 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The: ]; S& H; M7 N: O' ?
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
$ U! n; S, X( ]1 s U) e$ Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,7 S7 D7 f& w3 j2 i
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial6 }7 c) V$ f. l! R0 B
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
" \) h4 z; ?8 m3 I2 S5 vretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 s" |( `9 ^2 R6 R9 _, V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=2 K" R' S3 l( \! a2 j
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; S2 B* U O+ B9 T(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving/ ^' H% z0 Q0 z! r
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ m' `1 Q1 X) K5 |: ]possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 a* h# x- M! g. ]) S- b2 W
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( a$ f: d! z, I5 w& l4 fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 |. f) I; ?+ I' d
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% g% S7 `3 ?& K% ~/ Tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
( y0 J7 Z4 S9 u& R @9 \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. _3 }- F) A# F3 s' c" fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' w. U& t% g2 N# `6 p
- O1 A* [4 Y9 [! a0 \(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( [. L Y% i8 j6 w$ J) L' H
and American speakers of English, |
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