 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 I7 u ?; {& n9 [0 \
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the+ P6 N7 A/ n' _; @. x
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
" Q4 c' k+ U( u$ c; cand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' A. e9 j g: k
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
* F8 E0 w% \: y$ P) kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).7 y# U* u6 Z! h6 Q1 u
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (= E" \$ c' s8 ]% B1 E, p
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
i( x% d2 N; ?( q, _4 G$ ~% p9 K(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
9 n: H# Y% Z5 R+ S" Oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- f# L9 h& e' n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
9 {4 m' f! }6 ?) U% z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
6 O {' x: C9 isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 M' @5 G7 b; G- O3 f: j7 ~2 ]semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
E/ R6 H( y9 G- n/ k: aend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
8 S M3 c4 w: _compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 [- F1 q- f; I; `0 w) |8 t1 Uthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla../ ]% F% P1 E' l8 A7 X
4 W# h2 v7 ?0 q5 Y/ E% s+ }$ ?* R(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 \' {% {4 Z) d w( _9 Hand American speakers of English, |
|