 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 M" M" `) I- ?4 ~) [3 iInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' O' N3 y4 H* f, y# `! ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," T8 R' K7 e* Q) ?
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
g P/ J4 m- l, s* P1 [/ t(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 e# M' F R+ w% p$ n Wretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; E6 l, O3 h2 ]
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; M/ m/ u7 s/ H& ~8 n[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]7 m i% O2 v4 c
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
, W6 a# r8 U8 ^: uretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on2 N# @/ n9 ~. {, `
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
2 w% c0 M0 d% h1 H+ H H5 o% J(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* D- A& W1 {4 b7 }# e0 @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a0 @ o* g+ R1 G: Z
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 f7 X( j$ O/ j7 Q5 w u
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- n5 ?& z% r' O6 S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,* `% U$ P( m# J; O
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ \) J+ P% O) P2 [& i( X
+ t; Q' [0 T) @% e( ?! g, K. ^* q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 l- W7 L; M; Z9 l! E) ]
and American speakers of English, |
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