 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 v: j D6 G* D C1 J+ E
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the) }8 {# }5 A4 p, |4 S9 V' }8 y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. E; w/ h5 r: k* W7 D8 P
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial/ @; G3 K& Y' U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 e; P3 N- j( J5 k7 i' ~; ]3 T: M% ^
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
# [4 P! d" b# Z" c5 sA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 T, k" e3 X0 \. }2 ~
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 |) R5 w$ @0 w0 m
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 m$ m7 W+ R" P( [! O: o) L
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on. e5 G U( Q' K$ C! o' D
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- n4 P7 r' y7 a
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# s! \* s! t; M6 S2 D& isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
J$ E4 x& ^4 W8 m$ Q; ]8 Zsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ d% P: ^/ [ Uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In6 k8 Z o( x" G* c E
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,- k4 E$ r `& p0 ~8 j
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ ]0 o- ?. y! C7 r( K
# N; c; ~, C- I9 G! c" G3 {& `(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) `; e2 u5 r# k8 C0 s3 p/ Xand American speakers of English, |
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