 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
; U/ \4 r7 k7 a5 T! p% AInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
3 X, [! b1 c8 q. `: ssyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
( B5 R6 ?8 U7 p% {$ Sand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
3 J$ B+ t# y" W& S9 }# W(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of. L1 x. j! t$ ^! n. u
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 I6 m& i) e R% L' y
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=5 S( ?; \; k( Z
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 j* ~2 v. ^% L2 K) g
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
5 m- _( t3 s$ hretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
1 Y3 s0 p7 b7 \8 H! {possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
* G. V2 B' a* n- a K" O/ Y; I(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 U1 x# ~4 k# l: ~
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 j r) }3 P1 m1 W! Z9 R. r. p5 l& Rsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
8 S" P! k I3 W8 `. x3 X# q2 i' j; M" r2 mend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& k6 U( D' j4 q! R* I, S
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,9 W/ h9 j U( A7 r6 W8 [! q
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
- F) J9 l1 B: [5 l$ M
; c0 A5 D+ j0 X, G; }- U7 ]& t# k4 e(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# Y( K5 l5 C# W; P. [! I$ ]1 `and American speakers of English, |
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