 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ d( C0 g x3 f( ?+ @Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( L! c/ e* o- U, r7 u9 W
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
0 Z& U' n6 @+ T9 dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
* `6 k9 R( [+ p' M(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 E- R: K k7 _3 ^! J( v% ^
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" v& Y( p' U) F) L" AA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
9 {1 p9 j. V& D, t+ g; i7 a[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
& }2 [! ^- i' d6 A4 N(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* u+ _* w$ u. b6 ?retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ h- q+ o$ w* v. j3 }8 gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
; D9 t9 @5 T% g# E, q0 r(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two" O7 T5 N- y) u# L( A6 v
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 L! G/ i# ~. x. i5 Nsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
. U. g6 n, g) A0 T; ^ P% B% G4 oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
& i) u$ H/ j; {5 u4 hcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,6 l5 g! b% }, Q9 l+ [
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
) o: L% s( {5 S! \0 }1 t
) G% M }3 ~# [. f( p(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% n; E& {) C' ]/ Y0 I5 z5 Z8 o8 c; ~and American speakers of English, |
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