 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 y" A4 ^. L+ ~4 d) W, Y- z/ kInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the/ r% r- Y# k; g
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ F0 a% x; j7 S
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
! y8 i% v7 t6 n1 T(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ M- k1 ]/ k& F% M: C
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ j, q; d. M& w: E7 ~- J% l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( j9 ?! G8 T7 {1 E8 O[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]5 D V) d0 \9 @8 A* P$ _3 _
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
/ W% C7 C; I$ l) b) mretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on$ L* ^- X- K) l# b" b* q- t
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset" d/ f" d, V. J) X6 I; N
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 |3 r0 k9 j( x7 |5 @
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 g3 f J* I0 P4 ~0 w( {
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
8 R9 _/ y' `4 {4 `' Dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! g* f# g! l: e5 b# u' f
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( `2 g {( t% d) t# cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 h9 a2 s) R- ~$ @8 d4 a, X; i
% r2 d q) d, M A, k(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
* J9 Q# z- [2 ~* b& N1 r1 band American speakers of English, |
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