 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 r' H# e# K/ E& N" T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! R; {# T* `0 X4 C) |2 gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,7 t* U* _! t' n. @1 p6 W
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial0 d* N' R' p* J' B6 ]0 E$ U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
6 A# s& Y p" @9 Q) B5 F/ |# }retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
/ t7 w% R, `8 ]0 H! xA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=4 j& z, X* @0 G$ q& R; ^
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
- K) P4 }+ F d: f5 q$ I(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' s; J# z% U( ]8 a4 n1 ^7 X7 Y8 i
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( d' a z2 P" p/ r- F
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 I' x8 P" B8 x0 h* X, S(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 B6 O' d% z u2 j4 D$ Osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( e! R* ^5 |7 e0 f
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
X2 O& r& c+ @, U- H3 L# j1 pend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
8 l1 K- J5 u; d, ycompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' A7 w E$ c9 v
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
6 Q2 ^, L7 G* L v
]& n1 W3 ]/ a x. G) A(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
( t+ g8 }! _6 Cand American speakers of English, |
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