 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The9 R c1 b F. H' P* _/ n
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 X# S1 A) p3 l! ?
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,3 U5 _7 b% b( W; |& j, Z
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial" y4 v$ D: S4 t- g7 m6 W: b: V
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
4 N g) E1 U6 Q5 Lretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& ]. p& A% W" p" \) M9 f# \1 q/ M M3 I
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=& B& O, T2 |* q7 p
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]) V4 z" A8 S6 J6 k% ^/ n
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, \* ]/ `- u: \) Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
) z5 U8 Q! S' r0 Upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset. J5 R8 U0 ?$ g6 w0 G9 B
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two4 F, P5 o5 P6 p" i; e& T, S
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
9 H3 O$ f" `) h4 i. Ksemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
3 [3 P2 ?- H5 xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ ~( F |( q- S, v" Z& S" N1 ?
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
$ o" m4 y# ?/ [2 E0 Bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..- y. _% Y2 a! q$ p
; y/ K' g% s, W1 h+ b
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ V7 C" I1 \/ V
and American speakers of English, |
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