 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The6 m" G; u* h' c3 w/ q% d6 ?5 M6 v
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the/ t. V8 [: D" d0 E
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," q7 ^& Y: s$ K1 l. D- S9 l
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 b( g$ c# C1 b3 `3 v" U8 j
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' z3 K3 j) V) n
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 }5 I, Z# s: l# q6 N2 l/ K4 l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
: k: v9 Y4 v W[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
( T) ~ e' M. _8 }0 z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
8 _% Q, N& o ~8 u2 g/ Xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 E- y9 c1 P3 e1 h
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset' ~6 a- ^, y0 Z
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two# H& G9 H! i5 U1 E( F- z+ W9 s
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* v+ o/ B O- T) Jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
& a: E# ~8 f# i4 K: `! K+ c9 T. vend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; e# c% ?( N5 G H; `+ S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, Q4 m. p8 m3 ]8 ^: c- c) V7 n
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' x( ^! }; p$ R1 [" O# d7 P! L
' a& G9 T7 s5 V6 P. [* K- x(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
( S% Y& j; Z' v8 ^5 o# ~and American speakers of English, |
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