 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! B6 w% y0 Q. p4 K; u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 T7 e5 Q* v8 o6 D+ y$ q$ f% a$ t+ rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ r1 s1 E) m! C# F' q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* U. W! \+ j" m* s(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# X: i! J0 s* p7 _
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- Y$ o1 [) B* k8 J/ l s' n. C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
9 h" R; x3 x }1 @9 G" q[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 c( E& \: D' a1 f3 t) b- J D# b
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: U d+ s$ t7 q( ?* C! k' z' Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on) Z7 O' w: g# G, s' S0 b6 c
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* \) L! g0 K* W& _1 j# b(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( \; |' k q( X7 S9 \4 {% Ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" u- N& b: `( ?! P% |8 S
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.2 o: w+ J" s* H4 @- v9 ^5 X
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& O4 A7 y7 N0 ^7 z/ k% Ncompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 F+ a& ]( x: z: Kthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 j, Y& |8 N3 t$ M' n
/ `0 l: s$ L5 r. V; _, d* w& @(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), r4 Z3 F! W0 Q( M M3 w# K
and American speakers of English, |
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