 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 h; O2 N2 |# }- v' [Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) H- r2 j k& G/ R" d: I R- Osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 u- s c6 i0 _1 b
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% W U6 H# u# ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 q9 g& ?" t4 |
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- f; Y# x& Y6 h' M4 N" l8 A
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=6 C5 E: C! O# l8 w# f5 z+ c
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; d' ^ [( D: o, a% C
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( I1 j/ x# n# M* J5 M: q9 ]7 u
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on" k! y5 i* X, ~7 m, v
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, l* L! \! L5 S9 s1 Z: H! y9 W(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
K" j3 o- a1 Nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) b, n5 G& e3 ~( u- B$ |semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e." H G+ N% o. ~8 o. d
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# K6 Q) p2 Q% K% s$ o
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
7 w2 e4 W* P0 t( Z6 K* q, a' O) d* b4 Tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& `- R* B9 U4 `0 H. y, F: K1 g6 X$ l% x8 {
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) ~( t2 j8 ?4 Y; w
and American speakers of English, |
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