 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
1 J9 V- Q" k/ j6 G' ]% LInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the6 d& x/ J2 Q5 k; q* w! t9 h. H
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! _+ v; a* c2 F* q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial' \2 J8 I" A8 M8 p8 l1 n! F& F! g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 Z$ j' J: V. \5 A1 j9 h3 K
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
" g6 _2 H- |: Z. z6 G" R* X( n4 UA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 S; l; v* f2 w% t" L* v) Y9 L/ }
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]9 n; m! A( c9 q5 t* C1 a% c& r# x
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving1 j. X& V/ B, H |5 z
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
8 [6 K! p& V, S6 Tpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 [! g- l3 R1 D3 _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ G! l1 h) G, f6 s F
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" r' k1 O: l( v- o3 |$ W/ f
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.5 `3 A# n* A# \3 H
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In3 g4 }* x4 c1 y+ o% s. |3 q6 y
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element, T' F& l% h3 _" y1 D7 Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla... Z9 ~. _( ]3 y B! k! D* t
3 I# [4 H0 E$ Q% p+ s, V# ](source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch). D5 c( A7 ` Y/ e
and American speakers of English, |
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