 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! {; z2 G: X! m- r9 i
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 {3 C+ i: M0 ]% ?9 n: P! k+ L# E
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
N6 B2 {* G( Z2 ^$ B5 ^' Eand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial" {' y- ^- Y8 H7 o: y, z3 |$ o; c8 k. H. d- J
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
, o! {% `8 ], U/ g5 Zretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).0 B" y! T; Q, P! y7 P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' G4 H y0 U. r0 J# ^! a' u
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 Y' b$ m/ t, W4 J- d) B% J8 b6 l/ K
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. m* ?+ C8 i* B% V6 X
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 s5 n2 A5 S6 o4 [possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( B" G1 ~2 f& d(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two: a6 M* F% o% H8 s# F
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a8 @( [& |4 ^( q5 D8 i. n7 B+ d
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.. l$ y* L6 z. B: L$ ~
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In' J: u( O, G7 l1 \
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( @8 R# @9 c- R+ C s; Bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ q% B( Q9 _6 M3 d m$ }; l
! @0 z. {+ N/ f3 Q5 D(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); B! G& F( p: B4 ^" |3 L5 \
and American speakers of English, |
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