 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The; g. M% q# [( P5 _& ~: Z' \
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
' l. V9 D$ B6 c$ ~8 Csyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ R' g/ g( [ h7 Zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ d: J5 A' n! q: m' @
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 E' ^" s; h; P4 Qretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
& x" @; f1 H& t% ~% {0 _0 e" dA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=$ ?7 p; ]* j j, m {
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
l& d$ I# C+ ^(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving( n$ T) E1 G& t$ s6 b3 B
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
7 s' R0 t2 U7 I6 m- P1 r {/ t; Fpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
" ?/ O! {! F p(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two$ X4 E4 p5 q; t- [
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a$ [; f0 o# o Y; ]) V
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.$ q r- S7 n; _9 m" _% m2 j8 F
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In6 r) h3 q3 @5 I2 W# l7 u
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,. S% f. }% X; T1 p0 ?
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
- |2 O U$ p! |; e6 h- r' A6 @( x+ {7 g' K7 ~2 x
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)! d; O; z' _! C) n5 U$ T* M6 O( {
and American speakers of English, |
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