 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' \$ M! e, ?8 |
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
D5 D- z5 V3 ?# @syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 D w( H o2 m1 f; h; ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ L2 B4 z8 x5 I5 F; G1 s8 l(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
$ r& ]( e& V5 _0 Cretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& H7 ~4 A4 _! _6 l" h" I& uA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; D) [. d8 a3 J$ R' F[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
1 d" a U% x+ {7 @" J( N) t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 Z( M. f# E" C+ n* f" Y/ ^9 x9 E
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on4 `' j% Y# P; ?% `/ G1 L, ]. ^
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset Z/ w7 Q/ F0 s
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; D' ?+ b3 B' K& Gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# E9 [+ y9 q( P( [* E% w7 Usemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 K1 {( o5 T* c5 M$ ]0 Jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& P. j% ]( g D, X. E& r3 L
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 ]) z& N& C, t. e' V3 nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 c$ W% I: L7 r. m' m3 X( I
* K8 P0 B; v" b2 G' ^. L
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 N: o3 T4 N6 g F- T
and American speakers of English, |
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