 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
" a x3 f. _6 K& }, S* j# lInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 D! `, W) A% z! J; \. c
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. _! j' m- r( Wand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial6 \3 u% X( l* x; \0 j% u) |
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 _+ b- l7 e9 p; J5 l1 Oretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* j% Y0 [2 @" r/ S: h gA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
, c( E* }0 J: F5 d3 g[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
$ t9 n d/ X. {/ [4 X(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
% c8 |! p/ G- w1 I8 Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on+ s- Q* A# @/ J* a5 X: K
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset K% G7 }$ M( U9 q1 Y" R
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ S2 d$ L% t3 ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
0 e% h# D4 ]) ^: \7 o9 Dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, N7 U, m0 K& I7 y$ j" J% }" eend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' b* P2 X S6 o6 T% c8 }1 Pcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
+ H9 {; y( v! nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..- J' y5 Y! Y4 F8 `; x
9 i) W: B, h+ a3 n; H
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)/ K1 s8 E$ X& q3 ]; n2 x
and American speakers of English, |
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