 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: M h; g- p! R& {6 HInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the; T! }3 g0 }' |( c# t4 U& u5 V
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; h4 X" z7 l2 o# ?* Y, `' ?- Land uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
4 [. v' q9 [" P; ]4 F4 y(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
& E8 I6 _$ F; g6 C4 v# Q! v5 L4 sretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).' B% f% W5 x( i/ } \9 j. Y
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (= h- Z# y [$ ~* U X4 v
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% J& @6 C- E9 e0 A5 ~7 m2 W0 A
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( g3 O3 A; l$ P6 e( Z4 p
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on) V* r3 i& c0 h, e8 c0 g/ @3 x
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset1 ?" x( `; X9 }# E. ?- R( X
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, f$ X; j t9 gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a) _3 N" `5 X! C& R0 V
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.6 W x6 z D1 K u+ r8 U+ U
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In* c# ]$ r( ?" _
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,! W4 n* B( {0 [/ ?
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
6 q9 R: ]& x7 k& U+ D$ R+ b1 ~) Y- o( w7 m2 G. o, m3 Q. W" @
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 \/ T2 Q7 }6 l; `
and American speakers of English, |
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