 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 ]# K+ E- L$ c. M2 n* {. _5 y$ M
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 w; R) [: }; {6 O: A/ I. o
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ u' m h1 b! m5 @+ A8 O' E
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: I+ G: `0 w, a) C; ~0 q$ x
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' v8 T( ?0 C3 O; P u' I
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
9 x& V$ {9 C; _A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 u; h7 {' [' ?6 j[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]5 D5 y: |& S8 v1 m( C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving9 C' }. _( |8 M/ g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 ?/ C" D) G+ ~9 ?2 j+ C% }1 spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
5 I( t W3 H6 g; u(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 u/ D0 y3 d* D* esegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 `3 R1 R) [, d9 D' q1 c nsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# h* A& e* g5 V2 \* ?( C" z( }3 j
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In0 B$ {/ s$ L; m8 r
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' g1 K0 V2 B( U8 B# E: x+ E
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& y# D8 R, B, u$ H2 j% ?, n" l+ e) G
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% V; i* D/ b) q9 zand American speakers of English, |
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