 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 ]! W: [" w) v% e9 D6 F. A! X( [
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 t* g+ L" D) g* T( v9 @5 @, Y9 j( f
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
) R0 d. ?$ N( d9 h1 [7 }' c; Xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial7 A! m: f) Y$ _3 Y) \
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of W2 f; E3 O6 L! \+ {! N5 Q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).) t7 l, ]7 Q: ^, B, D
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( c$ R) v A/ [" h: s6 Y, W[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
: g$ A1 ^4 ~* p4 |(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 ^+ `. m5 B/ E1 _; ?retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 b9 I% @$ a C8 n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 c& g0 U$ ~9 U' o! O) Y" Z" ]5 o- F! R2 c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 @4 q6 `* j# E: ssegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 b/ I) x8 {) J% S# X/ z
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.% s* I" U, l1 G5 u9 W4 j9 @$ x; ?
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
, p! i- z" ~9 P& X3 mcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ ~6 o' @& K/ k0 d* O; J+ b9 n
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) W/ N4 k8 [( N. _ g( A5 M4 t
& G& G: E: z$ `& E( U. i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" R5 F8 T2 P9 C. x ] g% zand American speakers of English, |
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