 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The' a: D7 a$ x F% ]0 A
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 t0 A% k- {! \$ xsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# k, k; \/ q, M* ~% {; M4 ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* h9 w; ?, e* V3 D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
7 P7 F5 W: N# n7 h6 ~retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).6 o& N" r: G0 |- h5 P
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=; e8 N2 `: a6 o# ^+ |6 e: @5 K
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 v8 I4 L" K9 ^(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving6 {% a% V& l" F$ y$ _- E
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on' ]- A4 g, e- h- e1 [: h) E
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset% z/ F: m! O) L
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. ^! b+ T6 f8 l7 a/ jsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
" d- J& a4 c7 c1 [8 N$ G6 Ssemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 G' k, R! q9 k2 z3 t: j
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In# L7 x0 a0 Q% O% x
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,+ X$ v' P& r7 \& O' O! W6 q* `: v2 U
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
8 e; b; I( G, B$ r1 h( ^& E# f' Z" |( V9 N, O
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch): {" D/ l- S1 V6 Y
and American speakers of English, |
|