 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The S: i" m0 |( d6 u3 W/ s
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the8 H/ e1 c* X6 a
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
: [. E( R4 S; v! wand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial2 [0 m) ?' {* ^4 k9 g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of2 ?* Y# l$ ?/ h/ n* \+ R8 ^9 H
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& ^, q6 H% i$ x% x1 C2 NA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. ~) |8 y; r6 s- l[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# T: g! }$ x/ g1 O$ _4 ?- `! _8 D(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 w0 _$ ` n2 R, Y" ?) m, a% E1 v) Pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 D Q0 i' N+ Q( S* T
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset1 P7 F5 e' l6 s, o( ]" c0 N) g, ?
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- N5 w O7 F) n C
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 i' b; L0 [1 \
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
* e, C* J$ T2 {& M7 n& @end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 E9 I. B2 x" J2 Q L+ I1 i
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,! ^8 w5 Y; H; _7 f; t
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' k7 e, o5 k1 g4 D4 |
7 p9 ?( b1 n$ m4 V(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
8 l( c* H4 E: H- T) ~and American speakers of English, |
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