 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' n$ l" [; y2 u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 {4 J g* z" p; T4 d: x
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ [3 c6 B) r/ Y5 Fand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial# y# L6 D+ j* j
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 r0 f, n h0 G9 q: Tretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
/ z4 i; V0 B6 S) y/ W+ @A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
# [! F5 ]$ w) l m$ o[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
- g \! P9 v# s: `# i: q. g! [(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ \# ]3 b% ` Z+ p" `# Kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
% T! u# |! ^4 E+ p& Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" P' b7 [$ L$ w: \(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) h( T5 A7 v( k9 j# D3 E' U1 X5 ^segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 n+ g% x/ y+ y( }5 Gsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 R( H- N* u* H
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 l* Q8 ?. t3 Z- S" ?1 {
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,3 b7 C, H9 g& ~2 h7 q# T$ I
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) p3 l7 p$ ]) C3 g+ t! P
1 @- U) M: \. Q9 {/ T
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)# g& q5 G- T; m
and American speakers of English, |
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