 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The) g' M: q# J- T; {4 @5 s. M- @1 q+ R
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
8 B1 h6 P l9 o4 `- osyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,; Q1 ^+ r; _* S( e
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
- a9 D; F& d: D" m(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( j1 O. l6 K, x3 ~$ o
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* w7 @8 E4 }# P& |* k6 J/ \9 SA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
. M# N; r6 ^ s( R7 m p$ u[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]+ _4 r: W0 O4 |$ J+ W6 y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
- ~) Q+ k/ L+ r- @retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on3 y: C7 n7 ?& T0 P3 {( f
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset( T3 W5 K2 u0 d5 w1 e
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
% ?+ o: H1 `9 L0 @segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
0 y9 |4 [1 T, l: O u$ Msemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
4 _0 Z, C5 d! M5 _$ U5 ?end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In% m$ S/ j# |& Y6 O
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,5 B7 C0 `6 t" O7 K; E* u ^
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..3 [( V: _& v! D: b, r. A
0 o. u1 i2 `0 d" j(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)% c" ^2 T6 Z) l0 P3 |' b
and American speakers of English, |
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