 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The F$ m" U0 O$ G* K6 A
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 f. m w: [6 E, e, d; \# K! [syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 U c5 u7 Y& ~8 \, a; d
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% m/ S Q% ]- `9 k
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
, f9 Y! J$ N! x% h' E+ c! \retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; o* B5 k* D' f1 u3 e
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. v" X7 Q/ a2 `+ ?# G0 @: V6 l9 f[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% S r, ]) I, N
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 ]) H$ i9 r' [, \! _5 K3 `retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 H j8 B. e7 jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 v. l x1 U1 o& Y, p: K% O8 P(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( m, h3 J9 s& \
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
; X7 G N9 z7 J! ]- U( Csemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 K. v) M3 Z1 i5 X/ @( {/ send with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
! A+ T) E; v( d7 o6 G2 fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 s, S9 g& ~9 z) R: _' J/ Mthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; n7 U* |0 e" f9 e
; n/ ]( B5 C: K, O) {: V$ T(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
1 a. e: [; t0 H' Q; gand American speakers of English, |
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