 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; l- T/ g/ S# c3 ]3 U4 gInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
; L& M6 d+ o2 O# t. I$ A# Xsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,) y( s/ U& i' ~( O7 b
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
/ H* G- J" _$ L1 @/ j8 R; f" G(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; M# f% r% o: R/ u6 C) R& e
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
+ |$ Z2 Z4 p2 n' Z( i0 c `A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=# g& d7 ?* r- F l% i$ _
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 a3 W8 M0 R/ c' h0 d7 z! o7 N
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. `# |- D) T; Q/ \1 ~
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 T* v. e' v! @possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ T8 [! |$ c1 ]% M' t
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two; t! h, x$ c/ h: v& k7 v3 O; J
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ }. z1 N% E2 L1 V5 E: |
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
1 @7 R3 Q7 L* m- D$ aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 U' U5 }# f; ]) J
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
: C- P1 `" }* N( ithe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) a( k1 |3 U& |) m: G& h9 ]% B
' \' }- V" |& Y- ~1 H
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ f) }, p7 K7 \- ~) B
and American speakers of English, |
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