 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; L! |+ w9 k) U! b& |1 dInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 p; M- u o6 a4 x8 n" R0 Lsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
# z* o9 N+ w/ R' zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; m4 [1 n" V+ L9 u; ^: u(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- Q' {1 G& {4 u1 y9 d: ]+ iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 v8 Y( v3 H( W u+ q
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
: \" O( t" Q* y x[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 w, ^$ M$ E6 X f
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
& ^0 g3 g9 k" j: j( a- a3 kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ i' b( w$ k4 Q }7 wpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: I! j0 J! D$ d7 m8 c/ l(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( p s7 I' H1 q) Z
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
/ H! |7 b, K! j: Dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 a, o! [: a3 A% Hend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In1 W8 k7 `+ C3 p K, `
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
- L/ `! ]7 D* p* \, p N% @the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 G+ J# V" _. o3 e+ Q- v
% |% r8 ^$ l: h8 M5 S& v(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)3 V" m0 z. w+ Z6 v- f _$ Y
and American speakers of English, |
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