 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; y" c% ^5 V, c( _Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the l: O9 c F- n& \: j
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 E) h1 g4 I" {3 E
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* {) O i7 u% `' E% G: \. X! E( N
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of3 e( c2 l! h/ ?% r7 ^& V8 C! _
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
4 Q- b* A# N7 ]2 l0 _. `A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* J0 D$ l5 }/ P[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: L5 N/ K6 J3 E
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving, C' D r5 F+ I! R! l
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on9 w4 b8 G, E& L; u/ \
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
2 D+ _$ C5 z2 F% u1 t( }2 e(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& C( s0 u) j0 e( R% Ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* \; h: _/ _; R6 G: [8 H3 w: Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.' r) [3 T6 ^9 a
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
X; w' E9 ~ D& M+ ]' b. [compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,6 @/ F- p1 s' S
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 n$ b8 r* N2 j6 ?( L2 n- i
5 T9 w- F' K- w- ^) V" k, K$ V) O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 h, c- K$ w. U7 M( ]3 z
and American speakers of English, |
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