 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 K/ I- c- A3 O+ dInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; O' }2 `* L; w; j
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 S6 ]4 G# ~9 x5 x. Jand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ f9 I0 z: P8 {! L; w) |3 q
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 c5 S0 A, U4 I$ J6 G) ~
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# t, o& Z7 v# y2 B4 F$ X; `! F
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 u* o6 r/ l! `0 Y
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: c# S, N2 b; E) o( K% Z
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* o1 u" k7 S, `( ^% i! S! s g( {" u
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' q8 p$ @8 H. x
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset9 H# [/ |5 i. s/ C4 |
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 g. K# w# D! X7 D3 h' dsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" c! ^" S. J% w2 a- d; s1 P, b/ bsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.4 L- H# U5 o1 b% m. v# F
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. l) C+ X$ T( ?8 J0 m3 C8 icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
! K- p8 k8 G) h# @the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
0 D/ q: z; c$ e' V. Y
( e- o; l! M& R+ H2 A$ l/ b# t9 s(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# |* K0 j) D' o" Q5 {; f6 Gand American speakers of English, |
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