 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) b2 H. B$ l% i
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the/ f* l8 y) Q; z- ]" r0 F! h
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ e# [* N6 ]( U8 r6 E' M
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial- c/ z1 ?* S- H2 ~* I; M; a
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 S$ _. ?1 J# R3 s9 v( L% I" G4 `) ?
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).( `* h$ g8 i$ V: x I i
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=' e. }" x) H$ ~1 a3 P6 {8 [: u
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# ~( g9 P1 d1 p9 d2 m
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, K& J1 l! u7 j2 t7 ~retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* ~, A- H: F2 \: p6 ypossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& s% c$ u2 x1 a" @ `. k: d(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 n* h$ t9 @+ r2 isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( \! ]' f, J1 T* k
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
: S+ K: ?$ W$ B$ \end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In" ?% m# j+ s! k! ~% ~
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& I& ]4 d0 Z$ y1 A5 Bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
- W+ g n. ~' N
% i9 \, |& j7 F! S) e3 f7 r# T(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 W* g( G& d: Q& s, }and American speakers of English, |
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