 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. L& Z0 M0 {% N4 q
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the8 i- v2 k, A0 h8 b' u4 v
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 i; p: A$ J. [" L, _2 n
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial5 x# K, G8 Y! l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# P3 ~- k: D5 B6 iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 U6 h# z6 @2 E
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ s% r( u; G: r
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
1 N1 `/ h3 e6 v. y% q2 z( M(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
& F0 r" T0 t4 c+ Qretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 C$ P. Y) C6 U" [+ B6 O2 ~possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
3 m b R. s3 m! G' j(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 ^" b, j4 v+ |
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a! ^8 o+ f7 X! T( @( F T( q
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
; j2 u: a& `0 [) X4 p2 x4 Bend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; C* y% H/ ^7 L5 r- ] R
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 U4 p7 Z4 R, C0 Xthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 @4 b9 ]- O: I7 J* y5 }
5 _, S" b0 I1 z(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)7 D5 {' ^2 f4 L+ N- [3 F6 p# b
and American speakers of English, |
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