 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
! b& M. W7 D3 j2 e( vInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
+ x' S U: p7 b) ]3 L8 Ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
4 V9 q- c# |1 m* v) y1 n0 M' kand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
}8 A5 d+ B$ u' B8 N(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
( X% K( z+ G0 {, `$ Z- q; Pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).: |; W% F P4 O
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=+ q8 o$ g( _8 K* d/ L O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# P" d7 j5 W, f# l2 y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, `) V! Y+ [9 ]retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& ?/ p- g) `0 l1 `( c; w/ o8 v
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset b- Z# I- f' i# g3 `0 Q( V0 G# c
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 f3 Y" j/ o& O' C( `& a, j
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
6 o* _$ }4 e1 V: }( Dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& _: m' w V5 S' m5 V" X2 N0 b( a5 Z; M7 Eend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, Y" r5 x8 p O6 Tcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,. k+ E2 f: c, z8 i/ s6 f9 P. {
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..- L, \1 D) y. \" E$ ]9 x
# q4 j+ i0 W6 v; S(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 E2 T/ Z" _3 ?6 m8 L5 @. d. x7 ^and American speakers of English, |
|