 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 J- n7 \- ]+ U. p2 a( kInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. u5 i Q- u5 v4 Osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,' W. W) y5 r9 E# |
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, x9 ?/ ]* @, b- J7 p" x
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: m+ Z& n; u8 u! x3 K1 Z- j
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 `4 g, t6 c6 x3 t m
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=6 w$ C' h5 N" U2 f! R
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 T: C" F% i. [8 N2 S' Z! V
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
& h, X) Y2 a( V( ~- U# C0 B. yretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' l3 @, j) W. b2 F/ F! d: Lpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
/ ~. d8 c. R/ `6 J! w0 s(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two7 _+ D7 o: c: i f
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# z6 H8 a# M2 b( h: `" Y1 jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
! W; t4 f9 a F8 ]/ mend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ K, s' k' i& k/ hcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( Z/ o Z: S/ n/ O: O, E% V0 uthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
% A; z! B2 D0 M: Z2 D% n7 X6 u9 a! Q0 u0 N# h* b! u
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ t6 U/ H9 w. P
and American speakers of English, |
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