 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The% B' M( N x% b: P3 b
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 e- i3 t0 C+ L. `syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 o4 n9 m8 u* s3 H0 h* c
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial9 Y; p! o: z$ n
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 R! @4 \3 M6 g! B
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
[" P. J, e5 G5 H. rA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=) C/ c8 R( {% G1 t1 _$ Z ?& o# ]
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 ^/ F h# X4 x1 |(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
# a* T7 a0 t: m4 O) s( r: p6 Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
6 Y7 F8 t e8 V# B0 b4 N9 opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. @& \3 @' I* Q7 X$ N( \8 P(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 A- n, {) }8 ?$ U5 u9 T' Ssegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: w$ T% ?4 C' s+ r+ N# n1 J! I
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
3 n0 Y( M, r4 X: X* {* tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! T3 ~4 X; _' i
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 Z D6 p, S, a3 gthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ s* x: v3 F# e" e+ z
- k+ D+ T* w1 T5 X+ d(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" R5 e d# U% G x7 @and American speakers of English, |
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