 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
" D5 Z4 g9 O" ~; p# J% hInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, i( w9 o: d) x
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
m( o1 D5 L2 `1 ]and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial" B+ p8 R2 I+ y( t
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ _' F3 w% y. u: Z! J
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 w* D* _$ @/ ~4 z) L2 a
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
6 ]) n# E5 B9 k- u( w[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]/ ? f8 k s0 j; E9 W. V; p
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving+ h& S1 L8 j* K- ~7 H: ?: H% X
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- f5 Z( L# A- B9 @7 Y
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 V( T+ @4 g. R. l6 j(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ p( n1 Y! r. r( ?* F0 }9 xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# p: S9 r! k9 Z, |: `semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
" b0 P. g) s0 a/ c8 Uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
" E% L9 d& h9 H+ ^compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% X1 g5 @! \( F3 f6 q1 L6 B+ xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" \& j4 v+ [* d# t
7 l7 d- g# G8 O4 Q(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)7 l7 q& a) N' y7 }. b. G
and American speakers of English, |
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