 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The+ t( y# \) U! a7 h2 n6 _- X
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 ?; X9 o: [% E& @) }3 A: k% qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,+ h( K& F* r6 Q J, C
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
' v2 y; L5 d5 A1 o8 P(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of, b7 w+ T" N# R4 ?# c
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
~9 @' e0 ^1 u) r" v$ F9 e1 J; QA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
$ y% J* W3 T; D# R8 v[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
6 T4 O& q z, ~2 C* N- b$ l' p(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
2 h. `: p8 v& l6 W0 O* [retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; z; |" Z, U' T @5 ?/ cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 b: d6 a( C, f- {9 F(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( C) Q4 ^" p" t4 rsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a }( E* E$ E8 @ A( [, p' i
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.; O% _) \3 i1 T" `4 m
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In5 c: o3 z$ t! ^/ J: N
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
3 G! e) B) | d! |( lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ f; a5 ]4 [9 @& S6 e
, j+ n9 Q! K% h/ B(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 V N5 C) B7 G' g% {, {- v/ i; r
and American speakers of English, |
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