 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) I, E4 N0 d! H; e4 B/ Q; ~
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 l3 v" ~6 j' W- Csyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. P X" E1 j5 {3 X( y8 f1 |' A5 I
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 r- i6 }+ m# e& F3 @0 G0 P7 I(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ V" g! S, I" v2 Eretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& {! R1 C! i2 l* I9 s) i+ c6 B+ k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 n% U. k7 j: W' I) ^% N; Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], q( L1 u/ e5 S! D, W0 T
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 ^! U" T- k1 S _
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" n# A! c! \! |. L1 jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( ], l# H- o A
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two4 Z! U3 p% \, N' J' C
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a/ J4 X5 E' c7 g: L9 Q
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.5 `4 _3 v$ Z1 D1 X) a* q
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In, x9 R8 q! d: F
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. Z4 _* e+ t: {4 I( N% j( othe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..& @ b3 N3 B$ E" y: ^+ y
! H6 r/ h! P5 [6 s4 J
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 m/ h1 M7 a. }$ t( a* ~* jand American speakers of English, |
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