 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; ^2 G4 I3 [: Z& Y& u# ]Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the c- j7 q1 a3 \
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," q" u2 {1 R8 w( X7 o
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 E$ G+ B' s$ n8 }- Q' n) Q% ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of2 }% L& B% Z3 ^+ M4 j$ |
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& l: H2 T/ o0 K* B* D
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
0 y5 X2 R$ r) P0 [[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]" f+ h7 y# i* j& \3 K% V
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( [1 |$ _+ e1 z# n, Y2 }& X
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 K! t' f6 Z. T& U- jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset) O) ?! S* T( E& e2 B$ N* o
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 y, W3 M8 n, d/ z& \4 v# A. @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" B' f9 q. s8 ~, g0 I( a! M# Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( ]9 I; V, i* p3 w% q# uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% U ]1 M8 B, t5 c: bcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
; w$ V% ?* ~- r, X" fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
8 c% Y4 g; g8 d" q- b; b1 H2 Q
1 p" u6 l$ B8 \: h- i(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
; s" j$ E& t1 w" ]' I* ~and American speakers of English, |
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