 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) Q3 T, h- {; e
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
$ c. y1 V! r$ i: fsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,- v7 f. q. Z% l1 K6 n( |9 V' x
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial, V' w9 D1 A, n/ K, v
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
! C+ @! |8 P+ g. b, h( ]retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% w" g' F! L" x( O0 n3 ^) {" f
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=! ?" X8 x, }6 a0 x
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
' d" O3 }, M. S3 o(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving& L, y& o0 l- P# P
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
1 Z. |6 S( M3 f( @& e# t4 fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset% \" P: z: ?, @$ _5 j: f
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
F) n1 A1 q. G, Ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
( S: K# |0 T: g2 @; Tsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.% u0 B9 y7 _9 U9 I' R
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% q: j: i: F1 E8 G) f5 M+ icompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,) r9 }# K- M( @7 J/ Y# e
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 \" D) |2 P/ x7 O) a3 U) e* Y. W
+ _+ [- r7 C+ W0 w) t
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): l( t3 t D% f3 t8 Z
and American speakers of English, |
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