 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; {7 g9 X. k* F+ Y! L# NInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 X2 _; G) O( P0 ssyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( w/ s ?# B9 x2 O
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
) t7 q; i; C# T- ~(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 d1 o9 Z( E, Q/ k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# J) U% w: P0 ?8 Y/ a' j9 h6 [+ ~
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 L/ Z; ~1 r2 f" ~2 E% B# Y
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
- t# U' W C+ D0 g: R8 c(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving% {. s+ ~# ]1 K" H4 L9 F( |
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on8 h! u" M) i7 h" y. e( ?$ ~
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( k- G" ?2 G) W& ^) b" C# v$ _(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, h) n0 }, v: N. v6 U9 G6 V! K0 usegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ l* ]6 j4 Y P2 \/ d; j( l% {
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.& W1 m: R) Y" R
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
( S( e# W& n6 }8 a3 Scompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 I( H3 ~. s1 Z4 K
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
1 K' c- N9 P% o9 [! z d
5 R3 }- |4 L! `( ?/ r(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! I/ L& S. M$ K5 t
and American speakers of English, |
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