 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! q- S9 d9 D; {( u. E' z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: @1 `5 y7 O, R$ d0 k
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
: u( P" Q2 [8 ?" @: {/ S0 w: oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
6 `: t A/ l0 l; C0 j G5 }. h(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& j T# @7 h. {+ S& W
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" w6 F0 j4 C& v; [ R" \( C; \+ zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=" D+ R: h6 u+ ]) J
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
9 [$ O8 D Q. E(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving5 O2 e+ ~/ o( D) v0 S' m( J2 G9 E
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on* w3 X& q0 K2 E& q
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
V- S4 N7 o. P6 W2 K(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two& Y1 R% d/ S- o- x8 Q
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a' c' l0 M4 t' B3 y9 y, q F9 G
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. w l: |, j7 y3 Cend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 W1 N, f# f1 f3 t1 _5 {! j
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 F6 T! m+ B; R, B* i1 x: k6 D/ Wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
o4 I* C1 q) N) U0 P) o1 F! ^) T! s/ ~8 C' u: L7 _4 _9 K
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): d, \& \! O% f! ~" B' L0 L
and American speakers of English, |
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