 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ V& @* {3 i0 Y: j8 g3 xInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the% p9 J5 ~# a5 H
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,+ ^" a, ?6 R' F' f8 Y" N" E7 }
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 l1 o1 R9 C3 `0 h7 {' E& C(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
+ Y6 Z, B6 H s: e3 ~: _retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
. ^8 r) n9 T% B& ~3 GA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=2 g! I3 g7 t6 K c- T4 J
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], J+ p7 A f% |
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) \7 ]2 Z, r( O
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on: y: x$ u: a6 Z6 Y
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 W3 v. M/ N2 M9 A
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. V# G4 G" i7 i! `1 fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
8 U# c, C$ e6 s% J8 R" e% e6 E& zsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* W' s: s8 t- `9 V
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 R' ?' t: E; Q9 }% lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' z2 s, c2 I: E0 W# ]3 sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..( h4 G: G1 A L$ e% V
* W. g& ?$ n& I* H(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); q, _# {! P& a3 z: k
and American speakers of English, |
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