 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The; C( t. a7 J& p
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
C4 @: r& B' w9 S) ^syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
4 L$ Z- X0 z I6 yand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
6 w% Q. k2 P; t0 O(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
) A5 Q- m. E2 h* j5 xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 I+ W# D: R/ j5 \ w% P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
# E$ h" v# L5 j+ k6 w[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 h9 v1 S2 ]+ J' @/ R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 O! \/ k! c( }retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' ]& c/ U' t+ l8 R4 @
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ M* e0 `7 u, e- \) X' F" z$ e3 W2 d
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
! ] W, {2 S P' L3 b( hsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* K6 h# @2 d* }. S0 \semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.: U/ m! N/ v" W! d& Q& T
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- o1 C6 |) Y) _
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
) a/ [; q* N. M% X1 J9 L+ ~the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" B6 o0 e1 r" }
" E. {# O1 v. v: x9 E% l7 v(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& @2 S5 C$ W @# k" d1 U2 \
and American speakers of English, |
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