 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 i& c1 [; ~9 n& s! [. ]Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
# s d$ y, t) t6 ^syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 f- b! ^) W0 e+ K1 ~" r0 mand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
. |6 d2 x4 s! y$ f6 p- e(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
1 B( c/ U; } K" iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# I- N3 l4 ^. @: _: k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
* f6 G) Q; e+ E[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. z! T* i6 W6 l8 z% G( j
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving% A) z* k' e$ X. u2 A
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on. n; B$ @# g9 W" d5 T
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
9 b: c+ n9 o4 i; R* ]6 W) A(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ }+ [6 ^3 J, E3 r' |2 |# ?, Zsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 x4 P! J" o3 U( l+ w# [1 i0 e$ _semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
D5 n( S# [; M8 N+ [4 ?end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 }' F! P# }3 Z' h: { q* \7 |
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
7 F# L, R% Q- j) \the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..' b, U' {/ i$ x0 K+ L( J$ o
. @6 y( d1 ?% P% S' e
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)# y- N# c. [! y
and American speakers of English, |
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