 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 T1 E' \3 r, M, i. ]& U
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
9 w" i5 l$ ~9 b6 l5 Asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,* b1 \2 F0 p! n" ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
( g/ T4 X, f& }* d(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 K& u7 a \: H5 p* F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
7 I5 ]" o' `6 b2 C5 u8 nA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=- ` Z# ^" V- a
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 k7 K, K% f7 O1 k(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
. z0 ?1 C4 M; hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# G1 j3 \" m- r; J6 Bpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 t! { X( ~7 L0 T
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# \6 _$ n. s# esegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
3 u" k5 f+ \# S0 s" h' D: [semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.4 I& @, s) X- J9 Z3 Y9 `1 i
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ O. | y% M7 F% w3 icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
; H# p7 X9 ]" N C# Hthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 L% K x2 x" W4 ]- a% U5 x! n' [ V
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 J5 ]5 A: D6 j9 e2 z' j9 r
and American speakers of English, |
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