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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The- M' S4 m* I8 M7 y
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the8 B2 m& [$ X6 [! J/ P
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 O8 B. Z2 t1 v. Pand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
: s; j3 A2 N, p( Q4 q8 J. K& w d9 V2 s(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of w9 i1 b6 v) T e% @
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& k3 y2 w: l$ G; x" r
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=6 l- v; k3 x7 b! Y4 j# ]5 }
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
8 j5 c+ }# R5 y+ Z(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: [* n; k, c) kretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; C' J: `, \2 y$ _" Spossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( ]) M9 L+ D( h0 B f0 m+ [
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
# |7 r" Y; D; N" A1 f: csegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
$ ], m* U' j$ n- n% }2 [semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( s' |; M. S/ Y2 h0 rend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 c9 c; }! H( `( N1 V; X4 f
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% |+ i3 j, v. q. l0 R j' Othe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) b# e. B" `" u$ L' L- C* c
2 f* U( s' U: ]8 o7 x* e
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
, V( J( g5 u8 b1 h* i% ~! sand American speakers of English, |
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