 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
* }; B8 z7 t' |$ l0 ?Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 J" Q% f1 c6 A3 P8 n+ i: J- S/ nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 v$ |8 V5 ^3 Z4 T9 [7 q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) _0 Y( a1 `- O! W3 p
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
5 t$ p, r- q/ yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
: o7 O* h8 X$ m* wA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=- p: E r! {% L, L. i, Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
9 h8 M+ u. J! A9 i. X(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
/ p2 L; p" k7 x2 w0 V0 j9 q4 V+ Dretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
& m Y% K# _7 v) C9 |, Rpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 u _" t4 l- o(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# |. p! u$ R G2 g7 u! g' Zsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 p/ w( C$ b7 }4 H3 J! B
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
5 }4 I, Z3 c7 G/ p/ u- n4 l6 ~end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ z8 I7 \! s0 t0 @# b- pcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 y/ T, l( v. b, Y# fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..1 }. O x- x3 t; Z3 E% L8 ^1 R
W1 p- O! r0 i- E- h(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); O7 G& _) [; T) ?
and American speakers of English, |
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