 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The, O) `" k" C9 f
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, q+ O0 X% t( @, U/ Q9 Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 |0 I8 b6 S7 m
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial7 P) k& K8 }! A: G! u+ M4 R
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& s( T7 J3 ^. c& {. w$ N- l- _
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).' L- X$ ?4 v7 f- h
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
& k, ^6 F/ d! I6 R' i3 j- J) Q[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' k6 X! z( i& H( P: R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 ]0 R* \# R9 f9 Bretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
. J" p- L" S/ J$ l9 ^! gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
6 P4 d- K' V" l(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 u5 S* p( _6 k; Y i" Asegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 C# f7 X9 ^4 u9 p' u$ gsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
k# U$ S$ d/ m2 n0 pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 ~5 i; P& f& c3 j
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,- e) I% {6 i9 h, ]
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
. a( Q0 B/ t* ~7 T% F% t, v9 p8 @) K& i) M- O
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
( N+ g( W- G Band American speakers of English, |
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