 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 [; }1 ^7 W. l$ z- f
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 ~- V( C2 Q( d& v: F# T1 H
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
1 O$ Q. C0 m# a6 e; } J0 Oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
8 n, X; I, p A0 e$ H$ ^(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! M4 u: {. Z& L* `: j0 J; y7 b' a. Z: y
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% p5 q: n. I0 R4 _8 g+ z6 z' N
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' i$ T! x! {+ j4 G! q
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 w6 K. j0 P; T+ Y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 I% E- y; L6 V# x9 a. Xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' c! h/ |# R/ G: X8 B9 o8 q, qpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 y0 V& b* K" D
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- X1 c% T/ n0 k' B( E6 Bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ J. _6 D# t( O j
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
G- F/ T$ A' T. Cend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
3 S3 j a2 J' Z: i* a+ Fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,! p$ u8 |. {1 N- l/ ]4 _( Q
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... d" Z! M h$ ^
* y/ r! f& ]( Y' k6 Q* Z% X! Y7 t(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) f+ s+ g- l: r' W6 |
and American speakers of English, |
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