 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' M$ _& r1 F! N/ g. |+ |8 M
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the W8 n7 U8 Y% T' {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% H; t. u4 o0 _
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial7 k" J7 X8 o/ a
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ {1 R2 E2 B3 G& y# f8 u& y6 e
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
+ a: v" B4 i ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
) k3 I" {& M! `9 V7 Q, C[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
# q) C, f* v4 U* x2 ~# S(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
- p+ m+ j# P/ ?% G% ?retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 }8 m& r: _% h1 P
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, X. {: y+ I, |8 Y3 V(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; R1 a7 Y& r4 N( Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% v1 z% s$ Y& Y' G) Usemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.4 H0 G3 k" s g4 Z5 h
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
0 W; B5 h& R! u6 x$ v: H$ Acompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,$ A- m6 n* e5 {
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" {$ u3 z5 b6 [. o
% D9 k" D; h) k" `, S0 E(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
7 K3 c( m* i( i c2 H5 L" u+ kand American speakers of English, |
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