 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- z" _; ?1 G6 m& g8 [5 |8 T+ S( j
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 @! C, h3 Y5 qsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,' [/ B" h7 j6 a) Z
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
- N: x' U: t) n8 {) s" P9 ](or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of* I4 f% ]- |! x3 i5 k
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).; f. w( {0 a3 N0 s" a0 ]. |
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. ]9 b% ^+ y" N$ T! r1 f8 H1 W[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% s# l4 g$ W: v8 r; C2 Y( g
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 R, p8 z V1 L$ E7 {' t0 oretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on6 N% }$ w& O5 y3 M( c' w/ m4 R- f
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
8 @5 Q( `" ]1 ~3 g(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
; g( g+ x) l2 fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% ?. M! ^+ `# v# c! ]4 usemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ n# ~: v A4 Y- {end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In! O% ]# x8 _2 h1 M
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( ?1 i5 E/ s( x1 c' Nthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
" Q- ~* N9 D' H1 F; {8 I) U ^9 O+ i5 X/ }* S% w
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)& x' ~2 U& _* ?) @0 J3 m1 v7 u3 R4 V
and American speakers of English, |
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