 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& \+ o9 }& z a
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 \/ m" q( B( X
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, i1 D( [: q& w: l9 @! N. B
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
D0 j/ u M6 _! @( c" B(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
3 Z* ?# i. |" s# m5 l: Vretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). {( z/ \! b! R
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, ]1 x3 N) S; @/ a: q
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 S# k4 W2 D6 L) w% k# x
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) j# m" I! P' @* [$ i
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
* i) d; `& f0 K: J" i* F6 Kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 F- z& W9 b( M- F(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: F2 E. j. I! `8 X9 tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a- i+ ^" F! A k' T$ k3 @' t
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 D9 D& S9 O. }* f% k2 Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* Y. G1 h1 x9 S$ A+ p0 S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
- z$ h! X1 j% b& v7 E6 b/ o0 Ythe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 D& Y$ U; u7 B" h' ^2 `) K! `. N: K1 x% g+ x8 {) g; d$ q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& Q0 Z$ t2 |; ]8 H& V3 w
and American speakers of English, |
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