 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& @: G9 Y3 O5 f" b4 [* f+ y4 oInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the$ i! C2 i" m; x' P; ~ ~0 o; T
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! u, R- h3 g7 P% `+ aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 R9 [9 V9 G) H/ z+ E
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 W2 @4 I0 Z6 a. }4 z
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
. P, }- K- b6 x( r9 BA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( w% x0 ?. ^: T. f6 c, V/ G[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 i+ ^9 K D! W! k* t$ K9 c6 l6 A
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 e3 M3 L, j. H% h+ @. o6 Q6 ]1 }retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 _+ Q% k/ D0 v: K; D
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 ~. @2 I$ e: H3 I6 C* G(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. t) i* j+ S, C# p lsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a- b6 A; _! c0 m2 i( n% ]
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 n6 ?8 f- e) y4 z+ ^+ n5 H- Nend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ E* h! N' R+ icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
# }/ q8 y6 N0 f, p1 vthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ E* L) v- y2 j5 D$ F
9 t- u* X0 w6 m! i. r9 t(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 J* U( E# P" ~4 c% j) n. ^$ M3 ]. nand American speakers of English, |
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