 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
: Z' h! O! s0 oInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the! j+ t8 K4 t: z" a7 g) A. R/ T
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,* [7 `2 o0 O/ I) q3 }6 a
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
Z! L5 Y/ N6 b, |- C% s. o(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# T" H6 {& A1 W8 k% T2 hretroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
* C$ e. U6 z i: d2 kA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
}+ H6 ~$ C. U6 k[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
9 P5 i4 W% w& X5 X, e2 L(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
' @% `5 X, P/ b# ^$ ~3 B4 [ Sretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
4 X: C; }8 B# l8 g- cpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
& }0 Z" M: M3 `' s' [" ^ K W9 _(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two& B5 N% S+ y: {, c
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
; a. a/ Z2 r, Osemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.7 D3 y/ m8 z0 s
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 n- q+ h. z- K
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
* v$ Y* j& s8 v6 Q' N9 ~the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..; }8 w; j6 k; n% h& @4 d
9 P: Q& @9 A2 X+ Z1 R7 M
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)" F6 `* L6 Z V( A' B O
and American speakers of English, |
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