 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( K4 q( {7 }6 V+ d1 c
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, `9 k. Q$ J! {syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# t& m$ d5 y9 U8 n) ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) L4 z0 N* {2 `' ?4 J8 p7 v
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 ]8 t5 S" K5 r) _0 j" }retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 h( T1 c$ c& D. a- F$ NA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 ], c4 V5 |! C[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
) Q) d, U" Y2 r; n3 K(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 i: i( ~0 _: h% ^; X3 Y" Q3 v" P# W
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on6 e6 e/ X0 J" W$ x* u! L
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# ~' s: A9 t$ z% {" ~5 Q: Q(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% z2 p- C3 U' h% {1 |3 |
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: e |3 l: q0 ^3 d0 X& W. E
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* k! O; I/ T" _3 \/ q3 w
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, ]/ V3 C6 a- F1 D2 g. kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
I3 ^# m- j1 |3 z) Kthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..1 w1 Z4 ?$ @* P8 U( v
$ n# w" a. Y- Q8 p- f+ D3 Y(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), y- ]. m& @' ]/ D
and American speakers of English, |
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