 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The, ~. q8 v7 C" e& v" K/ o
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" e( b) P+ K- | Wsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
+ Z' A. N, L7 ^6 zand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial+ M+ C" P7 t# n
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
; g( r- j- Q- s# Fretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).# G" E* w) W! O6 S4 p; C
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=% d0 Y; u5 X' ]0 `( }9 b
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
5 z6 J9 g+ {, R2 `(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
% ?9 o: B1 Y' L; m' A; \retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on0 ]2 X& n' H( ?6 K- d! i; M
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
, ~& V9 b; Z, K& {3 {3 e4 D7 P(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
8 k/ x. M. v6 \5 y- Nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" F6 q3 B) v& b
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.% i+ x/ d( w6 J& l1 k
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In8 p1 F# w! F& i4 I. n R9 n
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, u- ?' C; A- X1 {- u
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 W3 {6 u! j/ l( J, b
1 u }# C j. p+ S) T+ B$ ?2 z% f(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)8 F; c9 Z+ U# q" }0 C! R' F/ B; h9 a
and American speakers of English, |
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