 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
5 e$ L* j2 A+ y7 U. aInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the9 S: X2 E! \+ `1 H1 G
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,. F- k' i: P' K6 F& E1 F& c! j
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial! y8 u6 N; U7 m8 B
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of4 O l, _: J' ~: v9 l; T+ L' t" |
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
9 y( Y+ S9 I" R7 F9 ]0 S" VA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
; x6 |$ o2 F; u$ W- `" R[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]& w- _2 _6 u9 \8 Y' U: a3 w% n. W
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
a# [ I( L( O1 d, y0 E/ K& T- {retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
5 }! [' h, S) [( Opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
4 A- e: E0 c" p9 H5 o* K0 f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
5 @) ?$ u, D; k! `segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a8 N4 C; ?( ~* C
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.3 Y, J! a7 X2 E$ n/ j; O: M" E1 Q; b
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In; l) Q b |: h1 p, n3 z% L" F
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,2 R3 `% Q6 [& r3 Q$ }" `2 p
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
9 _' c% j" ^3 a! o5 _/ r" P( g% D6 \; {7 n0 w
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
) f9 v0 S# H) }, g5 h2 `5 e fand American speakers of English, |
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