 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The& T9 a4 L v( b O0 o# b$ C' G# c7 m
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
/ F( M. a: x5 J3 i- a D# `) Rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,) e! O5 m- Y) O8 r2 a
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 x4 T: D) m1 \1 k
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ {1 x8 a9 p: u! z- [4 u/ X! w
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
K9 e) Q0 M2 t1 |A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=4 P; ~9 u$ i# k9 P; E: T: F
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' G) ?0 ~, f4 L ~0 x" w# i% f% o
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 A, ~6 m7 |- J8 G9 H2 K& nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ Z# \& T i3 K! Qpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
?& M2 Y Y1 k3 Z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( k9 y2 J2 z) X) f7 ]2 }! v8 csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 e% [& ^ i6 G7 Nsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
# \6 ~' O' q# _8 iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% L8 o: \$ p! g$ \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 U9 L+ y: k; n! K( e1 W2 u& dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..1 ]+ X8 n" O. h1 l6 C( |( W. s
4 v6 b/ b/ D% S( s# v5 x4 O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
$ w$ j6 p( k0 |. ]8 K l: Qand American speakers of English, |
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