 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 Z& G+ ]# q* ?! g' I) |) A* Z; V
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, ]3 }$ |, a. Q M3 q" t; s
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
& X3 B1 A( o5 q- H- |and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" C6 z# V7 [% B% _" y! M(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' I% H& ?) S+ u) n
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% G( z3 r5 S3 p, T& f8 J+ ]
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=+ J$ V% {: M: f$ H8 |5 [( O9 J8 D
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' l$ z( H. y( {! O5 E K
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& F# V3 a7 `0 P2 o
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
7 n: N) b" {. j3 O& S( Ipossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
$ L& v; J" c! H/ ]. U(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, ^9 t( r: Y: H8 \& i6 Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: D* J+ E% p! ^; l: e4 U9 }
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# f5 Q# q. u# C' g, L- u) nend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ j# g8 V- |% e1 l \; rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' ^; e2 C4 H- Mthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
4 r8 r" t. q3 K
$ H0 a% M" R7 s/ ^: d% ^(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
/ D+ _5 ?+ b% y9 t) j0 e$ eand American speakers of English, |
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