 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
/ U- k: f k% _) e" w" j7 EInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the& Q) D7 h" I% M. c
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 a" }2 B# N: I9 c( U+ Mand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
/ [- ?. C j: P* ~(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
0 Z; ^0 q3 T0 H0 f& sretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).5 y% j6 c. p4 I' S0 m
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=* \/ B6 ?3 k1 U5 S6 w9 E
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]5 q& W# F: {+ k; u) @9 {3 w1 L5 p# w: w
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving/ X: x% I# i8 q+ \
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
! a; {1 `$ b+ Z' x( j6 w8 Hpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset5 D. j4 K+ H( y% _- e7 |9 L
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two1 ]# D: z5 z& U- l i g
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a4 T' _/ F' I x- |
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e." O) M) m* E2 K/ e' ~$ r- N. {* b
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
2 s% p: D5 r: ocompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
8 k4 m9 l0 B! m* t* _( lthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..) g' u, U: p" m6 \
; d* M( q, ^* I3 W5 o
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
1 ]7 r3 g% B3 ~: Sand American speakers of English, |
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