 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 Q* b0 U6 b8 rInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. q" A8 X- J* V$ s' B/ B$ ^syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 x- d! z# }2 A$ ?
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ ]+ E4 s+ @: p9 k(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! _0 c2 W+ @, w1 U( j* M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& I8 O& d. S9 X& rA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
4 g% p1 l3 ~. Y+ P! o[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 }' o- \' L" f) i, R7 K8 a
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
1 T; D& q5 x" ]: B0 L. yretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on b _' ^$ f3 M5 y% T( x7 |+ T
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 S/ o3 }/ @, l" P: }/ w
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 l4 u$ M. d, M, l( A+ o+ y
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a. P1 h$ R/ f7 s2 H* R" Z) F- H
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.- `% {' Y: y9 H' [* ]) \$ f
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
8 l3 f4 ?: T# xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 q& P2 _$ n- r, W$ Jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 U/ {( s2 u) @' d2 z" x
3 H+ d( F6 f5 |1 X8 Z(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 }5 W% O w5 E$ i
and American speakers of English, |
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