 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 ?5 y- L6 ~$ p- k$ e
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! x6 U( _- p6 v
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 ?4 ?* z; \# [0 f1 S+ R
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' M. S3 _: E8 k1 p: ^
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' U$ i8 Z6 p6 [, Z) k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& R" \) X; y. b$ w: Z/ {
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ r% X/ R* ]8 F/ C2 v9 y1 w
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]) C( |! R7 c% v, Y+ x. |
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* X7 Y; T' H X+ Y& L4 r+ f) }! Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 R1 K1 [& s5 G6 H7 Cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- |' l+ o+ r { I(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two J$ J; i+ S2 T& X! j
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a, o! G& `7 B8 a" j& t
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- T8 k- M) Q/ k* `! D: p4 T X9 Y) ~3 @end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- q$ p! n/ Q4 Y O% k) ]! E# zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,6 o0 d; ~. n r1 L- s# ~6 S
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, \/ u. P/ X2 z3 c& x5 w8 C2 u: n0 A: f6 o7 c
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
( q7 n+ k. d7 g; c/ Fand American speakers of English, |
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