 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The8 o! y" O3 @* Z% V
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 k# S" F8 b" `% p
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,+ p7 e4 ]; y' m; ~2 e) X+ L
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& U5 x+ V! Z+ ?5 i, W
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
6 m8 O+ g/ h5 r/ b7 {- D8 g, fretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% {! I/ S0 C6 | X5 a9 C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
, J8 v- b) L0 v! x[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% B2 b. ^$ p7 Q2 ~5 n' Y7 i
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
; ?' s4 M8 a$ l" Z; b! O- L, _8 Sretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on; o# [$ t$ x$ O! B5 b
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 h1 X& c9 E& W" b- `5 \
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; ~3 B( p1 C4 N. k4 s4 rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 l0 Q; K8 ^: c' ~' M: |) c; w4 q
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& Z! I7 T: B: K) Eend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 i A% {/ d0 u9 k3 f5 I) s, {
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 M3 H/ q) Q( O: U3 Bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
. y2 A5 l0 a+ M- {& Y' B
, w+ L$ f9 h' C* Y, `7 b: n, f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), t0 ^( m. W) F; f
and American speakers of English, |
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