 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& P6 O ?" N# j: `Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
* \0 L9 n$ r0 V: F8 c5 _6 msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! H8 T. g, M2 X7 C$ O( U9 Z
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
' m- ~9 X5 ]' {- x* x& [(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
) x- [: w" I5 }retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 P1 j5 E" ^. X; N1 t, \) M4 uA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 z( F" o5 D- y0 b* M- ^/ D
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 x8 L8 U$ A+ s3 Z T" k
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 S7 I; [" l, v0 pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 j& G$ |" Y$ B" K7 dpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 A' c/ q6 h# x. N7 c: B& G( R(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two7 P0 Z n# c5 J
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 z& i/ U' h( R( A Q& M
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ J, Y2 X6 D# V( x7 U; kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& E- |' i8 W# w2 Z. Gcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,; W1 F& n! h) Y6 s
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 C% v& Q% K# [! f$ U7 N
9 I+ W2 ~' l% }' v! ~# ]* z) n7 I(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 r' u1 @1 R* q+ q9 ?and American speakers of English, |
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