 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
# M+ D! s! \) h% T' TInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( q' G/ V9 A4 G
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,7 n% N# Z. |- S/ D6 y% a
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; C# h) T* c; C# W; t4 \
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: L# \( C- d7 ~: U$ a9 f3 F' H8 k8 C
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). E* {7 l, N$ G& S. h1 m
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=# A1 a0 P" s9 t k
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
. W8 F: {$ n5 A(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving" G7 ]+ ~1 h. W, o: `5 _( ~/ c
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ i; u' U! G" Y6 D3 Ppossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset! p3 B* \9 ^& s9 T* s, O/ g$ h, _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- d( Y% H/ ~: ~+ k9 u$ bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 @- |1 T' `4 t3 j9 I3 C/ R# msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
1 n: E9 }6 A0 F8 j/ @% i* i- [' n, zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ U w% Z; u% f. H: V' ]+ ycompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 m& F5 [2 j/ O: Fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: v/ S5 F9 g6 j) i+ J1 I9 [& G: Q4 g* V4 c2 T* ?) K9 O
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 {! v8 v1 E, x! }! f0 W
and American speakers of English, |
|