 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The7 o \% y2 f2 f+ Y- C8 G8 Q, a8 u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) c: a. Y1 z0 z" esyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,% u7 h5 U/ k4 S
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial! w4 n( u+ ^1 [0 H( _8 K& f
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; @# @* Z9 q; c# w, U/ M( R2 f
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
- `% O; A+ ^; w/ B eA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=1 N4 X/ [: v) n# Q
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 o; s4 E: X. _$ W r1 }8 g
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( U+ P, N( }2 P6 ~6 {* n2 ^
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 @8 |' j8 N( p0 s5 G, ~
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
# Q% G z) q% i. g I; ~(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
* W) o2 q! c6 ?0 V* E5 Psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
6 c. q6 w, T. D Z% f1 zsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.+ O3 O9 n3 e* T# v- O
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 s% b8 J! ]. ~
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 H5 N6 Y4 ^) Z9 F( s* t7 Q
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..4 A; h6 d3 a$ |8 R% _5 m
$ h2 j1 ^ E8 c+ c(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 b# x# r# y! C Q9 o A( ^
and American speakers of English, |
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