 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. w/ M M3 V4 `9 A/ D- B- h
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" [3 w5 W( D$ t$ [2 _% Qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 k8 R% `1 P W& O1 `and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& |. M. u7 W; u' i5 }, z( ]2 L# q" p- E
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- I8 T- Q$ Z ^5 F. r6 c/ Xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* F `2 l6 d) o. ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; q L! P5 F$ P' P" M0 r4 O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 `" G8 Y# m3 Z# e
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
& F5 t: d v8 P2 a, {7 b# Xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 B0 t; f. b8 f `9 i
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
6 z3 N* t- }1 ~& u5 |3 s(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ F+ o9 a3 r9 i) z" |1 L1 N: J
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 K0 H) t f) A/ esemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ g5 w) Q6 M2 b$ p, A% s0 \end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- }+ h' k3 A3 g3 w4 u% icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,# u0 u6 g% V) B/ D
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ g6 n4 i( g( B5 {: y( `) g
* C7 a" f3 R H2 ^: {* Q, S2 ]( s- @% k" h
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% Z. k+ j1 r: eand American speakers of English, |
|