 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The9 i" g' a8 R3 s4 t& a3 o
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
$ q% A' K: C4 H8 E# `syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, V4 B4 `$ }; Z6 f4 K' r" b
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial/ l F* L$ Y. p
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 W: h, [3 a: N" l; Kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, _, B1 k9 ?3 w# y1 k; P8 Q# i0 ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* I* L3 T4 @* H1 q1 ]5 h) {/ h4 Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]" f- L8 _# ^/ Y( e p
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving% _) d# [% k) n0 e- `$ _0 b
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# h( M; H) ?8 | ~0 rpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
4 e$ @1 L4 _5 [ N6 ~0 @5 H6 g(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
6 }& [9 S8 O4 h# [+ `0 hsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a3 u, }/ a( N# `
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 W3 B) A5 ?6 {# Jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# g) q+ d" z% o% }
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,- Q7 {+ A" F0 F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
! Q( d2 A; d0 ?) {
! _% q5 m% Z/ Y+ K1 A$ i(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 W" s! Y: W3 @& B" C
and American speakers of English, |
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