 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
9 ^9 F# Y. o9 Z4 u/ o2 J: IInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" C, W# }0 x1 @; c; v6 F) z) w. Rsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 Y. e1 n7 c* @( m8 @
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial/ y$ c5 e1 C0 t$ f
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# p( M2 E7 k: R2 @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
' {& a3 }3 S2 m/ CA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ N' t) r- o4 Z- G+ r* r4 \& X
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]( K* o9 w; O4 Z+ M
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
( y, ]* K4 {' W- D1 X- f* c$ Mretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
: W: C* Q7 u F. |% zpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 ^8 o! v: x( J- W9 T4 M9 p(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, l7 J! t+ `% xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 b q" d7 \ A# o3 Lsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 v. v; X' @ w% ?+ n$ I7 lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; k* F5 R7 a( h& v7 o- T1 b
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,/ N6 E0 z+ ]4 {$ T
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... f' \& L4 g A& w O" U
' N4 J% d4 @- R4 Z# m(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ s' \* q2 k! x2 W: i& u- U9 B2 ~
and American speakers of English, |
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