 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 J7 r% h S/ L5 g% T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the7 U. l" f. u u( ]; y+ e
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,& t8 i4 I; E% }: f) ^1 k6 x
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& Y& d- n$ Y+ j9 y3 i
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 U/ d+ d. ^! A, q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 [) Q" M6 ?1 S6 Z6 l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; b2 `" m0 i- m5 a% G+ ?. e[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
% r. i: j( z* S(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
- ~6 k% T) {( |7 r5 Cretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& Q# w: P/ J8 \: w: n `
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
! [# ~- K: \+ {" S(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two7 p' D9 [) z4 z- K L, _
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
d! C; L$ g6 _* R+ Isemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% V. f) q, [0 ]end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; D$ D8 [- U8 Y: c9 H7 _5 t6 y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,# `2 N% l3 B' T' K
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
. q% ~; B$ A, j* B1 V: ^3 I4 t) E) g
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( K x9 }' c3 A: P3 u
and American speakers of English, |
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