 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
! l# O/ d0 f# y+ J8 q. M& `( Y8 eInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the% E9 n$ i! r" v( R) J* Y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! q3 M I2 q6 v% f* sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
+ x& X Y3 T; h8 D(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 O6 _* E5 ~+ m% {$ a! j5 N' b
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 _$ W4 Y: q( Y$ K, V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% u9 ]! {9 P9 k. `- E0 K
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 q4 e% W! p. H6 z( O& O( _
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
X' _+ G8 @9 p" J# c+ K S3 Pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on4 W+ [( n1 a2 g
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ R" t( o2 R J: G; S
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two8 K2 b- c5 N) ^- U8 P, _
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) u+ n" | n, s2 v- Vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.+ F* J$ W3 Z/ @9 i' z; L7 U
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) n, R- o( T5 V9 ~' r' r- q1 ~compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% [: L+ R. N& D o" p# t9 g+ E4 N
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... z3 a. i: Y5 C5 @% E0 Z8 o7 y
- Z- r3 r* j! U \/ o) q2 b( H* e(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
5 \/ A, G l* @- k* J/ qand American speakers of English, |
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