 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The: l3 |, w% S0 c+ A
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the) f9 l4 i* f+ O; Q* v( P8 S
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- `( U! c) I0 N) S
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( U6 y. V# I% i; |! Y1 z
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
. i0 P2 f" ?% x2 e; ?+ gretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 ~1 e% A5 G! x. jA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=) q% I: v( V' q/ a2 A7 D& k
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]& _0 L; \6 \0 `: @9 i
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
1 Y8 D: `4 R4 K* M8 N: oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on4 _# Y& r5 P- c! c- `
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
6 I- {- x$ f Q/ k(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
/ m: [! z( F6 \1 ]segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a# d) `3 B( |4 _' s5 c. U/ h% l
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) x, Z3 ?" z* j0 k- T5 V+ [: i/ n
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ G6 P# X6 ]2 e9 H. x+ \# scompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 v0 b) M% D9 V% d1 F* Q& b
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
- h0 L' }# i4 }
% S; c% u% ^ a9 Y2 ?(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
0 F' H7 H/ ^( y: Q4 j- Rand American speakers of English, |
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