 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
) K( d& r7 e C6 w# f2 s5 e, F# EInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 I8 z1 M: b }5 N7 c# A
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
, x3 v# b+ h2 d3 v6 A& D$ Oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ `5 F/ [8 ^' V4 M* L8 G" H( U" P7 f, Q
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
' A9 G5 o \5 w4 s0 Y. a4 s3 Oretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" X0 x; \: L; P$ [; WA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=" T. b8 P8 }9 V7 ~4 D" G3 L7 p
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 _$ I" S3 ^0 R! A
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* \' T( @% |3 ^& o6 Y1 j3 Bretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
2 J! k* ?0 m! j4 _3 s X. z/ Ypossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( t, L% p8 o! X(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( H( P# b; t* l/ @
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% S& h% A% ^) O+ wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.9 E0 v5 z7 e; E% J; C8 @
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
* d, |6 {/ `" g2 }- A6 J! @, zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
* T; }0 T" P) ]' U- D% E* a4 tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 u8 \, o( y& n2 a$ S; a2 l
8 c$ r+ S8 y- s* U* n3 j. \3 Z(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
( B; q# Z. o* P- rand American speakers of English, |
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