 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 j# v _- c' I+ hInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, R, P6 p, J7 [: l6 z& s6 ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 j7 `' U2 Z$ C8 O7 t. \5 o
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial. b5 G- {$ P. j) l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' a3 X+ d- }* u* e% \3 j
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).7 `$ [7 {% Q: M+ u( O
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. f- t, S+ |1 B) s2 G[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
: p, T% y) o- L(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 Q0 o. V3 S6 B5 D: z& Y0 Z. rretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& C) D& u j: z" |5 d }
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset7 X) C8 c1 F/ K7 |' Y
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* H& b& T0 o/ X P; z2 fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 q$ d! j7 Z1 a2 Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 O. L9 m* F% G' Q7 f% R2 Iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
" ~9 [" {6 m3 X) W: b7 ]compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
1 U6 D+ s. W% S% r, wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ n+ o/ z7 U4 H* S. ]1 k) P
- F( ^. V" D, |: v& W# u) g9 X( n. C(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); t- J" Y$ C& D( U- V4 v$ E) t
and American speakers of English, |
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