 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: Q+ E) R" q% g! U2 P* rInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the) o n# f: _% n5 a3 s5 n0 w9 i
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. [4 w, K& ]+ d$ ]
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
( h6 P A( g7 r: f: p(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
! `3 m, F1 ~( i% eretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 Q( s5 s( E3 [+ j
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
6 C7 t% e, _) n( a, {[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" c1 X2 m6 d0 v! L6 k(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 l7 |- s. I0 M4 k$ I/ A/ S" @
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 R9 a0 @" i/ z' @0 l( upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
$ {9 {8 C# f, U/ q(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two. C0 I: [% o' o, D' i4 [
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a8 I8 Z2 N* k) I7 X5 v
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% v# ^4 L. f3 i [end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 b k' a# H D/ V3 g$ Wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
`5 M+ F$ a! t0 L$ S6 }1 y4 Xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: ^! J) X+ r5 C$ W- i- Q7 [1 b0 w
4 a# H+ z4 L4 ~9 j(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)- E1 t, _: x5 G' ^& H" _
and American speakers of English, |
|