 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
# H8 _- }: [4 Y) w; }; F# g: ^: iInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the% v, G; q& O- {% c( |: C
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. E5 R) N5 a$ Oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; h6 R4 }; C( _0 ?
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ {. J& D2 r- D) R4 v7 }# \* r3 q/ jretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! y- m2 `6 g: H
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
& E C; j- D: [9 {# B. }[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% m" e$ j1 \4 ]9 g
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving5 P6 u( b* n$ [/ h8 h
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
. G6 N" n* H4 w9 V1 a0 C4 A; Qpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 a1 a: `# F2 j5 x, v. D; I! L
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% S. G7 U8 ~$ e& b0 x- M5 h
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 T1 K; R& i4 F: f: M( d. msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
: V9 U/ z$ t: ]' P% vend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
! Q- l. @) o4 X. l1 U F4 gcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% d a7 K: v* E7 u4 ]$ c( wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." z2 e: b% q" M. ~. L
% ]& V4 C. s' s9 T0 P/ a# w(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 W& a! F9 Z' v2 e
and American speakers of English, |
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