 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- \9 @4 M: m; D( I. O; a
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- O' M0 B( y: W
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
( d# U5 h9 h: E3 iand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" K `' P& C( B7 A L7 d h7 z(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 Q* M' a6 j p' A& k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; I N% x6 A1 J" ~2 }7 _( IA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
$ I8 I* M( s0 q q' h* i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 U3 H0 {/ ]) L4 d* g% z$ ~! {$ R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 ]8 s" D' d) G1 ?retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 X: ?$ O7 A% ^" @, w# I
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 k& [& ]0 U/ E4 r5 s(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 K( g2 ]0 f7 p5 \/ L8 ~segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 B; n9 T0 w: `* t& k0 M" f# i5 H6 Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ R+ ]6 J1 z1 D1 ]1 s5 e$ Y. Yend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In f+ r: r- J% u Z. Y% i. k; z! H9 ^
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' M/ q( o# ?# s! @: \& cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 e5 m. r3 ]$ K$ R. @% Z. E, s" w. _
8 B6 j4 `3 ~3 G& T7 ?+ x
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
& v- m. m9 m$ T2 Z+ oand American speakers of English, |
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