 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 G" e# i5 _9 [! G( |Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
% C f& t" U' G8 c6 q: Tsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,8 {& ?9 d2 F# a& m9 S( R1 Y2 [+ z: @( j/ K
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 ?+ Y1 y$ s! ]
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
9 c( [2 K+ _' Nretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’)., a9 o2 b# _. F2 L6 |/ N
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
% J& K- K0 N! l[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
. a1 ~# d! n) Y: c(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving: ` ^! V: \8 s; Q
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
# |. L! m/ V. H t& P1 {/ i6 S, mpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
) I0 u) \. W) q I" e3 p: z(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
0 s6 d: b* z( Nsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a" c0 n5 k$ ?" r# v" L
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.1 c& }: W; o* p' I
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- \5 b' m9 {) \4 N8 X2 p7 F" j, ]
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,, j9 }' T. u6 p7 N
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; n4 q0 I9 n( M: e6 b- `- i6 H
6 P, J2 {: a6 e) U
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 {7 W, h. G7 U: s. K. D; l5 Q
and American speakers of English, |
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