 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The! ~6 _& Y, c6 J: @! V/ A3 {+ E$ N
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 q. V) R2 H, i8 ~* Bsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
" I6 A& T" \. P( Sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; t1 C( p9 C- n' q$ ~0 e5 `$ V9 V
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
+ Z4 k' n! K9 |+ L" V' T6 x/ _retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).$ p _: |6 c& V7 k( t9 f% q, x; y
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, ?* L9 B, ^$ c' J& i- K
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], x' p* m6 n4 H, A
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
! b* V5 C8 [* r2 A% vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on& V2 D, S4 V$ h/ e8 u+ e! H
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
m2 l! `% a0 ^9 [(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two5 n; e- [3 m; ^- j& O! @
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a# J2 [9 d- t2 L
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
) l3 U9 Q: q4 j9 y4 t( rend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
" D L K; z3 C* x) R lcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
~( y2 f" x( D H; e l& Qthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..8 R- d8 `2 z2 Y) C7 ]
5 f) ~5 Z! U/ W, W(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)6 _$ _; P) V, V4 g
and American speakers of English, |
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