 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 y* F7 C( I5 i# }! `
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 z& r# n" J3 S9 \3 S7 I) hsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,5 H# m1 e" ^# Q
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ x& c( S) v: }& l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 `& O6 m+ O, Tretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).: z6 B/ i0 k( L. e7 m. `' }
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 T; d6 ?' S6 v: m! H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]3 p7 ?7 [. {0 z/ R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ m1 T; E" b+ B9 Eretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on7 }4 I1 o; M- E- e1 `5 _/ G
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset! M) @5 A4 j% O! H- p5 \
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 t9 n1 a. F. d4 L; p, Gsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
: ?: ?6 m$ o8 ]+ I3 I7 vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.' l+ B; {- h; Y# J3 l b
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In6 _' ^( }) ~( t
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,+ o2 A/ s( t7 N! \
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 ~3 P) P* W }. C6 U% F
: x/ u& {! Y% ?& M
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 Z2 n! l9 H, ]- b% Q2 e) j
and American speakers of English, |
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