 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The" l. L/ F5 l8 |6 k* t
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the& v8 ] D" H3 W, s
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# ~5 N: P2 ]+ ^9 ^
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial0 H& M( Y$ I1 Q' Z0 F7 S: l
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
% r8 _" b' r1 O5 ~retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’). l- ^, n5 p5 R5 P! x
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
+ |9 l. o2 T8 d/ L. ?$ P9 h& ][y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' n$ t/ ?2 i7 a
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving, ~1 m. S0 ?% F5 D
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
; v7 \( j A; K& t% a( T, apossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset/ P$ `* N0 z% V$ ?& c) y' p
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
, |# F+ @( g9 H" \5 _' d1 R3 \6 _ Fsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 \$ C, b/ Y+ Q1 asemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.6 I5 M! K3 h) y
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) e$ Q" i: ]/ Zcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element," O. c. w0 {& _$ ?) ?7 U
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
, o- A9 I0 L- U; d- y9 j# l8 L5 r# T! k! `
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)0 _4 u7 j \6 H! I9 F0 b
and American speakers of English, |
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