 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 P! ?# f. U9 I( v NInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
; D: b6 d: S2 G& osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; f& s: H. S1 e# |) [7 K. l( @and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial# Q3 y& S! y9 n& ~
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ N: \# X( ^4 H/ c
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
( E! @; r$ {5 ]) x( lA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ ]# [$ S5 U5 z[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. P. M8 V- B& k$ V G4 ` V5 @
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, I% o* Z3 W" K. ]$ |7 l& Nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on |2 k0 [+ [: K4 m+ j, j3 ?. F
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 {' }$ x8 L8 U9 B- H& T
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
! a: l# G. I/ j# Wsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 r* F1 m$ b. R4 D, Fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
6 d6 A0 l0 p- @) oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
0 A! O( M& f' l3 Rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,0 M0 H/ L7 s; E; P7 Y+ R8 p. D# Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; Z/ y( H8 j+ R4 K: i+ g
! q% l( e, K& S5 p& m) V( c(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 n# h+ r. e- @2 r" O' d4 c" p
and American speakers of English, |
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