 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The. I+ `" |5 R' q7 K5 |% r
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the L0 N' u+ }) e
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
& i( ~% E) O1 h" Band uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
7 d& ^4 ?$ J$ i8 N(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ w8 @# Y8 w! T# z9 b
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
6 Y# z: C' @4 F1 J" _) L* zA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
1 p) j5 n% k2 R7 W[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]- C0 A/ a$ Q/ p, P( l
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
. @! P1 q l# b e1 x6 bretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- [1 G q( ?" W8 @8 U
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
0 _) i1 k/ @+ f) Z( c$ C0 _(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
7 r- v' |+ S, C, [" A/ r. o1 s. Osegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a7 i+ u( T) P' j( b+ r
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
2 d, P% ?& W8 _$ ]) S6 N1 b( iend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
5 X5 J5 h% `) B$ u ocompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
' c( g/ `1 i3 y2 }. Jthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla.." k3 \1 |' f# u+ k9 C- T1 p
9 Y5 E1 c: s& b: n
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
9 y5 q9 g( u' e+ ^and American speakers of English, |
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