 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) V; P8 K' n* `' G" G
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the' j3 E+ N5 k9 h) ~; I1 B
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 }2 ~1 V# w0 l8 h, y, zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
0 l5 _) s! M& f; \% \(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of5 g, o. y2 ~" H( i
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
1 m# U- a$ A$ e# ~) c5 Z2 Y3 `A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 n; ?( H- {. w& `4 s9 a+ W: v[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- F R+ m* z5 C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving3 O: D& t+ ?! |9 k. T: S% Y, g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( |/ T- z* F2 g* Q8 ]# a. S
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* F7 L7 _/ d* {- |+ a
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 ~6 @1 E7 |4 y* B+ usegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a& r u5 m+ A" E2 |
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ U) ?0 o! s6 v/ Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In) [9 g: M( K7 W$ N' Q; t
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,+ [# v& z4 w/ z3 c* J+ r
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 l" {5 t1 i2 I( T$ U, e
" u8 F( Y9 O4 e
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 i. g8 q# |3 O! i+ p" [: |+ Pand American speakers of English, |
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