 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The" C" ^0 [/ ` J6 _
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* C1 D2 R3 r1 U2 P3 B# n6 {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,1 J, E; F s$ }2 W0 C/ F F7 y
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
9 n( Z8 ?! J. D2 u: t9 G/ Z5 G(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
/ h# u* b; V/ I& D6 u' rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).7 `) U9 a9 R9 b- `1 P, X/ P: }* |3 M
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. y7 q+ M/ V7 f3 k2 V( W0 J[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: H6 y/ ~ i, o) H5 C( T
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 k0 s! v% a' U, P- D+ ?! C& dretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' I) w6 k) J7 K jpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 j( K, b) m, ~6 B( x0 ?4 d
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. x, ?/ @. \4 Q7 _9 X$ L4 Msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" v K+ b3 N$ v9 n8 t1 ksemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.* s1 [* N8 |3 A- ^
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In: m# J4 K( E/ y9 i$ E: ?8 ]
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
0 r7 [" b6 b: G7 }/ Sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..# L( m+ U$ A) S( M, b! O
3 D [. g! ?3 {- f2 w$ z. x
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); U5 a2 q' \$ Y: R0 S
and American speakers of English, |
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