 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The" k5 W' x. t- `6 Q9 b
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 m2 O( k- C& c: P+ gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
) B7 F& k* |+ G! C" j; Jand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
! m; T# T5 h/ h4 Z+ {& f2 l(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: p8 F& _) ]+ b* c
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
- d4 a1 G7 J( b. n) V3 OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
- ^/ h9 F' e$ R; ~% ?- D/ g3 e+ B[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 k: y5 X9 j4 R1 O' e
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving$ I$ n; V; {7 c5 q: ]! E: b
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 P' i7 K+ S6 z5 \/ a, R! {3 t+ ~possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset7 W2 w! o, b, y; F4 p8 A
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% l* u; v2 Z7 Ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" _2 o4 C5 y( p# x% _
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& i' [5 y+ v. k9 Z+ ]end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- W4 }8 S9 o5 z. Y3 ~: s/ {compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,( S( ?+ d+ `( O" U/ t8 Z* {
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ N1 U8 U: a0 O9 E! C9 N. o" q9 y7 q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 W! j# i5 k& e0 ?) F1 e/ E6 F
and American speakers of English, |
|