 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 W. k) A- d7 g2 L4 g4 U* QInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 z# |7 T) C/ t, Gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. `. U, o! Q6 e% D, G* H( O) Hand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) N1 }- x+ I" Z+ m
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 F a2 `2 \' _# F% V
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; [) T& f" _6 u+ vA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 l7 |2 J( H7 H1 s9 c: U) b l[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 v! m x1 n0 {; ?& t e; E7 p. f(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving" n, ^2 P8 t6 H7 y6 W0 i5 v
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ J+ g* w3 d+ ~2 d6 vpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- R8 @! U8 i" x* R7 o/ W' ^! @6 o
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
1 y; o0 d1 [8 }& h8 qsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: d+ d6 @# d; Vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
8 j! Q: w4 I: D- fend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In+ o. {+ [3 Z. W6 t* Y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
d" H W/ X( g$ wthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( F( _/ ^4 L4 i$ v: z& A4 Z) W* J- T* j
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) [1 h, s# A0 |
and American speakers of English, |
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