 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
% D7 r& y1 v* U" E7 C; pInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
* l- O" R4 U' L+ `5 v2 Esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
5 A( K# d5 b, f0 B9 A2 Eand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
( P; T5 ~$ v; d# m6 ^(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ n+ R4 K5 t2 ^2 Q3 ~- X% Iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
! p. c5 i- C& LA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=+ t, K& d5 J# T3 ~1 T
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; @4 s. J3 Z* ?- v* @(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
' Z& W- Y( N1 W% P# n. X+ x" Sretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on2 r/ P) o! S9 c! g, T9 _; N
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- u- S$ R2 N. r; P6 U1 ~! ^, [! g
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
/ a( C& r& Y8 g; @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a. K c* ?" z# z4 H2 K0 o$ Y0 x
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( ]5 I: d- u Tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; w `9 \2 k9 s1 R1 ?- Q
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
Q0 h! Y/ b6 G$ ~" o! Qthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..2 r3 X: U0 j! J, p* V q# I
6 g- J6 E* ]/ C6 \$ b. R(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ p p, j" ?7 r8 S$ \1 r3 I D
and American speakers of English, |
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