 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ v e* ~* {1 ^& H" B! bInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the4 T" H7 }6 s" h: G) K
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( }4 g. B) U4 i# B
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial4 {0 i7 l: k/ q; V& q; p
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
' O- B( R2 T8 Z+ W& A3 c1 Yretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)., A2 y6 J9 a) g$ i) |/ Z
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* k$ l* E. | u2 x. D7 `[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
* R/ S) A# ` ~6 D, B8 s4 _(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
Q4 } I" L1 d. @* D) q) @retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
C1 o. M& n" Z- J3 zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset' z* K: Q+ B3 ^
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
1 N' D5 C: g: F2 Msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# W: x, [& L# tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( A/ X. a! i& ?) Y6 [end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; }2 O. @; _ T( _7 c
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% x- D, z" k; L9 F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ \7 j3 P) |2 k0 u2 }
" v) {4 E: f8 S5 s6 W(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
5 w" y3 O8 |8 \: vand American speakers of English, |
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