 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The$ a F# S4 b- {9 H4 S! J" c0 Y
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- X- G, ?! b( e$ P- L
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
* d& ]6 `6 y+ A: O4 b& X8 B0 r* xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
' S" w9 d9 g2 a- C" J- n" D(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: a, u- s2 P( a% G' \% B: J7 K0 pretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).$ @$ y e$ c" s% r
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=) H# m/ I! d7 r& P
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 M# O( ~+ A/ ](phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
& j9 ]% d1 o8 {( Xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! E# R: Z1 X* {8 N5 u0 ]( h3 vpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ @9 ^0 l6 h3 W8 O; S
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
/ o" n) g0 i: F/ msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a' _2 `) f8 n; _( S
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
6 l7 d1 x+ r! ^8 Uend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# r( [. j3 {7 r8 Z8 I
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, D6 j. b K! j m i1 X/ [
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..7 K. R b7 O/ }% B5 U3 `
3 n0 I$ d E% `, r% a* \) v8 X(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
1 C; d, ^. ]. r+ sand American speakers of English, |
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