 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) c% ~# S2 B$ e# d
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; m; y- _$ C4 y0 }( [
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
* }$ N3 f. I9 g( x. M$ @$ ^and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 s7 m T- u0 \5 `(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ |5 ~1 g" b# ?
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, g* ^6 M. ]0 @% i& b: I7 D& W$ T! | R4 YA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
4 w8 L5 d( G6 x# [[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- k2 ^, O& r0 ^7 _: ^7 ]1 {
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. D" R0 B, z6 B3 ^/ W
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 Y: K/ [& Z/ o* j2 rpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset, r" {$ `$ q, ?* `6 x1 ^
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% d4 \" ]3 n0 Y$ ?: f6 Msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 Q) `5 \. V# {0 A- ^semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. l9 N9 j: S5 c9 R/ }
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In, Y; y+ X& W n5 z1 t
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,8 C/ L0 U- z9 }4 ~/ @" Y' C/ y2 f
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 |4 `* G" n m3 O# _
# B7 ^6 i0 e. B" \
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 u I$ o( B6 D, y
and American speakers of English, |
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