 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: y F" W' W% CInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 C2 T" [# T5 \! z1 c
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! M. {$ p; x9 h/ U. n
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
5 |. p5 E3 c. |(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
1 Y! r( Y# ~* s$ P5 Nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* h6 h6 o$ Y. `& {5 D3 Q2 \; HA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=. F6 r: ~/ A( s# }
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 j' A5 \; N: u v5 O- L
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 H7 h# ]$ k) a2 U' X2 z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! I# Y8 a0 ^( l( F5 _possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- g c* x/ u- P |& s# O
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. ~+ Z. Q, `! }: {segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a9 H3 f2 X# {& c0 `# H0 n( ~
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
* C# i% k$ d# ~6 z& c( [end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In E, w0 Q4 e% A; c
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& `1 \7 ^3 |( ]
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ y' {# i4 Q$ U& f7 R) F. C- b5 @* M/ \* z; c
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ u n& p6 q& E3 q8 I
and American speakers of English, |
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