 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 T6 H2 K4 }& ]: {6 Q# Q5 Z
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
" A% J& _/ y+ T9 S' fsyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
3 k0 ^+ `1 \ d: V# band uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial; C0 ~- f* @2 _. x8 f: N
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of
# ]3 M; G2 I) W! m$ ]- c0 \retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).
$ {1 u+ P) x- J- O7 fA Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( A7 M, E2 j0 |' I
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
0 q+ H8 ~4 B. ^8 f* @2 k1 j! [, Y# _- t(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
( l4 B+ C1 j8 o0 u: ~) s. P% Eretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on- q. b; |8 [. p' I; @( I
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
% `; c8 | m' I& g! I3 d" d(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two* a* b6 C/ `0 I( u& M7 j2 y
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
- @: l- ^+ z6 w* x* _. ^' k5 V2 W, dsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.) C5 Y% a5 Z5 w) O4 P$ `
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In1 a$ ]2 a9 h; {) `
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
+ f9 ~, _( ?3 ~3 n$ Ethe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
) v" r, H; a3 c+ y
# x3 P8 o5 S7 v1 K(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
# w2 A( ~2 X$ u& ~& ^; u, {8 @and American speakers of English, |
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