 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
! e3 @4 t" r5 _4 @" kInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' U& Z0 u F8 l1 a9 psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," r0 t* d& B4 q# X3 z; Y
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ T" F: V8 s0 D* Z ~. h7 e5 \(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 F c" U6 n# h. b
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).' }" M1 z0 X9 }0 U* P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ o, [6 O! ^6 |; h) q* A/ M[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" |4 c; O) y- ~7 d1 e# Z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving4 t9 \# L. i; Y8 n0 l Y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on4 y3 l- b# a9 O$ K
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 v7 m) f8 u. s+ m+ I$ r! P" ?
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) K, m z7 M1 Z: r) msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a* |6 Z7 U" |" b
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) b1 @& h7 ?5 h' Z- }+ e
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 ?( T" |* h7 b6 l F4 e6 F
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. x8 G6 J0 ]1 g. @the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..2 P% `! ?9 _6 R4 ` _
% E9 @ H7 v' D: U1 z7 C(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
' N* L6 A; I, |3 Hand American speakers of English, |
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