 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ A* s O; Q+ A' \" C2 X9 sInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- ^- t" q1 J6 {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
" c( h7 u/ s- R* ?: Iand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 J! M0 a9 [$ f. c, J4 w
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; ]" `/ i1 e( ]% X, L+ l( J5 w
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; H5 [2 H, O% ]! \) y- U' r7 Z7 k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 ?; y" K0 o8 I[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" w% A, T# a% b: {(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
# w9 W/ L& i0 l7 h: {- x2 ^retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
9 ] Q( k1 V6 z5 D) Rpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* g, D+ y$ e @0 d% ], o(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
! I4 a4 m7 `0 C/ e' L7 Ksegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
_- M6 _9 K' \- R$ ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) {( z4 ?6 U' X8 K$ B2 J, D
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In' b( k+ A* h. \; S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 Q/ \7 N! h/ b4 S% u' Ithe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.., w* k7 m6 I }* t& p# d
5 o* q, R/ s2 n; Q
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 e" x; U! b- R2 B1 w2 E7 {9 b
and American speakers of English, |
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