 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. k( ~+ k* ]9 t+ K6 w3 S
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
9 {/ Z+ K9 o5 L- d. Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
0 i5 m! r3 y1 G( _6 xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 B& }! g2 y9 E0 J9 J7 D5 |/ S7 K) u
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
2 `" N1 s9 j9 A' R4 n b; xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
: A- l. T: w6 OA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% Q( b, c( b6 {! @1 Z4 B( Q; u! `[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
* H, g* l1 a; \& ^& b(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving2 m5 M& Y" |# B! d0 U
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ M$ x$ U' p1 p( D) Kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# O8 M" T! U7 o(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 o0 D/ q9 a0 ]" ~+ X% hsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
$ R: J- j5 x8 g8 Jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.6 G$ n/ G. W( n9 k0 E
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 i, w B9 Y, X4 Y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% U6 f' m/ ]6 F5 z7 s5 C/ l' Uthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..& N; f& }9 K4 q' h$ z# ~
: F! ?+ k# M5 H1 P
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
& T# e, I; M" J! @3 p( `and American speakers of English, |
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