 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
5 F" K% K7 v) j5 ?9 l- zInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( J9 _- ^% o! P3 [2 k' C/ n- N9 v
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,, Q( ~) y* N& W' D
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
T* o& V7 ?% n* [) \(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
4 ?9 a9 @8 |- E5 r7 q" g! V" d6 f) m) xretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).: M: f" S: _- d. j q# i
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 ~, \0 w$ Z5 C) M- g0 Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' ]. Z/ w+ _: V- I& F% D
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving7 a5 V+ c, z5 ~% e
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' ?' |$ y4 m. S/ p: Upossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 o- d3 c* e* U& o' Z
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 K3 U8 K3 l' x7 P! v+ m" osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 r, i3 m% Y: m7 J6 `: ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
" h' X! A, E+ ]3 \2 f7 Lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# |8 e! o/ T7 j e3 o$ q
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
5 F3 l: ]: T* n( v9 dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..5 w8 ^, A& d3 n8 i; | @: x
8 C/ M% t2 i7 {/ I# B$ | |(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)( K% g- }* `0 ?/ V5 q
and American speakers of English, |
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