 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( Z. I$ J( K+ V4 q+ K
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
6 C. B9 |7 d _1 D8 P& bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 Q- A8 n1 c C
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
2 u: E+ o* P0 h q(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 w5 l: e# r$ y, J$ O* `
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 Y, n& ^6 t5 {$ i Q, v1 S
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
6 w+ Z! q! f" ~1 S[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]/ A. L4 R* ~ b0 P
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 l2 v! i" A$ t8 I7 { k. @" i* i' kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
B* H7 l/ ]* B, m8 ` p/ R5 g* Fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 F* {" m% Q# e7 B$ U, b& E
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% Z2 U* Z* g. Z' \- F0 _segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: x0 t* T! c8 v1 ^ zsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.8 M. j6 I% C$ Y5 p3 ~6 O
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( c$ ~5 |4 e; ~
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
z5 S p' Q }- g. p# _* |the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 i5 i' Q2 g/ ]! H& B* }3 I6 `8 L) M3 V
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 E+ F8 p$ B/ ] S6 X
and American speakers of English, |
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