 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 w! m" J" L& {' ?% ^) |# ?; {Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
5 H) G- W! r6 c& i& u, O' ~syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,) Q- q5 M( ]9 Q& m/ ]' L
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 Y" [( @5 W P' \% e2 @
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 H: r: B/ M4 t. f4 I; W' O" B! Nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)., U. J) n$ q! d: k( N
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=. Y( V; }0 s$ P5 }# n3 F3 X' M
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 o* J% ^+ c) d' o6 d* v
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving5 L! Q, P0 }) @* d
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 x3 A, `' y& j/ p! Tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. _6 N; o( i& f; f' H7 v7 K+ ^(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two" z/ c ^% @0 P) y% f$ e( R
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a4 U" T) g( M" W1 y0 q
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
; O) \9 M( [: ~2 d1 qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In) O+ u0 C1 H2 y7 V8 K% N" w
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,# l% l: Z+ n* h! {; x" G
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.., q- ]& K% v+ T. c8 }: B
# j7 `/ C" d8 f6 T% ]$ S' r7 v; T% U
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)/ |/ T( H# G8 B
and American speakers of English, |
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