 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 d. j% Z# T$ n6 [ {2 p, u3 N2 KInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
$ p# ?1 C. o# h" L1 ]( A- msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( X, `' M6 `% O" ]; S
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial2 f: s5 T& H3 I. B' v
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of% ?! t: s; ~* p3 h# W/ v1 {, `" q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 ?% ^ W* x& A o; i
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
/ [. n( j% I* i4 q" M[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]! S7 ~; i' F. R/ J( G% r- ^7 o4 f
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 v8 b e; t0 f) e2 e: Zretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 d3 N8 [! {# v, y7 spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 V, ^; g, ?7 P0 b7 [! @(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
b* }* F0 P5 c* ~segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* W' U. [" Q. k5 Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. e f# G+ { i
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, I$ a9 |2 m4 J, ]4 H" F1 b1 A$ jcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( O1 T/ f6 q. X) lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; v1 ]( m6 s1 o: H4 b
. F' c; U) N& C$ f9 L2 `8 M(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! B, L. o7 _* I1 xand American speakers of English, |
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