 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
- f! @+ ~; S4 R, l% n" CInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( G+ a$ M; T' [* D' T4 [syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
% Y, z1 p" T+ E/ Pand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& g* ?1 y& B$ G$ u$ h
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 n6 N$ p5 m( N5 v0 t( r: Pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
% v! \) O5 ~9 @9 v' Z% xA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 f2 E$ ^% [7 B D5 I
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
1 {3 O/ @4 m, M/ T/ m" J& {! f: H(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& f' Y. ]1 a* c/ |5 z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ l, F B/ c) g4 T2 q0 C$ [! spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 r. {8 U: g3 F. T: \( W(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two' @5 U0 j1 R7 K4 l. r6 A( ~1 O
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a1 c9 x9 Z3 R7 W3 `
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.( G* S1 d" t$ A. J. d1 l9 i( l
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
6 y# d' j2 D+ g! R y) Fcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
! D1 a( d5 v: t, U( W2 Xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... y- Q; h2 m" K' d# R9 E6 L. l
% Q; ]* k" T7 Q, z# ~(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ j4 t. {4 l7 d. f# z. K& _" H
and American speakers of English, |
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