 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
* H; b y! O% K0 q2 HInitial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
) E& U) E" ?- Z: {* I& A7 Nsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
7 y2 u. r2 [1 o& G gand uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial
0 P4 r; W" j- \3 Z/ Q- G(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of$ J, F/ [. Y) J# R) Q' T4 E
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).& u1 F# C( [1 X0 k) O' |
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=7 ?, K& V( f9 p( }: o |
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 U; Z/ L0 R) A7 @6 R(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
+ |& v; ~4 K# ~1 D; H# r iretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
7 N6 W! i5 a. g5 N/ b& hpossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset1 K% R. Y9 v `! k( L/ D$ n
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two3 A7 @* {. M% s- h- w+ X4 w
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a' A. w' @6 r4 H, q5 c% R+ i; }
semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
( L" X- c6 I% v9 d0 ^0 Send with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
9 w% g8 A0 s0 M3 ~6 {6 pcompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,% S- K% ^# v& h F9 b; L% G
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
2 S7 @) x& Y# }& G
) W5 W9 l* C; {. F+ K) P(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch). I. k6 E! x$ l1 ]7 e5 d1 V% i
and American speakers of English, |
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