 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
( Q* s$ {. n& r7 tInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" J6 W0 q7 b1 ?& {* m+ ysyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 A8 n" v. D+ h( y
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ T0 g9 V. R, B9 F' x: T
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# z3 |+ ]5 r5 e2 f5 O* `
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
9 d6 t' @9 w$ O1 i1 l- J4 Y& zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
& _2 V) a- X) E' Q' q7 Z0 k[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]" \- [8 A& P4 e+ N2 n& B ~
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 f' j+ y' S( l7 [7 b% ~retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# t$ x' T. m) Z0 y+ _/ J0 P! w- zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset) p5 P9 O% {' H8 z A5 N8 O3 Q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two+ ~0 `6 E+ e8 i4 s/ W( S; Q; x4 w
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
. ^$ b% @3 ~. s# ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ D( T) k' a% g q4 zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In' R. \+ _9 m; x* G [. x% s
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 [7 v( ~$ I' o; ]the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: v, v+ ?# d# a5 x: C. b/ ]0 s* e8 @6 R& q+ \3 Q w: t+ p( j
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)9 G/ `9 `. c& {+ \
and American speakers of English, |
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