 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) ?3 O5 q( {! r/ o8 G$ T5 V4 x
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
- Y0 C B+ ]5 J6 Q( esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,3 k) t; C1 L$ P: k- x* n
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ Z: S2 K* z. d7 ^
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of- v) [7 F* S; T+ A" N
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
, I( I. R' V; g# I, z: A) p' QA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
8 E# O3 y; e( a& Y[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]* U$ x3 `, M+ q8 J# m
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
/ \: T% r" x) S, r$ Z- S8 hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on# D6 ^9 D$ l$ Q; C' K1 M/ O
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: K8 J% n. R; [3 S
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 N* O0 K' G( _# Z! k3 v
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 q3 c# ?, e6 h4 ~$ K9 lsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.& {3 z$ I: Q8 t
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& f2 \; @" m* n( Rcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 c! {0 f+ g/ xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
) f: r7 k' I s0 n% \, A/ P7 w5 v0 X ?, l5 a
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) }2 R! j1 s+ f$ y
and American speakers of English, |
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