 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: Z5 l: V: h# | j7 xInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 a) w* C% z- M; N( f5 M9 @
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 q* r& }2 h9 ` g, L% xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
0 B0 L( L( P! H7 ~(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. F& [% ?% d8 B0 t- Y
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ B) b8 h: N* Y9 nA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ y+ b1 l/ c/ S6 ?- { `$ y% O% E) O: \
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( q: z: H; \2 j/ r' p, y(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ Q! U5 f, P$ m4 R4 k8 Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on$ W( V0 l* @/ Z3 Y: W7 X0 P7 b
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( {1 e2 v9 }& o F U; t
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( q8 Z% d7 ^: W; qsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
9 W" W/ m% z" {, M1 F( P$ [semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.: i% [# x9 q" }" D( m
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. x' ^' R! O2 {1 `compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, J7 X- S, r j0 U( h
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 ]3 p2 ~5 Y* L4 L1 d
& s2 B; R( T, T" v9 Z. _% {
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): b) D R$ [% {$ T
and American speakers of English, |
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