 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
4 f9 @0 i$ w' @* f h' }- m0 M4 PInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the/ T ]! K T+ {
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,! l: j) {0 n4 B' |0 s" j
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial: k/ `4 |+ Q- A: E1 G. k: D
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of5 F7 ~( E2 K7 X' J6 H* E
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
; t, ?5 @3 ?; D% QA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
! X: s/ W p1 H8 C- F! `$ p[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]% i$ u1 p6 P* H1 k' l
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
7 A+ C/ ?' a( e1 x. g! |% P7 sretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
: j( m; l( s5 z Q6 K3 |3 Kpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
! i8 r" p* r; W6 m$ B4 l(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two' J3 D- ]2 a+ c) d+ K' |8 \$ L" f
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
0 [2 d: h- t! G+ @$ t! osemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.5 u j5 z& D& _* A; @" w
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In7 J2 R8 g- _4 O8 I" c# q7 V" \
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% f- ]1 c9 |0 h8 J5 j) w/ pthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
1 {" R0 }) ]* E0 V. o
+ v2 c" {2 W% H4 a! h: _% O(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
" r/ P! E" q# G$ ^( g* Iand American speakers of English, |
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