 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 S4 H# Z# j3 U9 J9 OInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 g$ e8 |( T) p7 S6 R0 J7 tsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. ~% k8 O- c$ f
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' A; U" q. J1 r; @: Y! `
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 T5 T% h- G, X' N+ j9 B# @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. s' ]6 A2 |/ o) e& v) F
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' i: e" ?. w2 x, `1 K( f
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ f3 r9 J( }0 ?+ H0 f' O( K `(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) k5 r# s" o1 b+ D
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 h# i5 b: s" a$ J2 U/ Fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset7 d: e6 L0 g% E
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 }) F2 y, \1 B, [! `3 o) n4 j& hsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( u, j! x% O$ ~, ^$ osemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
q1 g3 k9 n. u( \1 hend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, f+ e/ Z- i5 u6 f' ]compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
" U+ a5 Y- J& |7 V. Ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..& b" N- u2 X% v& l' Y
0 A+ {1 G0 }8 S( ^, x
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 Z7 I/ T! T& B4 E
and American speakers of English, |
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