 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
( P( c4 t# [4 S9 h( e* ?, LInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
: n* J; U; x3 d! Vsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; V0 C% D: T0 s% Q# Aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* Q; e0 {) U2 }" { P5 e2 E(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ a" ?: s& F/ C6 P: r
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 f/ U! ]4 J: W( @8 d. {5 BA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
2 i* k' c( g7 d( |2 H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 `+ z% a. ]: y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving b0 M! O- o Y! x3 n
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 s+ ]/ L* r+ S# R8 \! l
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
% z" z( Q7 W% x% ~2 Z- U' l. }) z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ |4 t7 `# z, b& }segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
' o7 U. |% J A& x$ _* ^* T+ i9 Hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.3 k4 S9 ?/ F& x3 s$ }4 L1 v( h3 U( W
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ }$ Q8 K0 u' F9 Q7 v& a
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 o+ V( Z; f, Q7 M) t5 T. N0 j. V% G2 jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ n2 L3 U5 d+ I+ m# k# N4 S; o' D+ a# X4 h8 \! J
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 {4 S0 |" ]5 _0 v& Mand American speakers of English, |
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