 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' T1 R5 f0 _- V% ~4 _* ~9 m# [1 vInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
+ E2 o/ K* r3 \& H7 r4 Jsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- W$ e3 E: J9 z# y; M' v h
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; T" c% y5 U7 F) G1 n
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 w$ U: b0 g* w! r
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).8 Y& \) T4 W# U; f+ e i
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
0 C5 b) }0 |4 _) `: W6 n6 J: e[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 `# l8 ]; F3 T
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 V0 m# n7 d1 K6 \) G9 M3 n% D$ qretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 U! I2 ~( s; B; ?possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset, v. Y& `5 T8 I" u' A0 Z: a
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) n( O5 b) P6 q r `! ?. Esegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
& f4 Y n2 P8 O, X# Y! Z$ rsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% j$ C6 J" n" F/ \: F! Lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# r \. q" g# X
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ Z- s# w3 L5 @5 {the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& ?# z9 K. y2 R3 d; c4 u+ x0 I4 n/ r) t% q; \
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 ~" A, u8 V/ t6 N: `; X& U
and American speakers of English, |
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