 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
" O' M& m/ H8 p& m/ QInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the z6 A+ z8 k) s2 [& C I2 R
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,' \( T# H0 Z5 F1 t" w9 X5 |7 C- j
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial4 V0 _& M6 B/ R# ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
- n* A7 F F! z+ Sretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).+ H- ~) d- m- p: Z+ \: c
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
$ p% J7 x% L5 n: |( M2 L[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
9 z( N2 a& G. r7 B(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving9 |1 p7 ~" O. T: `# c0 y/ H* Z$ I& D$ {
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 d. ^( F2 a3 Z7 f0 ]/ t* z; P! |; ?- k
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( R X. K/ |4 u) @8 C- Q' F& v(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two4 n( L/ A1 r/ C2 x( d0 ]
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: B& q9 r$ i( l% M T3 Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. z; y- @" a/ r" w/ ~, iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
1 A% ]* A u0 G! q0 C: L: O% L# Bcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 o1 G2 B; ~, j( S0 a, q0 W; N( ?the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 X- _! M2 t9 N0 c- L+ n2 L5 _! V
% v4 ?% {- ?# s
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)5 S6 W; W8 {7 A- |( L% \, Y
and American speakers of English, |
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