 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 j/ S* M1 j% s! I# }2 G1 X0 S' x4 LInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* v6 L! ?. w" y$ O8 p' M' x% v
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
8 r, `( w" f2 |0 U# t/ S* tand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial8 ~9 q2 s+ S( }& ]2 K
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of& x9 A1 h/ R' R% ^. e d5 c
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
8 i" ~7 p9 u1 G* A2 r2 i$ q: ~; LA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 A3 |& H, v/ C2 D" z[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- V; B! W* e% w% A4 Q
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
{" ]. m, F* |retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on1 [* k1 x# p( P ?0 }9 \
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
+ j- W; O+ m2 K9 z. p(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
2 [8 J. {% Q3 @$ i0 nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a! d& G& u9 L7 H1 ~" l/ ~/ W
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
+ O5 L" t* L7 T7 e. g/ q5 h7 Z1 qend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In( x5 {7 @+ }; g j# J+ `
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
* e4 h8 p8 Y1 r7 |the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; Y- M9 J9 u1 f
4 W5 Y2 i# G% e5 e) M" D$ [! e
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch); ^8 v/ R8 B3 D7 M6 d# e
and American speakers of English, |
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