 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
7 T X7 ]0 P- B- [& E. aInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) I6 E; N4 Q5 L+ X3 |' n9 ?syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 t2 Z) g' `+ [. T( uand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial4 w. ` ? V7 k) s' [6 g4 x* s
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& b8 K% ?1 w i" d
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, X. d! ]/ Y; }# I4 l" I OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
& w0 H$ m) R3 R0 T( |4 _ G[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 l4 C% f1 F5 |0 o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
" Q" G; t- c* p8 e! Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' d% w; k% O% p8 ]possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
v- g2 V1 W6 f+ P# D(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two7 O+ W1 i' w, }& h" q2 j
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
, A1 F/ U. w. r3 Tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
7 Q& h: \3 H( f: N; L% M: oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
3 V! M+ {! J8 ]8 ]( zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& P* j# P! C7 _3 \7 v# a, Z
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
d! h3 a* b7 b+ c2 n3 z; @& u7 Q( Q4 E1 o' |* R/ m
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
* R( U5 o9 o: N. K, ]; Fand American speakers of English, |
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