 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! p1 A% _( v% X( k! s
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 r" ?1 b7 T$ o
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 T9 o+ e2 J2 o# F' e1 x6 k! Xand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial! B: L4 m1 N. U
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 ^, r' q6 ]& W8 m
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
( S" [! W% j$ V- U# }A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( i2 `9 y* i# Z" I/ C. }
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ `7 w l: c3 @( {* T& K; j# X(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
) E' o& }6 B# O( Z! yretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on) K/ t1 }2 s% m5 \5 {/ {
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 X( r2 \' h3 ^
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
$ L. a' b3 Z' @& c- ~. `) Nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ @ V& N7 P4 f, P8 {% u- X
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.- N' I( d# l0 q
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& k9 Y2 a; N5 R4 v
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 G, P) L; z% b# L) }5 w+ j
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" e8 }4 V7 W9 f, F( W/ O! t0 }9 p# r! j5 u) S
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& w2 ?( j) Y- Q6 f+ w1 ]: o- a6 k
and American speakers of English, |
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