 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 ]' n) O- a0 A$ ?% F
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
4 z0 H) Y, c4 Dsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,0 t( e7 n2 Q) p
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: l2 y/ q" a' @$ x4 `- S
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
+ ]! f% b) ^8 I0 @. ]$ rretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
! `4 ]+ H- W" I( O9 y3 h# ]: L& R6 w) gA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; v! X3 y$ M, N8 O' l8 K
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
7 @. h. S6 ~" h: |( `7 p7 d( v(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving* w& W. u0 c. `" O
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 w0 Q3 {- t. @$ [9 U, h. f5 d
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. P! a+ d: O X: x/ F" r7 S(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 A2 [5 c! S; Z) ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
7 K! |$ a7 V, W9 K+ Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e." @; J) X) u4 h7 Y
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In2 M7 k/ n$ _8 q+ N; B4 c
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 g- h( J2 [ @* O7 F
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
z/ G6 {, C: }: D Y7 H, g) u
* N2 w n s( X+ L# v- ]$ X# O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
4 x9 W* J$ v0 O- nand American speakers of English, |
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