 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The/ U" C4 r. b( K3 n& K& p4 X) ]
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' Q% y5 U1 g$ ]7 L5 asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
! o6 s5 n3 Q$ iand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
: n. |& S8 \- w3 f" @) m& [* ]& ~# p8 i(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 H- u8 a# A3 Q) Y1 R7 N) ]retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
. C5 ~: m5 u( f9 u- P% x8 R/ @$ u. zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=/ h4 f2 F- o, s' R. {, a
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
* S, |( @ k' o5 A8 B. t% @(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
1 [# `' q2 g& c wretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' T4 W' I1 V) A5 Ipossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset8 d3 Y5 C8 M' u$ i1 t$ E
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 p; s% r* h8 i, M' msegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 `$ z2 D& B+ A! g: v& s# A& w
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
$ B) p+ C8 x7 t2 \/ ^' |end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 Y7 \5 R( X7 r! q
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
6 \- G& t! R) G8 e; a( ]/ G, tthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
( `' g- N! C: c- N+ ^ E, |# y3 J y7 O2 P8 e( t5 D, I" h
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), x* L/ p4 W* r- J4 i; H6 H* _
and American speakers of English, |
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