 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
, I" O+ k% {5 ^" a( k. KInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* f+ h6 I" g. A; ?- ~: i+ k
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
" {7 d- F$ h+ a) Dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 u. w6 K: \5 I
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( i7 d8 h7 U8 h$ H- @0 t! E$ L
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)." L( e" Y( Z7 X6 c J& c
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
) H1 M2 n* J* B0 w[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' ?6 s8 x e8 O5 r0 z3 f
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. }+ Q& L/ |: l+ ~' z% |: {" N
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ t3 V6 r1 w4 N- T; u: c9 ypossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: U* y, Z; y: j4 Z8 z) J+ z; Y" M(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
- g" s& u5 Y. A/ _! Esegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" e7 P) A( }3 n" p/ e
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
2 W% g8 x9 a0 B" bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
7 p2 v! O% L' }6 N4 e" L% dcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 G' ~7 Z! c( v- B( M! G
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 d% n9 k; i+ m1 O+ b& r# N
5 ]+ O1 j( K/ Q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 Y9 C' k" I. E! j! x3 o( Eand American speakers of English, |
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