 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) |- @ c: T" N& d" Z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
# W, }3 q1 l! ]. T, ^syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,/ Q- s# y% y1 q6 O+ i3 s5 _ q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; }) }5 H- [6 o9 b& W2 h6 u7 u# \
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
8 M2 _2 S- n" j, lretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 B+ O) C/ k& }+ D1 dA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
: A& J# G" s$ e+ @2 \# P9 ][y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( u( q& g$ L% p! K1 A(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ C! W6 U1 ?; Z" Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on( f2 U& r* W* y4 {8 ]% r+ Z
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 ^3 w8 V6 u6 U' s(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 {( w1 I4 U# lsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a. o7 `: `/ v9 p9 T1 P# @0 Y7 g
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
) [) H6 Z; N- C' Tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 S' R1 ^# S0 I, H7 E: W9 X( T* h3 n7 u
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( ^8 `/ p8 h4 S$ i/ Q/ t# P" nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' q* Z# ^5 E0 h, A6 x0 k
' g2 a( \' q; @5 W(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 o% }9 A$ \* g5 c4 G; e# aand American speakers of English, |
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