 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
) f i. `) w) [6 o$ Q F' OInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( y( I ]6 m! O; jsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,* @4 Z1 g, ]. `( S7 R n$ O, G
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
) F5 x7 }/ }4 I8 P5 T(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' b% F( q5 [. `& e3 J
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
- G6 i9 k% O% h; J4 ^1 EA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=3 u' m1 e% [$ K1 O* M
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]/ f4 U$ }- t; R0 X: p
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. L' v9 E" s" P5 D
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 h2 @& E* e( b! _: b& {possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 z1 |2 b; L! M9 o* y
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two4 Y5 c$ u$ f, h# Z
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
9 f! U2 u) \2 i' \semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.1 q4 W3 r8 W; w. X0 A
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- t1 b/ n9 N( r' w$ N
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,0 S0 j8 Z" ?' ~8 o8 R
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# Y# Q/ S: U/ I `; ?" h% e* U$ m
& R0 S. B9 c; [2 d3 z
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ x1 a. u7 e4 n) B# E2 `
and American speakers of English, |
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