 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
( J1 e4 X* V! I( F/ GInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
8 ?) J8 U" m, C+ z' ~3 P5 ~1 Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
4 A! E& z* m- B6 land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
1 \( h; g4 ]6 u(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
$ D' i4 s) W- B. a- e9 Q+ mretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 O+ n5 S5 o- |A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. r3 g( P! v# s, F! |- [[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
: U* F8 K) S% q! {6 x+ o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. K! K% m0 @1 W; d$ B; |( j
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ }4 K* a# X5 p9 n4 w- upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
% h" ^& }( D/ `$ N7 y% h(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 N% k5 p, v7 Msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) z$ c' V3 n9 V8 G9 G3 j4 v( |0 Isemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 D- z) T* R( a, r* }# ?- H2 w' k1 G% y8 Tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
3 b8 [7 m9 O* M* B& B- s4 n& Lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& _1 J! ^# `9 S' Q- x! Ythe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
8 {0 ^/ @; H* {- I# \7 m2 J, ?- c1 @, t! ~: ]# n/ j3 Q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" [/ o" f% [ e& N8 f, Q5 iand American speakers of English, |
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