 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The, W _7 C5 y% G. S( H$ L
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 v0 N% L- E$ [3 X3 {. Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,3 W& w4 k5 z5 j% {- F( ?
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
: \1 r; e7 M+ T& E# @6 ~(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; n+ R: C# \' R; v; r0 x4 j# G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 t% I0 D4 B4 m8 G/ e
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 ~! \4 A: ]3 f& f( w" }' H* u3 L3 O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
0 A' |- E% u4 e(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 g; ?7 i2 |) Z7 j w- z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% Z1 I* b# b9 D O
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
; S- ?5 O) Z" X0 R(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
1 s7 W7 }7 |- T# Z4 ^6 Jsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a8 M6 b5 ?, n! D% Z, G8 b
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.3 U6 S! t7 P2 O2 \- W7 N& o
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) h& f) T; C, F0 X* w4 Vcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
; C; o( n" m3 L) F$ B: T8 g% }) Pthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ ~( l! Z- m [$ D; B/ X4 u
9 r5 ^8 m: z1 S" b/ [(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 q+ Y- D: K7 |, j, \% u( G1 \
and American speakers of English, |
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