 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
) [% ~$ H% c; m" U, I% O( ~Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the5 T2 t5 c+ h! ^
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 S5 X- j( n& d/ J9 zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 i" N' y7 N" b0 K5 C
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of% z" ]5 K/ ~: V7 |/ k* e' B
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, X4 q2 g; l2 C! v2 Z; }- KA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ V( `4 c7 p: c0 e! M, W5 t
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
. y) M* A: p! t; T(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving! u3 V/ k# K- Q( g9 y, V' ]' r
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ q& l& p! P: Mpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset3 C+ [" t& ]1 O* f" x, _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% d1 t- t/ \7 i; Z8 N# D6 Z: O! F
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a Z+ T }* H- ~ S
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 M: W1 S6 z+ r5 w( nend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In. K7 L7 l9 W, T/ o& j7 W
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,* z* A1 y) H, r$ L
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( h( q& G4 w$ r+ ]/ n) ~! {( w
% j& U9 K0 U+ q' L" T(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)- y, L/ g6 q. B: Z) M
and American speakers of English, |
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