 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 t2 H/ l9 k# a) k+ a2 K# T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the# C9 r5 j$ o# v
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
1 B' q1 Y: {' }) A u) fand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
6 q9 P& |+ D. d, W3 T(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
3 I5 p: ^9 N C1 ]2 f- ?% l! {retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
+ R! T& r. [6 w' ^' AA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, Z6 w3 O9 D E( @8 h0 z7 l
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; e8 m! z& Z0 p(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 Y6 D6 V7 t u& L" lretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- E% `" o, Z, m$ Z' }9 b& vpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 M6 `( a# D k* v3 M5 |
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ y5 M8 I- ~5 qsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
9 p# A; { ~: w' D7 L' x) ]" osemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
6 _7 K u. H5 B/ Z6 M) o* {end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In5 q6 o0 k9 A" v/ m# y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' x" A: i' C7 {3 j! d: Ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 Y5 y) w: h" ?! Z& b* S# z
+ C$ g$ X, g) h(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 y9 d7 E/ u& ^9 \+ P( w
and American speakers of English, |
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