Z1 u( {$ Xpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset# D3 k! E* |9 z1 R7 r9 S2 U
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
" n5 w4 @7 ]/ s7 Vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
I6 G2 Y) i) g3 d8 asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e./ f7 n0 O. c; h" ]7 V
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; `- [6 y1 m" ^! Q# ocompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 L& a. [0 }5 g
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
6 K+ p& H# V" I; C5 V1 _
* R* P* P' }, Q9 y' g2 m$ @(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
8 w5 ]1 n2 e) M! n+ d5 x" b, P; kand American speakers of English, |
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