 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The2 S; E3 ?9 D/ I( M0 i
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the5 W+ I! Q1 h q* A$ S7 `0 A" _( [7 u
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# T: }6 J. S' [$ Q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; P2 n" I% |( q3 U! Q
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# `5 u# q3 e% }8 }retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
0 T8 Z S# x* tA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 {, i- X' m8 Q7 U9 k: G; G& c
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 {1 s4 X9 `8 R# e2 u, q( `
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 Q' E6 s$ S8 e5 p/ S+ @: cretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' A }# V. }2 \1 J+ Z) D
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 O: C$ j3 T/ H' a" F0 w
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two. A2 b7 |( p4 G/ n; W. m0 E0 c# r
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 q. m0 U$ m) m! K& L- `semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.0 `- \/ t# F) m
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
9 ?$ X5 d) [3 A( B( Kcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,* \! {9 t" y+ s5 w% J3 ]& w
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..9 Q. O5 F* d# C4 g6 l9 [
) H" P+ f# @# [2 \
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 v- h) E9 u: m4 c& k
and American speakers of English, |
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