 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The* C5 Y: q3 f4 M: |0 u
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, Q; L% L- ?, _' X/ Q8 y: C' Gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,6 F/ p6 v5 q) [7 x& g% `$ N, W
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 p: \5 ~$ [4 o! B- |, D(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# C c A, O W2 mretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)./ ?+ g: t+ I+ }5 }4 ?0 E
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ N" I3 M0 P8 `& n2 f0 T% H& M[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]1 W4 f" r7 L9 l' f6 Z
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 G- p8 D( r- Vretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
& P+ m" w, P% W7 B* B2 hpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset6 J3 Q# ?9 ~1 x9 ?5 u/ x
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 @" E! q% m; O1 o% ?6 h/ V8 tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
% n6 `" |9 U- J! d/ g$ x2 vsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
% P7 T# W; h8 O: {2 `end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 f* y2 ?7 F9 L, u0 n: F/ ]4 |& B
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 ~/ i6 T4 l, R6 ~5 J
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..! f$ {; k% ^8 k5 z
" W7 E) ~( G. z& J, J
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)1 n. t0 `/ o# O; [$ o2 u
and American speakers of English, |
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