 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; o- G6 [7 p$ H+ a) dInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! O5 [5 t0 U7 U3 n# Y: F1 ^syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( {/ c) r0 s% {; H# c+ L( {* ~' G
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial. T& S8 v) `0 Y, D9 D$ {4 M
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
* e0 m W9 h2 {6 j/ S: z! Kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
]- q& A4 `- V3 r8 s5 z3 [. e# }3 lA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 f2 C1 q1 Q8 _4 |
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ i0 |2 l+ C/ g; {2 J/ B5 M$ U(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 U3 @2 k8 U, Q6 _5 k
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on+ f5 Z8 T% @- o9 O# C
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
; B* s3 c8 V' D# c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two* }( B, o9 O R1 c, K H& v' F; Y
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 J8 X& G6 y) V3 V$ J+ `' I& v; bsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
5 e# ]# N- x1 y7 y5 c5 dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
8 h! e9 |" d' u+ y: @/ K- i. ncompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
- E1 O$ A( X* }: y0 m0 }the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, S. _7 [' Y( I& p4 m
8 n9 @0 p/ y7 U& l m(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); h# M# l! @1 {9 T
and American speakers of English, |
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