 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& w' x& T R1 _5 t2 v O2 u/ |& jInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. k! @1 F, j0 o* psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ h' r$ e. A. i9 o; ]
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
. H( U+ Y, C1 W) T* z(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of3 b* O( c; P6 T7 d6 ?
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, `3 W0 }5 J+ w a9 wA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 F7 `# i% s$ V, X* I0 X8 n
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 y7 ~' ^1 a2 b+ S" u+ X(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 _% h5 h7 Y2 ]0 n4 Zretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 [+ Y' J" ~) ], g( apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- f) B' i1 m4 b% a$ r" @(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( ^) d' _( Q2 _. L5 G, ^
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 s4 D; e/ a( U. o E4 H
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- C5 t2 R# h9 g5 Nend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- V8 K- p1 `- Y) J
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,8 W. w2 E- M4 O. @, {9 {% N
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
) T& r) \0 m, d! `$ M7 H! \4 k& N! M9 e* G9 j8 D" D9 l
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( o4 y: N9 N0 u( o. I
and American speakers of English, |
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