 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! {/ M: i! ~/ Q/ c4 U8 h- J3 T
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: A8 M+ o) D2 a. m
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
$ y+ a1 g0 r4 h1 @/ [6 A( V, `and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; @6 M: g6 s: y* c2 U, S
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: E- T; c d# g: ?2 k' _retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)., _ Q) q. ]$ O5 Z" j9 J' B3 e+ A
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 k) b/ c( B$ r' F[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% c3 w' [% P( M- g3 u2 r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
# `. Q0 j5 t( Q& Y# y0 f) W+ Q2 ]* {retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& t6 P2 d$ u9 u3 k: X
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( K. T9 V. k( ^/ I4 y(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two) S. Z; Z9 D2 k; W$ c; l
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* x, Y; ` @) `1 `5 @2 q5 Jsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
3 ?5 l. b( F6 c; I6 ~) [, T* lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
a# C9 C# O& q/ q- E& F; @compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,/ g1 E( b. p, Q" K
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
/ n( W; ?$ z& m \) \' \; K7 E
" x, m/ t$ u! Z- \' B+ J(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)3 W3 w _" g# R6 j
and American speakers of English, |
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