 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
! s$ D% F9 k4 s: ^Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 A" s( U! b& G6 d2 K( b9 C
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
) j5 T' L3 i: wand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial" q! w6 r* \: z: g5 k$ W
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& p9 @# E& n j2 t/ ]* |
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)./ S% O/ a! y, Y
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=3 m/ Z% M1 x3 @& Y1 a
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
' s& K. Y5 v: O6 |' ~/ o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving/ K- D) R; E% K: w" a$ d/ f5 Y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
( u2 \+ X G2 N+ Y1 zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: K: O2 ]# `7 V/ V) V0 b(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
1 V9 ~' w/ ^3 {; ^: {segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
& C2 q {& S/ @% N* P! x* Ssemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.. w% l0 h4 e: V# c% r* @ C( R8 X7 D
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
y$ X" u: O. [' v c, kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 @8 r1 J, O, `' [" V2 @the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# l% a7 ~3 k K1 l
" v5 E* }3 R8 s) @% z# s' a(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
' x% {3 ~. J& I! ~0 B7 }6 Cand American speakers of English, |
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