 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 B! f& }/ S5 M# |/ O
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( |* S8 Y* R3 b
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 o) a; G. H6 T! I% ~) [) i) F
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
1 l/ D6 g; I8 j+ @: K/ w5 T(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ m/ f# |. ]: G) D& q3 s2 M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).( X1 t+ C I* l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
~! F. K1 J5 \+ N) }, u8 Y: C[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
! Y/ d& ^/ h1 z! ]6 W5 m(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
0 L' m7 Y5 c0 l' X3 b$ i3 Dretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on5 s; ^ V9 K; s9 O9 ~. A% p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
W* }- x; b( g$ n6 T, H. X(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
) V- ^, I& i {( ] Fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) w+ V8 y8 C" B- j9 c, Q5 P
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ }8 b I6 n" h' v5 J- n+ L4 a1 zend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
6 p- |8 Q% ^: P) T- E; Wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
n. P8 h3 {& I" athe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# W/ i1 F9 a( X: I5 `4 Y
- b1 I9 M7 }! k. w: p
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
- z1 v% M6 W. o% _and American speakers of English, |
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