 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
# Z. I& f9 k1 |- o4 J, IInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the+ Y0 Z, [4 ^. y* e4 D: t' Z
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
- n; t/ E x/ @" G" wand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, K( o; j* v6 f; S
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
_9 r. I3 m4 F. |" E8 `retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ V \5 H" f" `. j$ f# ^) m% m
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. e. ^0 ]$ R7 p5 @# g[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
% G5 }! [8 ?2 G* c& A: t4 t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 k1 q3 T1 g( Q0 _8 z0 \retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ T8 S+ J! N" `, `8 c4 Y# l. ?possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" s: \( k7 D$ f3 ?(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
/ _. W. x, G+ p4 ~+ |# R0 |' isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
! ^) u; l4 y' e) b9 g! hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) Z% v8 H9 }: r) u/ m
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In+ i: U) @; W3 t! ]
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 }1 K+ P$ @. P8 Z1 O/ Lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..& c9 \8 `, |5 Z
4 o m: e' a& d0 c4 f# Z$ M0 K(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)5 t3 q2 L% {; q) K* g2 g2 I
and American speakers of English, |
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