 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 r7 i, b. q% K! H& s* c
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the& D0 q S% U7 w' W
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 ]* v' w& x4 ]4 F6 X( [- Z p
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
, e! y# b5 M# Q; }+ J1 c(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 T: S& D* G' u+ R( c- _9 f% r
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
9 s8 c6 Y: c/ a, O. a; i' h1 jA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
/ ?; |# T4 ?4 H6 f: g# V9 i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 g2 I1 T% y4 u$ D) `# F" p(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving% M1 q& p! r/ c5 h- b7 S8 i
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& z% E& y4 D# e( n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 y* _ |9 Q# ~9 |5 g: e5 [3 y' S! r(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ i1 v+ w' r; {5 O& z0 W* N
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a* A- w: t; h4 J4 w1 x" B1 S) v
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.( ]( W, Z U m( g+ w) M
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In4 D2 |, _4 Q+ I% y0 c4 ]
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
* H1 s' |' o/ H" ^( [the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( V6 b2 H3 D- U3 D6 \# d$ E" v1 v0 i* G# ]! l* d
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)6 Q* s* M4 w5 V' B+ E1 D
and American speakers of English, |
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