 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 |+ b- E" e& Z/ cInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
, u) r0 e# Y/ Gsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
; f& D' b! j6 D4 _0 uand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial$ s' ~6 J, f( D! ]6 \1 l& Y$ k
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# C8 v9 G) Q& l2 k$ M. b: Kretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
6 l0 z4 h( [9 t8 a& ~* yA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
2 ? U* X v8 H[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]: J; @% W2 J& d3 N7 N3 Q3 D0 B
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving8 N( {0 i4 j$ f+ @) K% N
retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ s' x: u% L+ w! B: m% j$ cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
. g5 {, ^8 V2 w# [- T(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
. P1 i1 Z0 E0 |- G7 lsegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
2 ?% f: _9 _# ^5 W; r9 Psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
8 v* a# @! f: a& c- {end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
) D E7 ]+ U3 F$ _compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
y; n" d% B4 h% Qthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
' o3 e0 _! K' `3 J- t( @, g7 L
! w% d$ g7 X% [$ z7 U8 `. y5 m(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 _0 }+ J* v) \4 U+ Eand American speakers of English, |
|