 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 H6 x1 ~- u; m* A! G/ C$ n1 x
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
$ z6 t3 N' L, Z4 y! Xsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,1 T' R5 Q; w/ I5 |7 M7 l
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial9 ]5 D8 J! h( Q& E( m$ n
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of ~; T* E1 @' M6 s. U- G0 @* l
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# P* @5 S) b P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
! j8 x2 s" t ^+ b[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 ?! C+ g8 ^8 Y1 A% f/ r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving+ W* I* o0 S2 W& s& O
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- o" L" s- C& o* t2 fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# k2 V6 Z( O4 d# x7 [. t! V(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two6 M4 D7 Q# s1 I) \0 M) ?
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 x8 E# N/ F: F2 `( Wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- @* t3 g# I$ v" C' Aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# i& N) _8 f. i$ k
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' V5 n& v) g. `. S$ q& F' [% R
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& e' Y7 Q8 M% u: r
: E9 q: n0 U, F+ F(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
! h6 }, i: `3 Y# C# {( j( ]) ~and American speakers of English, |
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