 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The/ ]0 Q& m3 X) z' J
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
5 A9 M6 {% u: S! _2 Rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 L, a7 ~: K% N( N
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
! M \2 v' Q: y3 b(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of* `" U2 l* x3 _3 q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
( M! J0 V. H: V4 W0 @$ o7 ] zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
2 p+ v# [# E' ^* H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 S) c \) Z. M) b5 e) u( L+ G; ?
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* |- c$ Z. K% k3 I! d6 W6 e- B
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
3 c# x7 o% E" h* K1 wpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset, W. }# X% ?1 G7 [$ g9 U
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' }* c+ j- u |) v _7 n7 e( ?* @9 Gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a. t: K7 K0 q3 o9 D
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.! z. j' J ~6 Z5 F0 V. G/ r# c
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
$ O$ h+ O, F9 |compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
& V2 z6 [1 c6 X6 T. a8 u5 ^$ Cthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
+ a$ N* P) q) f8 \( U& B; d3 }9 \+ B( j# w- z, ]
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) x4 w; Y; |: @3 O1 h
and American speakers of English, |
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