 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& I) M6 O# m6 z6 O& KInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 L. M7 {0 k' u! Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 ^+ s" K0 D$ W
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
0 l$ V0 z( M7 d6 f2 {" }* E(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
( T, s# b' V/ Sretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
! h4 f- _, Z; S3 Q! b/ ~A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
/ j* `4 E! v' \# R[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]! A6 N/ [8 q2 z+ O' K: ` H
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 }* z& J$ {# q5 Zretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( w) x# v3 D4 K7 p% H9 O' X3 E; n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
9 _; u* p0 b, h(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ E: ]$ G6 U3 E
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
, c8 L& F4 ^( W, q$ csemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. r) @; |; E7 A8 p' e) C; C
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; x; n3 g8 g+ m) Lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 `1 ` ]) e6 C) ^the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
j+ F C% A3 Y' X( Q4 r* f: ]/ B( `! ~. U* I, z* f9 G" d
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
& }$ U, g& j' r; Fand American speakers of English, |
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