 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; }( K/ y& L _+ E3 W7 U8 pInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the$ @5 H" J2 N5 e8 h6 F( G" d4 z; s
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,7 G8 Z6 E" A# ]* [. x
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% u8 `$ T4 v# W# L
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 e8 _4 W3 `8 ?% _. u% _. }
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).$ B1 W- }8 Z. a
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 c6 z# a3 j/ u$ y0 n6 K[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
+ B7 C9 }, y8 s(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 h$ ~5 a& U! _# _
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' x) O( Q+ s. ^7 _' ~! H# Jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: Y, i2 A$ Q8 i* P* ~
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two+ O/ j7 [2 c6 ~% x8 T) c
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 g/ G# e F6 o* T0 ?
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& ~6 p2 N* a1 d+ u" C) Aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 c l$ H0 P9 e- Zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
]1 M# o' i- B4 \2 q. ^the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, ]% Y1 o# p( F/ b @& D0 g+ ]8 o4 Z8 ?+ G% B7 p: p% g
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)5 a# i% H' n8 D6 J
and American speakers of English, |
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