 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 v- |/ C9 J1 Y) c& q; q+ L. sInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' g9 K; i5 B( isyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,' b4 h& }! F6 Z9 \7 _
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" ~! Y2 i5 `9 Y. `6 |* T1 v( m(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
, G! H9 p/ f& X. J+ ?) Aretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).8 u; `0 _1 E) k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 _ n6 @6 o v
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% w! p! _4 Z: E( `+ a
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 k0 \. G$ v6 z0 e. p$ Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
0 _" ^% k, T; m" apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" m2 Y0 Z! M' D- k1 ?(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- j/ S9 D6 [( ^4 [# Bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# L$ L% Q( k G$ M- W& v% `, n3 osemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ u7 e1 K4 `5 m
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; U; r8 U/ }6 Zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& B/ p3 g) S3 p* {4 F$ Gthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, |9 C x/ X$ [' f, b" B; W. W7 t' A8 S! O$ p
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# D; F+ A1 t# d5 d \# Z& hand American speakers of English, |
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