 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 v$ K1 M7 R6 @: Z y; ^Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
2 x! s. V' N2 V2 o' ~$ `syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% r1 l: _6 J' J: b0 A
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% G& N, Y. Q) \6 T. d
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
' X3 h/ n0 i, B) I+ x3 J' Oretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- `4 L. B6 B3 H$ ^0 ^, _
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=2 ^+ A) `/ a& L( b1 F
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 S1 J. w$ a# L& a. H
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 s' k/ w) O6 k1 o( f& pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
: @2 W, a; y$ j7 G" I( Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
$ Q; N. j& |3 \# B(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: r! K" \4 V5 j& n& M7 s$ B7 ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a& x, `/ W2 j b2 ~6 T/ x
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. W: a$ i# v! R0 Z7 E% Uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
+ s0 m; v0 `/ i7 Fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% D3 Q- I- r, _1 z. s; {
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ w- {2 p5 ?$ O* e9 Q j! p( L+ b
$ f% z9 Y2 B# J; _* c- {(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
; d7 I* [% j0 [# C! f* tand American speakers of English, |
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