 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The3 N& I) w$ U# E+ `
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
& W6 h# E" V% T: P8 H* a6 asyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
2 q7 B9 K* V+ p8 p* z# zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' Z; K1 U1 @9 s& S: E5 ^( X& ^7 h9 o# _
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
: D j2 {4 \0 U& q5 T) G# U! \9 Eretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
5 w1 U2 X# L1 ^) P" xA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 R6 G: L% O+ i8 L( e; _( h- O
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]4 C% q; [# o! V) J
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' K5 w' I8 C, ]! v" n+ N: d
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on# F$ K& s; x* B% Y, ~5 [+ J$ A
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset- Q' q- O& _# M; l# p
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 E0 A3 O3 w( f4 }! |" {$ `; t0 tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
5 D" l5 e7 \+ C6 e2 p8 Fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
- `+ u+ z/ e" P& i7 _$ _5 Oend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% ]9 g; _7 J, S$ e0 l% Zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 P) O, q8 F& j: s! N! N4 Z. w
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 [- i. {* q& w) @
; I [$ ^/ o0 M
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
% Q L m# [1 R( j1 land American speakers of English, |
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