 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 F, b& Q! j; M0 N( YInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! O* m6 t0 ^5 Q3 |syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
8 e+ U$ ^* k7 y) K+ i7 w8 I3 jand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial/ V0 Z; d9 g, _/ s$ X
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; C. ~4 @3 u7 ~$ H
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; U/ [6 _, F1 I; _" G: _" v" Q8 i: Z
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
- _' W3 Q! {5 Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
C4 _! N& n7 ^(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving5 e; F5 O* \ b: [4 c
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ u. f- G$ \, Q# Wpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 y5 o2 L( g4 `' W7 t! |. ~(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ j, ?; V, Q8 C9 zsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a3 E5 ^: G9 L' S. q/ t' Q% n
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 T- _) o1 E8 k8 R# m9 p( D
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; H' ?- ^$ }& ]! Y9 p; ~$ Y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 U2 `$ X5 H+ \- E. _the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..8 \5 C! U* x9 n' l
9 V2 b7 W) ~' I" J# r(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)" m/ t$ k) Z' E# |( c! P* f8 f7 x
and American speakers of English, |
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