 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
9 X- s+ n8 s0 E& oInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! T2 a0 |6 A$ U1 g* s% d
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. U# _3 |1 v% Q4 U) F1 ~
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
' a+ v4 d9 f* W* b, W* J. G& I(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of e" B* n1 c5 U! ]5 v' ^6 {
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& A% o0 Q! r1 p3 |8 F r/ ^5 qA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* N8 B; i% ~* k/ `7 O& ~9 i7 ~[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ q' h! r' s% I2 }& x* F(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving3 {/ o9 O( u& M1 g; }
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on. t$ ^# z7 w- w- U( u
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
_: j( n' o6 b; z6 a(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* s- H. b! o0 b' K% g& C: {" O, Vsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) q! m1 C9 G5 g( ?3 \' Z( O
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.2 v- ?) z& T" Z C f4 f+ k
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
N$ d, e% y" w7 n1 V0 @% ecompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,- E; x" H% q6 q f9 v, _3 k
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ h5 A( r- l" g" D0 [
: _2 @, t% F5 B( H1 |! a; `/ s(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
7 ?$ {9 H" ?0 H3 o/ xand American speakers of English, |
|