 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' P+ p. C/ l8 @. l# m7 PInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* {6 }' X' `1 V/ w8 t
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
' i; C; ~+ {! Y- r" {5 z: W/ Sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 h) o3 T( o! i5 ]6 m/ V: B(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
. r$ c" x- v3 V3 ~$ q% pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
2 T' ^# B- G% {& m4 |3 I( e: _A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* n! z0 e" ?5 S' q* x6 D% Q; p[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 [$ p$ Z+ t$ E1 i
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 O( T* ]5 i4 W$ T. z$ fretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on6 G+ k/ B) v9 d. I4 e/ @
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset$ g R5 D8 U8 k% _5 b
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
! u2 `" E7 Z. a5 Ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a* w! }4 `7 l* p
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. d5 l% m4 S0 ^ y( c* W
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ P8 b) h I+ Lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
" e' J# Q) Z% C6 S3 b$ p, bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
& ]" z) J% C; v' Z0 Y- ?! ~) F
4 G: _/ g1 U( q6 d* d l& m(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), n. a' U0 [& x4 q
and American speakers of English, |
|