 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
6 p. p$ T+ t, Y- F" C" L" gInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the e: o( c) _7 |" a& O
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,9 U. D2 S6 X8 r
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 I! s) f8 ]$ ^( Z5 F5 u9 P(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 R' e/ p% l9 y; {
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ d% r4 c/ B; R5 EA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=0 h: j k2 Y& \% a! Y
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”], H: d1 j9 q @5 P
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
6 H0 k! ?1 |5 o" ?: h- F1 ]+ pretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ b0 B/ B) Y# mpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
7 m" _$ W4 G6 K1 P(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two6 ?5 T0 L1 Q9 T* X
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a( B9 A1 ~- S' ^
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' X w: I3 K Z. q+ Y% ?% L+ ^7 yend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
/ |0 A& @6 x* x, o; F( ?compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% X% } d3 L/ ]4 H/ m$ F8 \the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ Y% i4 L4 b0 S7 {1 |
! g" B( g8 d& A% o
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
$ Z3 Z( R' [! y- V2 Land American speakers of English, |
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