 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 S9 i7 r8 o; a0 dInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( J5 s& k7 z* _6 y# f! n" y
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
& V# t1 M9 U5 N( L5 Xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
2 n+ e* J4 G& S- G0 ](or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of E) U+ o0 N( G* D8 D" D# ]
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
+ v% ^+ h4 w% d* [A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=. s: [- I, N% H4 \0 N1 c. ?1 A: C
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. T5 w: ^: E+ j+ {' F
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 m/ Q; g( D% T } k1 Jretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 J' e y8 P+ I# I: r5 ?) vpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset: f! [5 H& ^" p5 y0 S
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two' V3 E8 r6 v7 B4 V) S
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) }8 S7 U* Z( i2 e Q- f9 dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' [ M" F# r) Rend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
* v7 {5 M, o( ~* d) N: F; w1 Scompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
! B* u7 r. p$ P: d- P8 Z i9 Fthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.. r1 j9 N6 a0 i: W" j' q1 [+ z
; d& {7 x- G3 q, K* c" f
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% q1 i. x3 S8 H" [and American speakers of English, |
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