 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. u8 C& b) J# d9 h! h1 {6 b5 E
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: |# V: b7 f) f2 d- |- r( I$ b
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% C3 M' @+ R1 w$ P
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& G5 I2 H/ e* }1 ?+ M- j8 l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
; Q3 t6 {' s8 \% ]; Jretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)." J P7 L, I' y% f1 }/ S& _) A
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=$ @6 m, M6 G' n5 ~# H, O1 R H
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# C+ g$ }- k: o' b9 t: m6 s" I
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ V) Q) c! \' E9 L8 Nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 D* a9 G0 b# Gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
/ N4 q- t5 o" p" i8 B1 X* z" W# Z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two0 {$ H: b9 m! F4 r+ j, W4 q# M
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a3 Z* I. m- Z4 C1 v% j
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. C' e) m' x! ?! S8 S
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! M7 i% |8 a! J( t Y, o. r
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 Q# j( P. X1 z* Z" Vthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..8 y: O( H* |3 l; C [
9 g; ^6 M7 z1 P. L- u(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" [7 r( t) T3 \! o$ land American speakers of English, |
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