 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
" u) F' D7 R- \4 \Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! g O" R+ J }# z/ F8 Lsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,+ s$ O/ t" L; F" n
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, D% J$ y( R5 Y) q
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
* v, v) q; i. G7 {1 S- O6 q2 jretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 P) m* a: ]* { l* l6 }- j( N
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 T# b7 p u2 J0 W6 v
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; Y; H) }/ E# t" j6 y6 |: x0 \
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving" B+ @: j0 }; Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on" H4 ]1 z! l( P' }4 X
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
- o5 ?% {! r( [- X(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two9 S; `' j: \0 m' P
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( V" C" d- x! Z- g7 D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., O- g; f: M& t% _& }( w4 d
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 C: W7 H% {, ~6 G! p4 g
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
; j& {+ O% G$ T/ |* sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
3 A: \7 V& U7 Q( S9 k, G0 r. j+ O& B" V
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
+ D7 s7 `) N8 k* ^' m9 `! yand American speakers of English, |
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