 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& o; Z& ^% S) O
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
8 r" ?3 \6 H' K4 e- F5 n! Ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,& h- F) j7 F4 z+ v: W
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( t2 m6 a0 e7 v) N$ ?
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ v3 s0 j5 Q. R0 gretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).$ D" H5 O: z% j* b$ B; p' V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=# F& U+ ~2 {6 I) r
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 @- Y9 t! B% }! k8 i# R(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& U# n4 X5 g6 h9 b! ^4 k6 G
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on# {* z: k' I1 T4 p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 y5 g' c Q) B0 c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: N( K0 I: H# N, i1 i& Msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a1 Q7 k) N" s- o w" p3 O
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 K' _2 s+ F4 E' B* L& B9 s6 Uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; Q4 o( R K4 _7 Z/ M0 W
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
! R6 T( ]7 w* L& |& Sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" o- a0 ]2 a. }/ q. i: p! F/ V1 p% O7 s+ v+ [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 h5 a7 ]+ R: e3 t8 P& M
and American speakers of English, |
|