 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
' [/ i6 C+ Q( TInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
2 R$ Z# b" E ^2 \syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! j& N: J9 r4 P
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial& T6 a- {' }3 N1 y* G2 G! F# S
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of* Z6 R$ p @$ m: @, N
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
) |) f2 x: b9 H% |' S7 Q8 gA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* f7 \! H9 r$ Y8 k5 }5 c" o
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- v. G4 m* D. J: Q& O
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
; c: y$ e4 h9 J9 @) Hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on! k9 `- l Q+ C
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 l6 L6 z K* e3 G
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
+ M A5 i% r. t5 ]8 m* \5 ^segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
/ K1 b3 z7 l* I/ R' d+ z9 B! |semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- Y" c- c2 `1 v" Rend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In0 t8 [/ P% t* b& a: L# l, \
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 {( n7 j Y& Q6 _
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, Z m! Q. p- U' J, w/ S% e3 M4 b* \
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" J2 r7 p7 O. a! ]and American speakers of English, |
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