 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The% ~8 V9 l7 U4 y8 H/ l
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the$ N- q5 H! M5 a5 ?8 e
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 S! _( C2 F# Y5 |
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
$ D( d3 g U1 N* Q9 X! m2 ^(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ ?% M8 v7 a+ I* ` s5 M8 f
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
% s M: p8 A# u8 ]A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
2 x; J. W0 [1 a$ K# J7 f[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
8 ]% P) q- i0 y/ C6 J" S(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving/ I( ~* E7 v# Y1 T" r
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on" k8 C8 ~6 g% ~ ^; z- q
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
4 O: ~5 j7 y) Q3 t' P(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
( H' {, f7 `: k8 ysegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a5 n( v+ T2 p# s: |8 r7 q8 d- L8 |/ _
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.6 j7 o7 p d; z7 a9 t
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In4 O# m1 \ o0 b
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& V8 B& {7 e! z7 l# G ~: c
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
$ B7 I/ Y( z- [# i
z# d# I( i: |(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch), B% Z: B' q b7 p; n. O$ O3 T6 s* T6 \+ _
and American speakers of English, |
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