 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The/ M* D4 t. s9 l4 I5 E% s
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the h# G5 @; z2 X6 V) K+ Q
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# r' v0 _$ r' G* w! u! t/ h
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
5 }7 C: O; H) R- j(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ Y6 n- c" m2 |" k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).7 c, k. ]/ S7 y( L! n
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
) L8 c ?( T( [" x5 }6 q$ F[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 ]+ \6 x/ d: H" U( u8 J- C/ y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ _* {0 X! h. b' n, b [ D
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on8 g- F$ b5 ~4 R5 V( @
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( M D$ Q/ ~/ _& N(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 ]+ L9 I; M' a7 m) K- msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
W9 O. s. Z. B+ P3 ]0 }1 {semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
C- q: o0 v0 J6 e9 {( Qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 P' T, X& b! b4 Y' n; u( `
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element," @+ ? x+ C6 I) V$ I, ~
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, s/ O' k% g3 \( `- j I; W) d, V: o7 d3 k9 |& j
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
5 k1 D& t# [4 X& O! |9 {and American speakers of English, |
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