 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The0 @- k" J; U; o
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, Q; C0 _" v: Msyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,# w3 `5 l& k( j" K6 T! D, ^! J
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial( Y! f. H+ r; b" k3 r" L
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of; a! P" \& @. G$ ?: W
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).) {& R% V( C4 B- o' Y- l
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
, U+ ?) i: n! ^/ d) C! t[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
2 W0 f K# ]+ M W4 f) T0 ?. v2 V$ L(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
* O. f( a3 \1 o: {; n- jretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
( @6 c3 O$ j7 t3 y0 gpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
5 s' Y% q5 e3 P, p+ w% \(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two2 p. Z o# z4 d4 f
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
$ R8 {$ F5 n/ |( w+ ~2 P6 E3 nsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
, i% ?$ _4 u) P4 @: u* Hend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In% N D7 g; p% B3 e
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,4 y1 H4 A9 T9 I
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
6 w/ b* v% [$ ]" C& V6 n" e3 L. ^1 {: A: N! E- d% }0 i% [
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)7 j9 W) I) t$ k5 i+ L2 _5 P
and American speakers of English, |
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