 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 P/ U; E. R* I, m% K1 t8 VInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
_0 r% V% O, }% O3 t% ]syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ a; \6 b# ^; ~4 [$ K1 G1 `
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) R( `2 o; _& v) U% M, g6 f+ o1 I
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 b3 Q8 F: S# c u0 R) d9 ]' _retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- z$ L' n& p8 d9 r4 p% b+ d
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' Q$ y5 Z7 d: e& @' ^[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# A# O5 f3 n0 Y5 r# `. f- N( M(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 U) B/ e0 F5 R+ ?4 O, Q2 tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
, O7 n" {! k% g% Apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset% D3 M/ y2 m7 T: ]4 _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 j& g% Y, i- A; V8 ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) G, a( W" K8 @7 G$ \1 t3 E7 Ssemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.. j8 U G, o# V4 g
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
8 i/ i; }( ~3 y" n8 o/ O$ B+ dcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' P5 I- { J! c8 W0 p
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
# @2 s# [) {8 Q- U$ y$ v+ z* u5 K% B9 a5 n2 {% i
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 ? h* t2 _4 @; h3 S3 }* l8 f& sand American speakers of English, |
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