 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' a9 R* J8 A/ N; }- z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
9 G) b- }5 {, t4 B6 `: psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
5 L4 K+ e; F" ?/ Vand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ Q, t6 U% |' |
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
& b: E# x: f% Kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
\, W: v; K v( b; P/ R2 M' DA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=. x. Q- C# Z% W/ R
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' l! x" @- X4 H9 j3 O: P# M; E
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 `6 u+ P7 d% z9 rretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% e; s% G8 @6 G) L5 D- s6 N
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset1 u9 n& J9 T+ F" u
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two9 ?, F8 }2 w* ~0 [0 G
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a' @: H0 S+ P; _8 T6 f
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# P/ c% A2 t) Y3 n1 U6 cend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
D8 p7 P$ ?2 e/ y6 b) ]! H) k% |compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 I9 U: O6 z9 }% ]7 g( Pthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 @+ r0 ? Q: W7 T" ?0 Q, F; J
" c5 E1 Y* B- q( u, K5 [7 G4 n(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
- C# |: k0 W0 b# gand American speakers of English, |
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