 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The# y! h# V7 p) n' v4 q$ m- U
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" R) O& g7 i, [( G" A0 c% Esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
# E2 l$ E6 A4 v$ Gand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% j }, x o f
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of) I. t# x" D0 t, @- j+ T6 E6 j
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& q5 o% k5 O6 ^; [( k+ V& YA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" [+ h5 x. }8 I% K J[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 M( I& ~2 ~3 N; y2 t0 y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 [( L' Q1 Q: _) L5 Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- Z* z7 _2 {7 d$ g3 Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
+ r7 ~6 {& ? B% N, h$ C(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* f% c9 ?, ~( M( E8 L; ?2 F/ fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 m( O, w: I1 }8 Gsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 Q9 `* r: H& d$ s. jend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In' d8 k2 T" f4 ]! w- m
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
. I; n- i9 D2 c/ x Zthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ E8 e* d8 ~$ Z* J
7 B {3 b, T( S! T. i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% C: |8 u0 N+ c. J- {: v( E
and American speakers of English, |
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