 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 _2 g& G0 U6 g( v8 z4 U. M6 B1 P0 W
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- W% I9 u! R$ s; G0 V3 S7 Z
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 l4 v8 t( X5 d( p1 Rand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
- `" J$ L5 M5 `. J- n+ m. R(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 j4 |1 u2 {/ L' _, ^9 I
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# q) C* E O) e% ]- ?! w5 a j" b
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 N9 B4 o# G) X! Q L$ ]+ w# t[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 c- p$ m* J: y! H1 Y6 y(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 }; D" d9 Z; X1 X6 ~retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 \& e; O8 L4 V* A+ fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" m9 E( }7 m0 s& C. e- U# H% D0 C(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& f# Z& p" D# Y% p7 csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* a7 c& t8 }$ w# E$ h( ]+ rsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. a8 H* S, N ]
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. a) p% }: D( K a+ M5 \, ~compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
! i) }! I/ j, P8 D$ `7 \5 B- tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 u; S9 K [( }2 d+ x& _/ r
" O0 L @, C- ?1 l4 i(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) u+ I" u' T0 u/ a( p
and American speakers of English, |
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