 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
2 ]8 ?4 L+ ^ f" y( y$ v3 `* ~Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
. J- f; @+ z1 Vsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 l# |3 q$ ^) K, a5 l& J1 e/ Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' p+ c% D2 u* W. L5 a: z# Q
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
& M" t/ W5 M8 P Rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" q, I$ K% [- rA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* P; |3 h; J. i6 q
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 W8 O. }' U5 I( r4 [* G9 Q3 M/ g0 U+ x
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 h. N$ M1 n8 v& Oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on [: U( a; Q2 d( e- V
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 H# _% }& K) C; A2 N+ G
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( q' W+ Y; r+ U! O9 C* ~
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a* A# x2 K3 g5 y3 U6 S: d' q
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 U( t8 R. R6 ^. v6 g+ pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ j$ {, G+ v* X& icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,* g4 Y5 L3 u3 Q; ~
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
. r. G* c! [2 B/ z. j; G6 ]# A" N ]1 y( x
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 Y8 z0 C' \, Cand American speakers of English, |
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