 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 k: N$ T8 b# \! G6 H8 y. q
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the# l# r* B# i; j1 J
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 V2 A4 r R- R% T d# S# \and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
. D6 B4 e" Y2 e" ~$ ?(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ _& X, y, \/ }( `0 B
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
4 ]& B# \: a/ T4 D' BA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 \5 q+ @. x; c% S
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 w1 h& z/ p# J$ d! K, M# T(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 V$ [" a, m5 D# D! yretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
Z$ S; R3 w8 e! J! }0 Tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 S+ ~, D- p) }$ U0 H# y$ y6 i(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ }# l4 l p! h! ]( p2 Q6 K! u7 O" Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" S) @# {7 P5 G6 E- j6 I
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
5 s; V% T: D0 C9 |7 ?$ f5 j0 Aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
: h T% \: F E& Lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ t6 g. U( I# F% ~% K6 x9 Cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
0 R2 c% E+ ?7 Z" q# K5 ~7 E
/ l' @$ I5 y) D, f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) G: u$ V0 [0 Y' D. n9 ^
and American speakers of English, |
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