 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! d8 I- j& ]# b! n5 `$ e1 Q
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
( v" L/ j E# P4 m9 O" g, i: M$ l3 t$ nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
( B/ F) c% a' `0 @* m% Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% i1 w, `3 s/ b4 N% \, B
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
2 ^6 J, g- z% a# t! A) Aretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
/ Y6 M5 @6 ^8 ~% ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=+ D& N& M e6 I( E, F
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# f5 x$ T7 T% S3 E: I
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving# B# h- u6 s( w7 b1 z4 i7 `
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on f# G3 _( B3 _$ P) C+ R& m
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 }9 T3 C& Q. v3 T1 Q* B3 y Q
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two/ y3 p- g( P" ^' W8 t
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* w; y; L6 h- u8 g) csemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
5 L9 q; ]) h. @9 s* |1 Send with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% t' b7 m( `, h0 U0 X+ V& Ycompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
2 V0 ~3 }* W- f/ _, o; a* Y. v+ Zthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 R) G( y% \' q' N2 t0 k
# I7 o+ l3 W; Z% `1 j& S( m
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
5 A6 }; d* P) uand American speakers of English, |
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