 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ H5 B. d+ X$ u% ~0 `- a8 v8 \1 ^Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* U! k7 E* l( N | y4 c
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,4 _$ Z$ Y# f( O
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
% B9 z& z; c& ~0 d+ Q(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of j6 n4 g- H* s4 ?2 O
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
3 L% a2 m7 ~& n v8 l0 C4 f# VA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ ~0 A' p. Y$ A9 D
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ p* l& P& g, X4 Z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* Y" m$ T0 O8 D" K; l1 o/ E+ Lretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
9 c+ [2 M1 O$ x; b4 s8 X l8 apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
: s: M2 N, D3 R( m @(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two" i1 L3 `. y' z4 o7 ~# v1 T
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" [* A, r' I* l! csemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.# C u6 Z* J2 @& P0 Z' n4 Y
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
W* q+ x# a; q# i, i# b1 V1 T* e/ acompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 r+ o G+ X/ G0 m% _the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
7 Q8 n$ l6 b0 v: T
( y# S5 m4 b& u: ^2 F8 R9 f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, {$ @ F7 d/ J; t1 _. \and American speakers of English, |
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