 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 P) I- l3 O/ @/ W3 L4 |
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the' t) S$ F% X- _& L: C! Q# y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
' z/ r1 _# c* h7 z& Z" vand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 j7 ]0 Q! G- Y7 L( S
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- T" H, x7 Q0 ] q3 {( }6 Y9 ]retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 I1 R- j" z5 r
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" p0 Q' X" b ~! j6 v4 L+ T* Q[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 h. }( S, E9 D) a, P% D
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving! [8 |+ K5 F j5 c7 y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
0 N9 R! ^8 k# d( ipossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 F. ]8 [0 X7 |: p
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 g4 Q# Q0 m; t0 \. i
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 D* p/ a4 \2 N8 w4 M
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 f) v5 E D( e& oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 E9 t5 T0 s9 ~. i
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. p& x# y3 r$ u5 wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 M8 O- j1 `2 _' t C) T9 F q# Z' `% T) n8 C6 t
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! K0 b- D k3 V' Gand American speakers of English, |
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