 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
. l& O# ?8 e& Z4 k. eInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
- }4 H' `8 r9 J) H6 ysyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
" E, D: l5 z$ s( E% uand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 L/ M1 X% M- `; O" A! ]: l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
A! A }2 T( L: K+ pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! x: y" J7 {6 V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=5 ~0 }7 o+ D% ]3 _
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
! y9 z6 V2 w: I; s& d(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 [1 C* l9 I" e `5 x9 s' Qretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on2 [ f# ]9 y8 p) ]) q* R
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# b+ [; h! Z- @/ H* w(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two, S- L2 B" Z6 Z R% O
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: k$ P Z& {2 {' D8 C
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 Q% U6 s# U5 k1 q2 I5 Lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% O: O0 u7 q- F9 @5 h+ b( d- y! vcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 v' R+ o2 |8 hthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ l3 ~5 p" R7 D
) l- Z3 e+ B' c6 a/ G# H) G+ a(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 J _0 o/ i! {/ i) }% u
and American speakers of English, |
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