 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 n0 H/ ?" |( H" E2 m; k7 J4 i
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( l6 j5 C( F6 Psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# j1 h+ J: U$ ~' v0 T
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* g R, [% P& f- ]& ]8 Y(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- c k4 h! e; H% f9 Dretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
5 Z! N, g: K/ A8 ?7 bA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
9 H# ]3 h1 c, K1 C7 Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
/ ]4 j; S2 F$ B+ Q(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 F7 G$ r* u. i2 P' K) Cretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 Z) J) B, D$ e' ^possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- v1 \5 W& m* }3 h2 }+ M
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. {$ x4 E, g3 D( x; Ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
`9 L. N d5 X" {; i# jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
: W; L* W* Q% K5 }6 I! x) |! Eend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 Y0 |5 Q, h+ i0 c; {. h$ F; T# W
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& |3 j# U# l3 D% k8 W/ fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..: E& ^0 ]$ g% T5 G- b: M
7 S5 W1 V6 e- k& B$ G; Z
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
- p, T, C% X0 D" U7 y) o5 x5 band American speakers of English, |
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