 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 E/ ^& y& B$ H# Z" R: y
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the X9 h$ b0 r& B/ z
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; Z8 ~* P# m& i( W: aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 h1 M2 u) \$ W7 Y
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of' B0 ?' f2 w4 I7 n9 k3 T( j
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).! B1 @$ k4 S; { `2 P# S L6 Q
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
( I" q- V% _; s+ ^: X, T) X[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
& t; e9 ~9 C* W* p9 p9 g) M W& D(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' s$ V9 ?. s# E5 ]) p' o2 c
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ y; @+ s" P6 Q! a+ Upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset" \# R' D% E" g' h+ W
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two) _0 B9 k" V' J
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 j8 H# _& b/ fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, x( Z: J1 S( ~- Q- Kend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
3 ^9 W% S* K! C" o+ t) r$ \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 R1 M4 s8 J8 `- w+ z9 W o
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
l: V) ?3 R, v" G* p; q% R) k( d. V: B$ K6 P
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
: @& z+ |' W- I: f$ z# Pand American speakers of English, |
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