 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 N6 f$ F9 z" w6 [) I% o BInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the6 m( i3 [' {0 W7 q
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,$ U- ^3 v' j `
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
' }0 |5 a; D+ H. o6 I1 V$ I+ K(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of5 X. U( N0 Q" q5 Q' e4 m; q; @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 K5 t+ H5 E4 W3 |& D6 ]6 f
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 @7 n6 O m, \) I* B[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]. ]0 F0 H* ^4 `5 z7 ?
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
# O3 Q# _) @* H! M- D: Gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on6 f& k; v/ i, ~) Y" a9 I
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
$ g6 l1 H' r# s: y: K3 i* u8 g(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ q4 M( D' {% ]+ e6 E" A4 ?
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: D1 g( f7 ^7 s, @' ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
7 R$ G. _: Q1 y( \. M1 U6 f0 Xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In" j4 ^ X& D! e b" L: F6 T5 i2 l
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,) T- W7 ~3 W) v2 j
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 G8 a9 T y; f8 J4 x# s) ?# b: N6 ]# @# B( t, X7 s# {
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
2 L! a( z4 T2 w" V7 z, [and American speakers of English, |
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