 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The* a7 U& |1 \6 J o. ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; Q; w6 M9 K( S) `( P x
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,, x6 s4 W: v; D/ ?9 K. R
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 R+ ^+ B3 ~3 m4 r$ K/ l4 T( I(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( a9 ]$ P0 S4 F; R
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)., t! b6 r% Y4 U
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, V$ t2 Z# c' z! G( _& ^
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
8 S8 o3 q T% e(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' ]9 `7 b3 Y, R- E: ^
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! e, F8 |- a; }. Wpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
O- o2 K% M# u0 B7 K4 A( n(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- I3 O, V: `* H
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a H$ u% m3 }0 G
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ n" p' C" D2 l K
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 R4 F% [& h0 \
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 `: \6 l$ ?& f' B
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ R# b# O* p! \, |5 b/ C( O/ d2 R6 H8 z+ E- I0 k
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% y( ~' H- S+ _: Z1 l; @and American speakers of English, |
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