 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
- ?( j7 D2 m iInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" K: e3 G$ a1 \* |/ msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! f& Q1 E) k. X! hand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial# w8 X) k- v* @! a8 i3 r1 y6 ?
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
" q4 O8 M9 l; ?2 M9 [retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 ]* \4 w7 P9 S8 U* JA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=3 J3 } K# I& s( g
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 p! A' j0 O/ V; u2 e
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ G" k, v# O1 oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on U" L8 ^! J9 I/ M
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, {+ v" q r' L(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# T Y% M U- Rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
' u$ N/ J3 {0 L9 T! M7 Lsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) D; @; X6 E3 d) F6 A9 a+ E
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
: F3 y2 i9 K; x# S( _compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% r5 m+ @% y5 n( S3 a) X, c
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..& f4 U) |( E- g
, p. h0 l& M% v" ?" H/ c' S0 J(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) w! i$ [- h; S) P, ^8 Q
and American speakers of English, |
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