 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The5 o$ m' b" a0 C
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
0 a" e8 V0 A) l6 Psyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; T, K @0 X% nand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( n& M5 \% W8 U. W3 E3 r& o% }
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of1 B2 L' E/ E3 n
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
4 g: M% o* A: TA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=. c5 B! ?% d# i- }; H3 d$ Q. a
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]8 }/ k6 j/ b8 n& v( C/ X" d( g/ U& K
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving! Y, u( E4 [- ^& n
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on) Y' ~( M2 @9 T4 y6 t, b3 n
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset2 n! R$ q& E4 R3 G7 r' a) ^- ]$ N
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two8 g, ?" I1 }+ T; K; \
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a3 _; n" ^! H+ x# U+ S1 E3 T+ _9 A
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e., p8 ?; T: S" G7 V }" Z' A
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% e0 w0 R( D0 Tcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
( I5 c" \9 S2 O; ythe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
) _: Z% ?% {, R; C% Q/ H- {7 U6 i( J
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)/ P: u5 P" H5 I
and American speakers of English, |
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