 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 B/ Q- V$ X4 V5 u! n
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the0 X0 o: J% s+ ]6 `7 l% @
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
' E$ l8 `* L# C6 J+ b. Oand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 B, p* x& i! R( m. X
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ ?) ]% y, [ m8 ~! F- i- } C
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).3 r ?4 k) n: h; b
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* A p1 B0 i' I9 W8 c
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]; k6 e7 k' O6 ]' u4 Q3 y' |: S7 L! j
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving' `( Z8 j% u; d7 s! i# t A
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
6 p0 Q; r0 V s8 D+ N$ x$ Ypossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset0 s$ U; S9 y _
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 y6 z) k* \. k* E) Q) Wsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a6 F5 n- O$ M% f+ j! i. u5 y5 ~. I
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e. ?: x* P+ N2 Q5 z1 \0 B
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In" P: {$ J) E @8 j; P: ]
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 b! O# M! k+ M2 b7 e
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..$ Y1 @2 l3 o# G; u
7 R D6 V2 s0 }# D& X+ y* R* f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 B$ I1 h5 N) B' ?$ tand American speakers of English, |
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