 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The% k% U" M) I! E: I( S. C! o9 W
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; Q% Q( t$ A; ^7 I
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,+ J: G* B G# [3 R5 v
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, g- B' Z$ [$ F. m
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& e* _! B0 l$ G2 C# u1 L
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).1 I2 w0 T/ i1 q' W& } G1 X* D5 g
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* G' P8 Y; `- V; \! Y# i( _[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 i( s1 g. _9 q# @(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
' d# s0 D$ k, aretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# ~, r5 z+ |8 z3 D- bpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
+ O# D5 M" u. S/ f/ ?/ a9 x' Q1 z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. u1 D/ S) l! D' bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a- w6 T5 r; ?! ]1 d8 c. D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 i. u( a! W2 a2 a8 p( s4 D+ ?3 qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In5 q$ b9 w. }1 K* R7 D A0 L
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 s8 M2 v) h* Y" s) E( W8 t4 e9 ?the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
8 y& s" H8 m. M' z: r! G# H
3 Q1 g3 S0 ^$ }; D(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)9 y2 z& @( Q7 d- Z8 g
and American speakers of English, |
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