 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
. h# a' ?8 @2 M2 L0 M4 zInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: H) [" ?$ W J0 e' o: @
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
$ h; z* X; v9 |and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, D( l K. l/ s! h$ _. \" R$ I$ L
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of, b4 P2 z+ D+ g$ o
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 e" q& J. i, U# O+ r# [ g
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
$ y* j. g! g- x* n( O8 h[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”] r* T$ ?9 @% I+ l C- ^0 [
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
- G2 D9 ~6 C* }( nretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 V A0 M5 x' X. n8 d$ V( I
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& }# {/ W% P/ n8 d5 F(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
& ^: |+ L) [1 A$ A: _7 \, isegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
- O* N6 V6 ~. c0 I: W8 r" r- `% `semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ l: A, k S2 c. v: g0 U3 r
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In1 ?2 B+ b/ j7 |) _
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 t" Y" n3 P" e# I( R: G/ M$ {' ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 z7 A5 s ^, m. Q
* d( K+ x, Q7 |0 a# N5 ~$ F(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)9 ?- i6 }6 C p. J5 {" ]
and American speakers of English, |
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