 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 {7 w9 L1 y, r8 O+ J
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) A1 H" z6 `! gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 O: q, O8 V! _and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
( j( x: u; I8 U' ]0 S* ](or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
$ N, t( U n+ x" r- |0 Xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; t N2 f1 @0 C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( ?/ e9 V6 u+ Y7 z) K# W, h' S+ {6 c+ C
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 ]9 u7 d J: t, Z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ w: d) g M: \0 Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
1 o9 ?' k( I, ]+ m& r+ f; H, Gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset& l* _$ f$ F4 j9 t# d
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
4 R1 y. ]4 T. D! i% l' r4 \segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
3 m- p/ s, N1 Q, \" wsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
3 M' t6 S! K& s. @ n8 h! Oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. t, E& V1 } T1 Kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 H w. E/ X' z9 Lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# Z8 M0 g" {1 T! x* a h
8 \& H& \4 T" @- j(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
/ N: [/ u8 \3 o+ mand American speakers of English, |
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