 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' S, ^; S9 [$ Q% _- ^Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 M7 M* @- P4 r2 X7 ~
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,; ]8 |& Q) {) k( R; n
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
: S' X3 ^3 H5 F6 Z! n& L. i, A$ u' u(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# S8 T4 g8 P9 i% J- s5 P6 o6 H* V
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. `( j+ B* j, R1 x+ I" \
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
/ }' R/ ?! x& B0 t0 t2 c" [[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
' h9 D! H/ z5 y0 h2 }(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
. y, m* r I: E( h: C6 Iretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on n% r/ K" _7 q9 n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
$ A9 Y$ ~6 {. G( r# F( b& z% ^& O(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
3 U Q3 d) W; _& \$ J4 qsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 j1 k5 S4 z- k. |# I" Qsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
6 Q* u3 f+ z+ X* E, c3 ^end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ w; \" P6 n& Y8 X# h
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 o$ m& ~2 u0 I# |, v3 zthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# d! y2 T7 w4 G: a
3 [# k0 q4 k" b! p0 w$ R$ N
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 I7 A3 P. o; O* D
and American speakers of English, |
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