 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
5 ~$ V- D8 B( c4 f. eInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
; d7 c* q: U# h6 Nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 E6 \5 T3 R2 x5 _and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) R' U% k9 m$ d& W% I
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( u8 p: t; L7 B1 n9 m- ?
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& C# l+ n& i; \6 i0 A dA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
4 T+ P! y# I& p k9 Y; v" h- @% O[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. D/ j" C. a' b
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
% W! o& T+ v: c; ^0 O% Y1 eretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; I( }; Y6 o9 w7 kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset$ @7 c" c- o1 o3 f# P
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 M4 K) d q. @5 vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
. u8 F' I4 m# zsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. ]9 s y6 G* ?' bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
6 u% \/ \# C+ O+ @; H) y* \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,! `! d4 y$ p2 j# i- [ g
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ H) |0 c) {) F, |% f; O
3 `; f' v! H! a* ~(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, v9 U4 c4 r( b. _5 g1 nand American speakers of English, |
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