 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 p# u' U* H' j
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the" J8 M4 I6 m% o0 ^, X( F) Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, F- f& Q% {! K- u% T, E
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial8 G$ g% d+ h3 |
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; s: k- O% s0 Q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 [: d4 w# l2 E5 [5 J$ V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 A+ X+ Q* D, I0 K0 R8 ^[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# R( \3 _6 e" G, j% Q5 J
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 m* E+ }2 Y. n6 Uretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
9 P6 T' c: i6 B( e. Qpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 a! N6 Q( e# c S2 z5 B
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- [8 ?) e) {; e. Xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: B7 l$ \( w; l" u o) d* s
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
+ Y; g8 m4 F1 x! mend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( N: u0 w- m$ m x2 Y' I" G
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ [) Q. @6 }/ F+ d" H' e! lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..- M% D* p Y1 e2 L; D
1 ?' P' n0 l" x# E& m; o1 J(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% i; k* I2 A6 H9 G/ ~+ @9 l
and American speakers of English, |
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