 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 |* q1 f, s% hInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 h7 u- A0 P5 Q$ s t: V# i8 Wsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in, U( P/ t, B- s6 k
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial9 ?, k+ A# G- V; s Q: @
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: T8 l/ J _/ I6 l; Hretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 @. K) G3 V# z4 `, g! p7 rA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
: f4 D* F' w' v! p. x' W5 K* N[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
: m+ Z- b5 ~: c& b/ d$ i(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 E3 g3 r6 c0 i# @retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
+ E. r5 a6 e, [& s" a2 Kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( a+ A+ G: Y" V& e! z1 `4 _" [
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two2 n7 D% S8 f( q0 a; [# h
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) G$ C p7 y6 c0 P+ d9 w! H7 Hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, v7 [( M& z, a% O& {5 [' D+ m& ?, O( W7 dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
0 D- W2 ^# H5 F* M6 @. C% H3 acompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
9 m# j- \) e* X' E; j! Ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
4 t" v @9 ~# G4 ~1 ?" X( |; j) |* C1 |9 m
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)$ |2 [* I( Q" r3 N. \# P& l) s
and American speakers of English, |
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