 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
) h/ `; r, V1 ^8 CInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the" D0 t/ ^& o& b: Z' M* n! i
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% |" Q' U% _& v- u! X) u! A
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 ~- \9 |. t, a( w, L
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 F. Y$ U1 G3 V& m7 ]4 ]retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).. |( T7 n4 W# }( Y0 u) K" f
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( h0 B5 t$ M( Q/ G2 Y2 L[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]+ U- g) L( i: n* E0 [
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* E) ~+ T: N1 Hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on: J3 G# j; C9 q, I* h5 r
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# a$ l2 {, N5 a5 V: v" E(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% `4 j3 B6 X$ w9 g; @1 q
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 Z9 {0 g( E, a$ t8 ]semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
1 y: u2 D& \' iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& q4 Z$ `: y8 \, T3 b/ R5 S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 q$ n' F1 ~! X4 qthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ G; l, H% k% z- P8 y; |! k! W
* h z. Z7 e% ?5 O0 `(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), Q4 H/ f( e/ q" \
and American speakers of English, |
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