 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& ?, I% i5 E o2 w% _* g9 Y1 M% }$ d
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" x2 v8 j) J- ssyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,3 Y2 d0 g3 F% u( X7 t6 K" H% v
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( J9 X, m) R6 \
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 O% t# G, Y' r: Qretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
# u1 a# Z# d! W1 D: f# ]+ |A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 Y% I! g( d% {5 @( d$ J[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 u- v( [/ i2 h6 u( s% }( ~
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving9 m! n8 i4 ~/ ]0 m
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
, t8 F5 n' p& R. X1 I9 _2 Jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset$ _0 E) T3 A0 d3 A" f
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; [5 L; Q, p3 {8 p; h6 B A' Osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 m( r% @6 g, B% Z, R2 h
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.& w# T9 p; ^ n( q, m3 h3 h M: Z
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
3 p; i* j& H0 y5 \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ m- C5 B% y5 F7 r+ S Y4 y* j
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..% }/ O0 T* l* M; B0 `
% f; E* \ K+ S# |/ C3 B(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! f. T8 |. G6 @+ U+ e9 Y: t# {
and American speakers of English, |
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