 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! k3 B7 a8 Q! E, `- P
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
/ `- R' s) ~! H- p" W+ Asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ j4 s2 M v2 a3 _and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, K) n, w& }* E! P6 [4 i
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
1 x) }+ P4 G: | @. n# I7 `* c6 Uretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).) {' H3 j) S$ Q" u
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( j2 q9 `+ l# @; a' x9 T
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
" w7 b* X) u. x% U4 u8 b(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
. r3 z) }" B) [+ t0 [retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
m ]4 ~( l- k3 e3 w* j' Zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* O( h; v6 \1 d5 q3 m
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( j. I5 X2 k2 e% v a! D' D. ?2 Bsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a2 d- I0 ~, i' b: Z
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ C7 {9 _4 x d9 tend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* K( o" L0 q* p3 C
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,; n' u3 @' c# F2 V0 K+ {; w; X0 J
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
8 Y& _9 M" [3 w6 J/ W8 O. _) L* h2 }- O* H' {* l c' ~. P; }
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)) O; k: _1 Q7 N/ @4 k2 t h
and American speakers of English, |
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