 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The$ X3 X% |! h; o, h4 I0 @$ N1 g0 f
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- F: j9 [8 D. W2 T4 @! M! r' [
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# p! }, f5 N3 N/ y& c6 ?( ~
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ O2 b* G) F. k: c! f5 j% F(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of! l; M- @6 g) s% _" J
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) @! @0 Y# P& d5 q% [; oA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 t7 `8 }2 [" @& c4 B( g- T- s; A[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]+ H1 A9 _5 L h {) K
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving0 }: H8 R6 R( m
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# R# Q' e7 y" S* d% v" A5 a2 npossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: U+ M9 f& I+ E7 N
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' }- H% _ J/ }6 } |segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a/ Y$ e3 q! n! ^7 H( z
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
; G! ?; |: ~- @5 ~% V* lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
9 z6 L3 n9 U6 ~$ P' Wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,+ B# o# M2 ?" D( C
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' I5 p4 D! C( C( u0 C5 F+ x; H
7 f/ k5 G- |3 M1 M, U! F
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& M% o- E$ a1 C' W( {/ u
and American speakers of English, |
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