 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: l9 b- @; }5 NInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 [* r6 b# h& I2 H1 ?" g( q7 \; X
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,; D9 B2 F' ^8 I/ B9 V) _. z
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 I' ` X+ f! N+ w- `2 D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of0 l; ] Q# W5 L) |3 D Z5 l" \
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
+ r6 C+ x. [! {6 H- K1 dA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
g1 V3 p( B. g/ E# ]' |[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
! Q4 ? \4 l5 s# h8 k7 K(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving; e% T- s: \3 d5 s
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' ^) `; ~4 q( g/ s5 k/ z r
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 I4 s* `' w6 O$ V+ d* z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ ?% m* w- \. o
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a, X$ s! J5 m7 Y; |; X5 n6 ^- \
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
9 H+ M2 M7 R ]( dend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
1 @; l$ h) P r; j& c; {% w+ Xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,1 m* `, _9 |+ w7 t+ X( Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." y0 O1 |% F1 F/ h
4 o. h, {( S9 L6 D- V) O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
1 `& U* h' M) u! l5 B2 e1 [and American speakers of English, |
|