 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
+ O( g! v8 R* y% i6 L1 s; rInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the- T; w1 o9 \/ b) I
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
. _9 P! x7 r% q- t; I2 X; S, M( mand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
B6 L# H; R8 j# w/ ^& U1 h/ e(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 J2 q+ p6 B' U$ V, g8 n, o6 V
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 |( h0 n5 U0 D4 ?
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
7 a$ ^5 v% y# ^[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]0 g( H, H% c5 b; P& o
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving) Y& K4 I. m. W; l& Y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
- Y. v+ }0 I2 gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset& X7 g5 x$ h0 K8 s
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 b( \3 `8 Z% o2 w
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* }/ H9 j/ M! g" T0 \( X1 W5 Rsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) ] v+ U6 k z! y4 I2 h2 b! ?
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In |( K4 g* [8 A" p, V, p7 p% _
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, G6 d$ g4 Q* ?7 }
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 v/ v- C" C9 _8 A( z$ |) F) U
6 d% h5 ^& T3 Y& N. o+ c(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
& \. \8 ~$ H& \and American speakers of English, |
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