 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 ^6 w8 j! M' p. m8 a4 w
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the6 u$ Y: y3 u7 i9 e0 B7 N0 ?
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
* {, x1 L2 O- _; tand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 Q4 e% p4 d9 o& s% n8 d6 [(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
* I& Z0 ?4 G. [1 ~1 vretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) S( { f. Y6 i9 CA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=6 _# ]6 {- |2 C% d! J7 m3 q# D1 N
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]( W/ _( u6 }: X2 w: I: P" g/ ~, r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 a Y: K( N2 Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 b7 E( K7 b* A1 X4 o6 L; y% Ppossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
2 n! ~9 g; T9 b" m6 a6 {) A4 v0 V(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: ^) n* _1 M; y. K; [segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a/ v: m0 {! X+ _3 F+ E: O
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, ] V. g0 P7 Q& V5 H+ lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 o p# }, j+ w" a
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
$ ?, K2 R) a, d0 T8 @; ithe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 y% X! }* ~! u$ M) x9 L5 p
+ u0 k8 l2 k3 B2 E2 Q: m- i# T s
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# X# J- ?" C, u& ~/ j9 Hand American speakers of English, |
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