 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The# Q% o3 D& H5 t! [; z. b- \; L, }
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the: s/ X; q& o( z+ T( i# u! r4 S
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,9 f8 g! r7 R7 [- |5 M
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; ~3 |' p$ n( O) ^* m
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of8 ?* R' q6 S' L. T( w- @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# H- q& T. l7 d& C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ ]- i) x. B3 G# L
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
4 |2 z4 z5 p' e7 K: m(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ j; T4 b6 t0 a4 ?! v* r2 Pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
0 _$ W" B/ p: M% ~possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
/ k r$ a: x( d: t, g(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two: X& ^; U2 g1 s, |" Q+ |* M
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
4 q5 X K( c! Hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* _3 v: e9 f* Y' z' Z
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
. W% V" }- p$ V3 s) |1 L4 gcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,: T2 E# n5 b) N1 ^) C! l
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
: Z" \4 G) X9 L% s( i3 |0 T2 @1 w7 E# x4 [ R
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)+ Q- @, C9 ]* o* a
and American speakers of English, |
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