 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The, a) f$ v7 P$ Z9 }* c
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- W0 i. b+ ]; e
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. {# P% Y& |# ~7 `1 Z z4 d1 Y
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
/ {5 `% K" y; y6 f5 S' O(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of# H9 p# N( M1 ~" ^' d+ [: G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).% o+ d7 E$ |/ P9 G. T+ ~) k! j
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
- C, Q+ b8 H. I! U; P, e2 W( i[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. I% v4 l" ]1 o! N5 g3 O4 _
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 ^& a% I$ N) Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' d6 |$ `# c2 f0 jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: n' d0 `; x# g3 B/ s& c0 u(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* [ }3 D9 J1 `& g6 M* u8 jsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
6 E6 L% H9 j) Xsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.( N+ P# B/ K7 J3 N. `; c$ ~, [
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- j6 G0 w4 N1 o. d4 p' H- y" B5 k: \! Hcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
1 } l1 v: _* s& o9 tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
5 b D5 J/ X* s, M* Q E1 K! f. b: ~) L' C& F2 |/ a. \3 J
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
$ i9 M. k# Q, cand American speakers of English, |
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