 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' k& r) W c' o
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
1 K# h: ?/ p D$ asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
( Q+ ]. l& y Z: Jand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial6 o. l8 _4 N) s, ^- _, {
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
. u- h; n' o- ]0 R$ rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
. [+ |6 y$ \% Z7 GA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=# @7 g* e8 X7 }! F
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
: r3 i+ h V" P% \/ U( E) N! V(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) G8 e& F+ @$ Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
" V1 h0 b) k5 d3 X6 Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset& u' i0 G8 D& z: k; N$ @- P4 \
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 d8 X( |1 o7 Q2 |5 v) f: [segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a1 y& x4 L! t, `
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
* c' I& B: g( Y Oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
B# \+ Z3 L2 r2 h6 s. P) }, F2 P kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 N' x* z7 ? b0 Cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 ^8 e [' e& l. u; J' f# a
. r6 _8 Z8 o+ A8 [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" P$ W5 m1 M7 a* J' y9 ~and American speakers of English, |
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