 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 W: l. Q* l; _$ o, T4 z/ Q
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" e" z0 f" ?4 W- D5 L9 M5 ` ~/ Xsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 M: K# F0 f) l$ N+ n# n! Vand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial8 f: b) B0 Z! L
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# S) u- u7 |1 N" [0 J; Q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! X5 ?) D3 b: m+ X6 u0 B
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 M0 h, v& ^, _5 B' d; b" {1 Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
0 s1 @# D; W3 N' f* u T G(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( b$ J K) Y: L0 s% f
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on" o, m5 ~" j* R, `! l+ W0 S
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
6 l& P- a8 F; W. Y(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two. M4 x3 k" k, f/ ^) {: n, |' G
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 G) b' B0 C) p7 B$ Jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& H% l$ |* @3 D: i& Gend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
4 o4 F, M( ]' v6 b8 Kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' e# b9 B" T4 ^the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& C/ [+ Y; ?7 b! ~$ T
1 x, g$ f9 h1 S+ D0 M9 O2 D. G& \$ _(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
+ z, g$ s, ~& A. ~9 k" ^1 E% a9 Oand American speakers of English, |
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