 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
# U; H9 d( S: i; FInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
* Z+ e6 `( v Nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,9 I: ~* C8 `6 u
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 B S7 X% y3 b O2 @5 t8 {& K+ i(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of" a. s5 q$ d4 z( O% k' d @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
# y n) }$ T( X CA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
) x/ w* F4 s- o" f: c[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( g* S* f8 M/ F3 u(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 D$ t9 |! ^0 `* E4 A6 pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% ^" @4 o% [ A/ V# q
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset# j9 \; v" ~7 c, A8 l
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( J% n" M6 E" [9 D; ^
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 F7 }$ E$ L6 z& Z: |( K- G. k5 asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- n* Z2 I6 I! |* ?end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In+ E" p5 n7 i E0 N
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 \, p1 U" B0 ^0 p" s5 `
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: G! J @7 c$ |, M
) a9 ~7 M! M7 W) G5 p1 P(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
6 b& l. Q, `% {and American speakers of English, |
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