 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& N; B$ D$ O2 h
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
% d6 w9 I5 }6 Qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- [; R4 v# {1 v
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
# h/ W0 ~% e7 Z d! @# c- k(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ g% `- d/ W9 F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 w: j" b" E* t5 l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=9 t8 Q% B& h+ N6 x4 @# \' p
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
0 [! E% o3 h9 q- M6 t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* ^/ f* C* K; G' B/ d5 @$ v
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
. \( q5 R" U+ d5 e. } Opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 d) I/ I" `- `% ]* u
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two9 B; O* B) ?% g8 v
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
0 t O5 E7 V; W2 f4 O9 K1 Tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( K0 x2 W' \0 D* qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; U# C6 H; x1 W' o7 \1 X( b% o5 ?& d
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
/ e; `9 ~9 U9 d$ h6 ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 I; f$ s' f" `6 m2 X/ w' y; K
+ I0 @4 L2 D% q/ u/ P8 @(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 Y2 _: o( N! h
and American speakers of English, |
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