 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 b) W) n2 @5 L) `; D- L. aInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the. ?' Q! y9 O- y- c+ a5 T
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 e- q# h# ~& {9 E
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 U0 X2 Q9 [/ R0 r& r
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# A* E. x4 F# P$ Yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 E' }1 a0 b" A: s( @5 @
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
! q( I) R2 W3 w) d% L5 q[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”] x* X& u" K- t& C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 I% V5 ~7 n4 y7 F) z& o
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on# [* Q$ h5 D* i
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- {. M+ ~! C- w& h: l, K(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% V: k: s ~' _: G" s# S1 X9 ?segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: c- @/ y5 N6 H: \semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.. r4 j. h- n, a4 l: b/ C0 t
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* i" k1 n# ^( {% z8 [; G4 f
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, J+ t# S7 @5 _# E I
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ { J5 ~1 _2 p& V# X1 C/ M
" n6 a+ _. n1 K+ V0 M" {4 B(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)7 g8 Z& v6 b- y0 V
and American speakers of English, |
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