 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
, w) u* o" M# W/ gInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the& @: h9 d$ j% z, }
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,9 C! j3 b9 D w$ s* }; x w
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial) |9 d5 z, Z% _" n# T1 t) g
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of- x9 o5 k; I1 s
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
h% ~! [8 q4 UA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
- R$ X: a: C) [, o2 Z# R$ l2 d' o[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]2 F+ G' v! U2 W* Q- p& x0 l4 O
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving! ?( b+ b3 ~( m$ y
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on9 L3 ?9 J5 {8 o
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
) j' J5 F J' N9 C1 n% h! c(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 b' C$ F o. Ssegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
0 O- U( E; A5 x* P9 B) K/ Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
k* E4 O. r! Iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
7 E/ ^4 u; [( L/ \ ?) t, D1 mcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, e/ |2 I* j/ k: h6 z$ D; e
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." x9 p) Q9 j( q T$ ~, ~
3 g* C0 I$ o: [! `
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)3 e- [9 t5 g) p+ e$ n, {
and American speakers of English, |
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