 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& U: Y2 V& `( h8 p. T/ l' @. j
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
# q% }7 [5 N/ p Y; jsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. A! }( l. O: a' ^; Jand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial9 V0 i" ^. f6 b+ m8 Y
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& |* ?6 l* P6 n, j4 P
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
U1 y1 L3 ^) K$ L5 Z" G0 H. zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=4 G @/ C! N9 p* f
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
& ?5 [* F4 v9 V+ o/ U1 f(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: N8 L& a8 q5 R$ F# Aretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 I# }9 F+ f% {) W
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& h( y; A& u! [, G0 G" Z& [) d(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- U3 |' C* u: Rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 E' k. S& [/ S; C( U
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., S$ M( }3 w0 g' t. W
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
! W9 W. z/ o$ v0 h1 |& c1 N& bcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 ~! a* N/ u2 T1 G7 P% Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
% M1 y2 u5 {& v. O
2 Q+ L& w: \4 e4 |(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)7 N$ I# M) ` V% q# C
and American speakers of English, |
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