 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 D Q, y9 n! e7 X) ?
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the1 k) }5 m2 m7 m& |
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
6 y. P+ v& y6 f7 E+ _- q) Aand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial0 _) \1 a4 s+ E5 j" I- j U8 j5 c
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of% I! W0 f/ V& l& o. q* x# J* q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) J9 U. o& E/ N- e |7 P% CA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* T! ?$ b' \* i! Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 v' c" l. M% r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
! g2 Y8 j% ~& u9 r0 a" R' m. B( U" wretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on9 A1 g3 h& ?/ E7 |4 M* O' w
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset' ?, Z% t- C* K1 b+ F* u) g3 I
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 w0 ^: ~, {! V) } Q- Osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a1 W' Z, H2 D- w' u9 u1 N
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
7 o# C5 d4 k1 X0 U9 y2 O2 ^end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ p) S. G7 ^7 |! wcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
+ ?: Y! R+ M' sthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..1 y7 z" k* v4 ?( P3 c- Y, Y5 a
; c* Q$ H U: z! b- ]0 S, G(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)# a+ u# \6 r* Y2 I6 A
and American speakers of English, |
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