 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ d) F3 ]1 g e0 }5 eInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
! M6 {4 `( a8 Q' ksyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
' O1 c5 a" p% Q) l0 e' M/ o( Cand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( Z6 h+ ?0 Z0 O% [2 b
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of7 u) W7 _2 S. x! h6 |% z
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)./ c# D& F9 h3 p( y! l" x& d
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=" O1 G0 C) [7 D% q/ o- c
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
& l$ H6 T6 c% d, M(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving: V% M& T6 B! q( M7 J9 Z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- B( Y2 ^- }/ kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
9 X, H/ D* X* D% D; D! [/ f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 c8 V3 T% x( a* m
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
6 }$ B2 E4 E& B0 usemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# f( Q y7 ~' ]7 [7 O
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* T, _0 M2 w+ Q% o
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,8 t4 |; t" ^+ V
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 E7 E6 A3 Y. {7 y3 X3 e! ^' U
5 z" B, G4 u) W* d8 V
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) U8 z. {9 _6 a* P. Kand American speakers of English, |
|