 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 A% w0 X c; d! @0 |9 l& G! |+ ?7 u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) W8 s. d( T9 ~3 U! @5 V: Z9 Usyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
- g8 c! h, n0 f# Gand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
9 n9 z0 b6 M; f6 h* c5 |: g5 I$ _2 P(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 {5 c5 V, b x; b7 Q3 J" cretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).8 B# ]) O/ K) `6 C8 K! b
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
- J) ^ G& ~* z# f- L! s* [7 [% i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 U& d; \5 H; q(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving8 H2 |' b/ y; x. W4 w8 o! b
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
a, J+ s& t0 O; r# F; w, Tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 t. t7 f: p' y3 b" {" ^(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two& ]; h) J9 n6 B6 y
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 W' `) f1 X, B2 w/ s5 m& Ksemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ g S" @0 u lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
! {* ]; i' E; Z0 F$ f# D5 i7 e2 xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 }# W7 V) F; ~; z/ cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..* j& U: b1 x+ | g' b7 V
5 n2 q k% N2 ~! m8 B1 V
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& t; l: }# h4 f0 |( i# D
and American speakers of English, |
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