 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 j& ? c* g+ _$ I# _: aInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
: X' i( T$ n# m/ u4 Z% lsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! ~! b$ ~& `9 e6 g/ E, i
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% K1 ?7 R$ p/ g- i: z
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
" J& P8 Q' J8 a. \- Z9 Zretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).9 U4 g* Y+ \1 B8 B, E! W+ k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
3 W( |* i. i8 s) k9 F4 I[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
; s( G: z! G* T& F4 c/ n& j(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving0 o; i s' T6 g4 N; y8 S
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
: i( \: c ^4 e o Bpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* a+ B, s+ P5 z, z) _' ^% i; H8 C(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 S- t H- O! }- ^! ~segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: E6 ~- o ^. J8 {semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' C+ A. ?3 p( `9 Xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In @6 [% g0 i+ K
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
4 n) |) @& W4 X% lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
! H. z# h3 ^5 |) Y" @& ?
- k9 k) x! M/ Q5 n(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)6 F" ]5 X+ Q7 a2 \
and American speakers of English, |
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