 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& D* Z3 U* {2 z$ c
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 c1 d k" j$ l# osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
$ T$ w7 X6 u# f! Iand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial2 }" n5 X7 L" ^0 {3 P, J
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of* k7 I v9 K9 k/ o) C
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
5 I$ ]' I% ^' u2 q& d0 Z% |A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 ]) `5 j. R h# _* F0 @[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. x, n5 H) Q4 H. y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving0 l+ L2 R6 O9 @( g, E$ J
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
& Y! Q o' I, f. d% Mpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, x1 j4 b Q. [( q(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two. i2 F. H* D; d: T1 G3 r- ^6 B
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a# K) f+ {" [) j$ T; D3 [
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 x$ M& T; |( w J* kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 c+ v( E4 Q$ Q9 k$ c8 |
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' c6 F6 G: z- q( B, p+ z; o: jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
0 |1 H# }/ T7 s6 V2 ~' l: t9 u; o
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 b, M. T7 v% f7 i$ d. i" iand American speakers of English, |
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