 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
) l& P' @, ~: W+ y6 xInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! b& y$ p7 w5 s J! S% A
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
a( x. Y' H4 _and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* ~5 o* s$ Q' L7 _1 r8 J: {6 `
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( M5 q6 v9 }- w) X) a8 E
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 D" b$ o- z) |. y0 r
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=! m! @1 x% h3 f8 O6 V" c: p' _4 N' d# b
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; y' I0 u$ t) h
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 J+ v; T2 H6 @5 ^" ]( z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 P; R! e% {1 Dpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: t) K8 h* M/ C- J7 g6 B) J3 q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
: L5 E( l. |5 d( @$ U% W2 ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 y& T B7 M- Q" m- Q9 \semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ L6 P$ |. l% v0 D2 j9 i
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In. Z1 O$ O4 D+ t" h6 N V
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 ^& ]1 }1 G/ C5 M4 ~the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
0 m$ K" n$ G2 ?3 _& I% \! y! m. v$ k3 P4 z
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, L: `, F; T. ]7 Aand American speakers of English, |
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