 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
, Y1 M7 o: J J6 G+ U& { _' B6 VInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the t0 l2 U0 \, t. Q2 ~- G' e( m
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 W# x+ r% b% y/ ?; u/ N7 Y8 U
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
8 S+ [& E: E' [5 Z9 w5 @( G5 X4 J(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of" {5 Z8 e+ z% g* t; ^! X
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
' @# m. ?( I& W2 i) RA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, d0 \1 g! h. g
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 r* V5 n5 J6 h
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving# P2 h2 [0 a3 G" |
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on6 E/ c0 {% D* h- a {! p
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
( p" s6 h9 J% R, H0 K) c- x(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, I$ v0 s+ {& Z- q; H$ T4 K1 M9 ?# xsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a# Z' }! E# H7 N" J# R" v
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.& G/ Y. T4 E; M+ `
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In. u# e6 f. K1 l; |
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 k6 v. N+ o! }7 d2 g
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
5 q- w. p+ w# ~8 T# G) X. y& a3 L/ ~' S9 H0 f$ N1 v
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)* S; p7 E# B \% L) e& u
and American speakers of English, |
|