 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 e6 q J% y) b9 x A+ E Z" b8 d( c
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the/ d' g) D* U2 K" o7 l
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 V' W6 f7 i6 k" T3 |and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 S8 D# t% K% w5 p" X4 T" u# ?; _
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
! B4 J' t1 R3 I( Nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 }. A& {; L7 e1 n" c
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 X0 A1 a. r5 U- q8 \
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 E1 j. m+ X; a( r* @* E* e
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 D: S$ v$ i7 h% eretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( x! r, {2 U: z: L _# V
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, r& a/ U; L" l# n(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 I0 \& T$ H* d' Wsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( A& s+ m. U/ a$ [semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
2 g) n# R) j+ d4 ^end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
* u* I! A6 |2 n' ycompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 s* m, \. h" Z3 @$ }# Z+ \' N( m$ tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 ]& L. _; }- I, E
4 @) c' f2 _, L9 D6 Q2 K(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 S/ Z' ?/ {3 l8 o* ?' I/ }% `
and American speakers of English, |
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