 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
& S; X- t. }1 p- o! I9 EInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
9 k& S( W2 U+ U1 Fsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,* y) k% l& T6 i
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial- M/ s, K* s( |
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
9 i8 B3 O3 s1 \; N8 iretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 Q$ ?& B8 Q3 _/ S
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( B: I/ e. `8 M- Z% I5 L* k2 k
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]" I3 I7 W7 P0 ?' Z" M0 R4 j/ m' D0 d
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
/ m& \. X- _8 x* y. Rretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on! Y9 s' D; ?# |1 S6 A, O
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset4 u; N" c) r( @$ i6 |% X
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
9 n1 k8 a1 J: L! p* @' Tsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a& c2 D2 _6 N; j0 Z: G
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.! ^% p& Q) ^# V. N* u4 [' Y2 n
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
% P3 X1 z1 I p1 f9 C* h% q' h+ \compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,7 h2 _' b w2 ^: ?* n; P
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
! y' w7 B5 T4 Z3 q( {5 ]* s
; L7 o* H4 J- A( a8 T; b& G(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
4 {9 v8 Z* h7 ~9 T# k4 S+ pand American speakers of English, |
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