 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' _& e& a G5 uInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 S0 G- P1 B7 M1 C* r- q
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ I: p F9 u7 w. K
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ h4 N; ^" Q' Q( X9 t4 V2 Z$ x) r
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ V; \5 t u/ |
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 J4 A. H! E2 P' I5 jA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
5 j$ Z4 M' ~4 n$ p[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 w1 T& K% ~) a( [, Y, L
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 b3 N3 K: q" l! wretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 j# T/ V5 U: b9 Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 s; d" A4 Z9 v, y(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 M% P; p, H9 z/ ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 d' l; w; t' p0 o) ?4 |( s
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# v2 j! `8 F4 s* L8 m) xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- G. _' m- n1 l4 F
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 }$ I& E& d, Y, a
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.., \ A& ` L' t, F( e4 {, J8 y
& u% k* o3 b1 q9 H5 B6 [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" [- y6 C$ m; A+ Tand American speakers of English, |
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