 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' a- ~* j ^2 t4 g0 C, ]( _
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the8 W" Y9 ]( n$ A9 b
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. W6 J2 G; v! ^: zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* H1 G0 E6 L1 j8 e' d C* E3 ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; F& V6 Z3 A& t- G. f: x
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 R) T- \; Y) O/ r8 s6 N- lA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* ^% G; o8 ]& x! p1 |[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 P1 F! m7 L7 [# d/ O1 t0 ^(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 f. z/ ?7 D+ B' ~retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on/ j9 G; Q5 O# R9 j& h2 p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# I8 H6 e- C5 [% [; O$ l(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 s8 b. @1 b) y% f* l$ ^# X
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
! u- I2 c0 V. \) xsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# v; G" r5 @& J' r2 B) l1 X
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In5 d. ]. `; M9 l3 x8 @) N
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
1 [4 i1 Z$ n/ c0 Tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..: m7 n; [ ^. Z% h
7 S) x/ h2 q' g1 z* e; f
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, T* R1 T% M; ^6 p+ @% D! Yand American speakers of English, |
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