 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& |8 f8 U. s; S8 _Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the3 x9 b2 \ A5 q9 l' f; h4 Q& {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
# H/ N& M" p% X* g$ `/ dand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
; h% Y% |7 s. n1 b0 w5 V6 }(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of3 p% o5 Q! F/ [5 E# ?5 G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 c* `2 e) c9 C5 o0 z8 O8 N7 T# c, L
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
" g* [, E& O4 l' H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]3 c F) c- R* c
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
( w3 c0 n6 V. M1 gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% \' o# O1 S1 f% _1 `' C5 J
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# L! h8 x3 O0 f/ j8 L(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' _4 X; w9 Q& F) h& q' ^/ jsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a& F; [9 a2 h5 C2 n% F# |
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
A! ^6 [% K. g6 M$ K& u/ C; dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 N I, \2 |( \( [7 Y* F' s9 X
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 @/ {- q# t" M |
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..: r' M+ E$ B" H$ W) b" P. A* @
2 i- \/ B2 d% u: o3 S) R
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch) n5 Y3 Q6 n: y. |% p
and American speakers of English, |
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