 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: A {! ^4 Z) k! rInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 ]2 _+ R( [ P+ {syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
9 Q7 W8 a0 P$ l8 @* land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' [* G# V% D M' w* p
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of+ o$ F) ?& o8 z7 Q' ]
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
9 r1 ~; X7 y6 j0 B4 y) H3 G+ h' vA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
8 n9 F5 Z8 r- E6 E3 e4 Y3 G& J6 @[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]# s+ q9 Q8 s+ z% w9 b
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving. ^& N# p- }4 l( y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 u* k% J/ Q! W- \0 D% X& A. k; F
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
z; r$ g& y2 `(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two% w3 G5 e& m' |8 f0 G
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% I+ a4 o; a9 B" @: }8 E. Ssemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' t$ f) _" b% }/ }7 o' @end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- A" T; W' V" s. Q$ ~" x0 Y; X
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
y* S: @! |% S0 a1 ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..+ D; `' o& W0 Y- C
& S: [ m; F8 ?* Q" h(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
' ^1 d8 Z8 `# zand American speakers of English, |
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