 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
7 f$ u2 M" y% f: _, _! sInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the( [- D) v: j8 W/ E4 t( O
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,, K% G& D" t' o# k. l; y
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
& l# k. j" I/ W" J$ P; ]" ?(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of9 D# U+ w; O- s! x9 l( o3 j
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* }, |7 W7 N- }" IA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
' a: L8 n/ U, f! n8 w& x* H, D1 Z3 x[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]+ P6 k0 F q ? f( @0 a1 ?# ?& ?
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
$ `! p3 w/ T" fretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on% B. I0 @! N. u J/ d
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset* a$ }% Y1 Q; I/ \
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two( I/ t0 P3 e! Z* ~& T3 h% _. `
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) o4 ]6 |1 O. Qsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( k; K% u2 i! ?# u( v! G7 Z5 Lend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 t# I3 j* y0 O! [8 F) S4 K9 n
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,3 I( n* N* N! L W) Y
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 N$ G( k" L9 U% r4 q5 T5 P5 T [/ }* F4 D
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) r8 B: a; }0 S2 ]: sand American speakers of English, |
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