 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The$ {; T4 Z. o( Y3 m: V
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 E- p3 z5 \! f/ G8 Y. U9 ^ qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ I3 P" \* I% N" T7 w! G3 y) Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial9 M( u( U' t, H3 R8 J" B4 R! n' x) R
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 Y* x* g( L. V% p( s; W8 q' d% |retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 r, g5 y& v& G5 }1 P) t0 R- b
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=# A4 G+ V* ~! G; c
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
) B6 {1 f1 [# d- P5 n(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
' w* P! E# V' t# X1 J/ L, Lretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on/ N- ]; ^% E+ Z x; x( H+ _5 X
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
+ Z; V1 {6 e: T, U9 c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* r7 e3 e# [% J; ]. k8 p- b1 Y9 \segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 S; A5 `& N. h7 asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' X) C/ m5 E/ |+ Rend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
4 l* K% X+ l/ C9 Y; B& Ncompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,0 m. P9 }/ ~* H; V! n. v7 T
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." {! }& G+ ?7 c7 W
4 A4 x% a4 ?- T F: {(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! r7 }3 o( O4 U, p5 {' \5 c
and American speakers of English, |
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