 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
+ ]8 I% B, {" W: WInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. ?: d5 d( w' Isyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 ~, w1 \4 N. B' q: s+ O4 h; J
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial! M) b& Z2 Y R
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 }$ Y: d% {8 M7 V- Kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).' n: k# q" ` O
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' Y, q4 C4 o- i- G% q. N/ k[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 @0 [6 } M3 i
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving: g8 ^% b; F( t8 X
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on" `# @4 o O$ U$ Q5 U( n5 E
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
' f) U; O+ D0 ^5 h% R(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& k% o& S% R8 Gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 a P3 v( a% Vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.( \, I# p: g3 f3 v- {5 L" p
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ z. `; E: O) e _# R% `( vcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, E3 M% [' H0 a. N9 @ B+ ~/ T
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 R, u/ I% ?1 B5 ~/ }' [( P
# l. g( k( z+ b: a
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)/ ?& r- X$ E ~2 e( _) y5 B
and American speakers of English, |
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