 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 s' n L) y6 J$ b, n+ `* b
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 r# C6 K1 T; O0 K" X* \syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 l1 u2 o T3 [
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 x8 I& ]$ D6 ^8 `) i(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 [( _7 f0 i( `% \" d2 w H5 C# M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
# ~; Z1 t# S) NA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% H! K; c2 y2 W s+ O' R! w- g
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 \- L" u1 W) [% j+ [4 r9 V, U
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving, e, v4 s, `6 [, ~# f
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on2 M9 Q( _. e: ?- z* t
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 T& f. @5 _1 I7 h' U
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two! M% Z) I) _* c% t5 ]3 R! j% z/ k
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( u0 R( Q" T B( l* ?6 ]
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 t0 \. V$ @. w; i! b9 k2 `# D0 send with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ T( A7 q& T8 g) {& gcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( q! i/ N( q6 A) H8 n4 G; [the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..8 k O+ a; L+ N4 u5 w) i; V: Y2 G
! a. ?8 ^$ W9 V* w0 M* f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( R1 I. ` Z5 e5 K% {) ~# ^; |
and American speakers of English, |
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