 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 Y9 e+ O7 I/ F7 ?3 XInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 ?4 a. ~9 c; M. x& O7 H
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,( q3 _3 {$ P& V! x, Z, K
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
" K: S) s1 k4 `; X a+ m(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
1 ^; s9 _/ S7 ~; @% `retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
: j2 E2 @) @/ G- L% ^A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 L& X6 J( c0 J& O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: P. A2 G3 r9 E9 R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ W3 x+ w# j# d$ L- f7 gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 F& u& ?( V+ \& B3 X* npossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, U# H2 p: {) y1 v+ u9 E9 b1 G(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two/ _5 q0 N9 @3 X3 n1 `7 g: y
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a: O$ f) S! v3 _- q" `3 y! E
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.8 a2 P- \ C2 E: d* D! Q
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
7 P1 g9 u0 y- ocompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
# n/ r8 C8 l( G: C# jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 U1 O" c: d: E2 G4 h" D, R, v
2 O6 r' W( F' t3 F& \) n1 S(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), Q0 j- e9 p0 L) O/ M1 R4 t1 f
and American speakers of English, |
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