 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 ^: B4 m+ _: u! F0 g* @" G, e( z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 E( a) R, `& ^9 r. @+ {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# { r. n5 z I6 _, m6 m
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; G+ i' | w# A(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ |4 \( Y/ v, U& h4 E
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& U' N9 D, s* y1 U, s y7 cA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=4 Z+ }4 X' M+ e/ E
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
7 S$ _& ~1 O$ g: ?" v( Q5 F(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ c* w9 |6 n- x Wretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
2 Z" H# j9 K2 B( {, fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
% |9 r. C" F5 X B% }! R D(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% E( c0 [5 n; n8 wsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: u8 M( M& s, }. R; ^( psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
E0 Q, D& n5 v3 E' b! _3 Oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
4 y0 q% ~; V! Vcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,- Z# O F. n1 I' b% ]6 ~
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
. k7 y# u+ z$ w* e$ |' M8 {$ E+ r* U4 b& t
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 w) a) `4 k- m: d; B' ^and American speakers of English, |
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