 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 \- ^6 h6 Y+ K/ L7 ?
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
p7 y7 F+ q$ @. ?/ c3 ?! @) W rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 m' @7 k8 E a Y3 H$ z8 {
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
- ]; h$ a9 P# @" n; w! |(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
" _ s7 y* L4 I% T, h4 U3 gretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ E! u4 s) X4 _, ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% Z8 a; \5 X3 H# q9 z" G% C
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]/ N# j+ g/ N5 I
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: {" k" N# X( fretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 f2 d% U7 Z# z9 mpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( J/ Z @; \' f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* J0 y7 O4 q" asegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 T P& J; H1 k% q4 T0 m
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
" ~: G; n- N+ b" \4 kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In/ w9 M& z x7 Y' d
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element," o) K2 _# k8 ]% Z6 l) L
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! [% `, W. q8 C+ L. a% g
2 Y( J" y- p! g; q8 U+ k(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) s6 ~6 N" ^/ p5 t
and American speakers of English, |
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