 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The( z; v' K: x, M! z3 u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 H- Y0 e0 n d3 O' L, }2 z/ a
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,* }0 P" D8 T0 ^) ]; ~
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial4 |6 w, m, I* e5 h8 e3 ^' [" w
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; J$ L/ ?# f. [+ L
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ x1 H. I' ]2 w) e. |+ w5 RA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=- B: o0 j! ^) L4 }" g8 Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
* \* ~8 g! Z O4 ~* S5 h& `(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
" }4 S. O: h. {) R( Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
k0 E6 p" q' z' opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: L9 \0 M) n2 p- p(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( A! ^, U5 }+ d0 [# N" j3 k
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
# E0 J( S& M+ i$ ksemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
U1 ?8 T9 W) b5 Fend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
" p [1 w, B$ A1 G) L2 M" Hcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
2 w7 L# {5 z5 V+ D0 qthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ W1 ]6 W. S! O, A: n5 W$ ^9 M4 S; }* ^7 b2 V5 _% f1 ~
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) I6 [; v( h+ Q0 T+ y9 ^. m
and American speakers of English, |
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