 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' L C0 [9 Y8 V# o6 {& {Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the0 M$ i6 v0 S8 k
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
* E, t, r% G4 ^and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 D6 L4 D5 _( D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of: I: H' ^& o; h. ?: H
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; K0 t" a1 {& d) W, e: C5 }A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=! }# h- T8 Y1 Y4 l/ y! R. k, d
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 p$ f0 a, t( U: ~, }
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& F( M" g, t; e' F8 S
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on* G7 F% n; p. j+ E( p% b' g( H
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: S5 j$ v" k i3 Q% q6 P
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) z; s$ }/ N0 `$ Qsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" A$ d, s- K! @* C% |semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
) j; Y3 }, R4 Aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ G3 U. H5 z Q+ b& r
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 q% w( T8 \3 bthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 r3 |) A. }" T" [/ G7 c6 y
& h/ s* q; t( Z* ~
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)' `6 `* M7 J' L& v" @( H2 B
and American speakers of English, |
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