 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( v0 P! i5 _. ?" { t, M1 b7 W5 n9 r
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, o! L* a4 b+ B0 F+ C% ]9 k8 {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, B3 L4 Z" ?' ^$ m1 `
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" T* {) j9 ~0 h9 j7 x(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of5 @) G& _! I/ E- O
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; p# n0 a1 O% h* P- t9 r. ^3 b. yA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; L; }: v* q' _. U
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]" S2 h7 O5 K2 C) p/ C' s
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 f. T7 i* t. x7 xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* f4 W5 ~- a$ X* j9 _possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, G5 j. {# f* {# S/ A- b(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- X6 M6 q+ d& l% Z8 \& `5 _6 `# v
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
; S* q% F9 ^, U/ Gsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
! S# |9 D0 @) X$ V. @% x9 aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ b% o x( ^+ I* S- rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& U$ ^8 e) X) J4 \1 Hthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! n. B; K. v* K2 v- O( Z6 A: D0 L
6 d7 A- J$ B- `2 D(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): E: {& t+ e! L
and American speakers of English, |
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