 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
0 p9 E1 ^0 C" A0 T: A9 H' S) `Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
5 R' P. \. P0 Usyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,) k4 B; ]. _! M8 t+ r
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial3 d# {. a; \5 l# u/ U D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of/ ?- F/ t- y+ M. x" [ N3 M
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).- e% O w: P Y6 ]
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
& F, o; g% H+ g, ~- b[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”] U! G' [4 ~2 }9 O3 R
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving+ o/ L2 a- ?4 e/ P
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
/ Z9 S7 [, E6 f- {+ f6 w7 C# Wpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. C, h$ m3 g& \1 o4 x3 `' {& @(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- W9 ~6 Z+ o# U$ J! g
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
+ W" l* t6 ^& _5 o" {6 j* k' ysemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
/ y$ _0 [7 E/ c1 xend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
' b! d) [# F% ?3 {0 Xcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,! m/ i( b1 L( x \
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..0 _( e( G" Z: B$ [8 p4 Y5 V
7 p y5 J1 I4 F
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# e: L+ t' C8 M2 V. }and American speakers of English, |
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