 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 s# c0 W! I7 A) v4 K2 h* NInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
8 M0 ^$ v/ F8 n' E7 k. zsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,& P6 j( D) U$ P, l: d& U5 B
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ S7 V0 v2 _! r- D' Y! g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 z2 S- U/ q$ {) C% vretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 [* k5 a. K9 m6 y; L% j: ^A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=! R( B- t- ?1 F9 h8 v+ h
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 Y1 i; p! T7 [
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 S: D' E/ k6 g3 p1 ^retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
) N& L4 N, T3 B7 ^+ M- G/ L" zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 ?3 z f% ]5 @+ X' \% T(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ X! B4 O+ s8 A9 e2 `" t
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( A5 r9 e5 Z; {1 csemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
S! x% p4 E/ [# i# zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
; b g# m& I! U2 Tcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, B* K# v( f2 z ?
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: T7 r3 A/ x( A! N
: u3 H* \$ ?2 k9 Y) K& e& J& m9 J4 l(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)5 W' i1 v0 g8 {8 f
and American speakers of English, |
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