 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The9 S4 y, u% b; d7 w6 ^7 ^
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the, U6 q$ k, I4 o) d2 L. d! D1 S/ _
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 _; a5 t0 _2 A6 o/ A$ V2 [and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
l5 N% b" K0 v1 z4 e" l' N# S(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of% U5 Q5 j# }/ @0 N- i) J" [9 c% F
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
% S& K7 D" i% @# cA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; F$ n9 u5 Z L( _ ^9 o5 z: G[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 O. t5 I! R+ z3 t( l(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 z# Z/ f% w+ W, x! S# z5 g
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
( b8 I7 B4 T* kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: R) p3 `" y8 _+ H8 g i( ?(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
/ U+ W. n- s8 a6 @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 j! h3 W0 u% W) ~4 ?
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.! v. v7 ?0 h5 I0 b
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In$ ~3 `" _- O. d0 h1 i9 e7 Z5 \% V
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' h" R+ [! J( C% C0 z$ v/ Kthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ B8 g0 h8 M2 k. a
; Y1 H) C0 N W(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 s1 a8 @7 r, M# C, `and American speakers of English, |
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