 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ m$ L3 L8 |: q) RInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 G# p- Z' ^% Z K# _, E3 H1 f
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
0 J8 q- O) @- O; }and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
& @8 M' t1 {/ P& H. u8 X) s6 R(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of" s; z, x) A" z- b% h# z
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& }' B" |! w& G* s5 g5 |A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
! U7 F; U8 g$ E" V! M5 X[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; p3 ~8 |; N$ f) O! }( y( g4 R' e
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 N3 Q0 q7 o4 Bretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
1 |3 Z# {* D* a' q3 upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 t! f: c. t, c1 M6 p; c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* ]/ }! I' S- Rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
' g0 k4 M' t: `2 a( z& Q+ e& Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 [4 U- I8 r. n0 f. |end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In1 u! c, X" s& E. y- T
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,8 j( k0 X0 r7 e6 J" l7 x2 i% J% V
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..% E2 p9 m" j! H. Y# e& k6 o
. _8 s X0 H( M2 H" R' w b
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 G" v0 `! `8 a3 o' Z9 b& R' i
and American speakers of English, |
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