 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- x9 c5 P" u* W7 j' d
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 C( i3 F3 p l8 M u3 Rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
5 e2 w, I# L( I1 k! w$ a+ band uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 u& \+ E3 i2 ]2 U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 |0 o% {+ n7 `+ G( L
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ k* ]2 b# _5 Y1 J% A% l! |. Z& TA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' X# X- ~& ~8 A* B
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
. e% q3 Z) |5 U; } N(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving; ^6 F, V; H ^+ q
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 K1 i3 P1 c w tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
! R" f4 ?/ H3 u2 E0 P4 M(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 C" u/ A) o4 l( nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
& T9 ~) O* Y6 z. Ksemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* n5 o0 S3 F- |4 O7 [
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 \" i' u, v. c5 l/ M
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( X$ y% P3 X. w* x& Nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ w, _ {+ c5 |
; _8 o3 Z0 d. x, u* _/ {% N3 D
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( G" C; n" H. O# A
and American speakers of English, |
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