 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The9 W- R- _4 j f1 @' ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
% f# c$ A7 d% v! s; F' O+ {6 Rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
& f" J' F4 T$ sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ `! C3 o! Z; F(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: X2 U* n& ]! m1 Y# y! k3 B8 O
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).( ^( z/ x, l# Y7 }( c2 U' m
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (= f J% s0 y% I4 z- [* m s/ X
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]+ S" n: R& E7 G3 r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
' r3 [" x6 z4 lretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" a" O1 G1 ?! L! B( C/ Npossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 j; _' r r& ]' x, t. W
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two, u* R. G9 A% @3 Y- L( {% |
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" D; F, d1 K4 u- P6 qsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# K& M! z/ k* W6 {4 q
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In1 I6 \' k1 V$ ^0 ]! _5 W. Y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' C3 ^ k* q- ]8 U
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& O# ?4 o7 r; a/ e: |; s1 d5 V7 a+ L, S4 d0 i1 P2 r
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ a& }# ~# F" e1 }
and American speakers of English, |
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