 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 S/ } G4 [9 V8 A9 w9 u# c& E, j3 q
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the. r) s" R" Q* Y) r" k# W1 S
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 V4 k! |, h, y& D4 K8 u' Y! s1 Qand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
) Y9 @. w7 Z7 \5 b; e; w1 k(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of2 i+ X0 x* ]9 M; v
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
! A9 W% ]( w3 p2 iA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=8 P _+ `$ D K6 Q0 m0 B
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]' D v& d! C6 k7 [9 l% y
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ t- ~/ U3 v* J( ?5 }+ gretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
' ~8 y+ }/ w! l* R2 D% f$ Bpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
2 F) `4 ]& c: q3 n! i3 c8 y(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two N& l8 }1 R$ F! b9 q
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
) u2 L* ? s/ J+ v2 }! Hsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.; _) [6 [! T- G3 H
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In& L% d/ q" L( i3 _: a2 n& X. b- A
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
$ y* g2 u7 Q0 a& {( L6 Dthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' D% I1 v" R$ d, O" Y
( `+ G; F" f8 u5 @ ]$ C(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)4 F& Y5 [$ M( L- H0 M
and American speakers of English, |
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