 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The
8 u# l: `( R; r, F) l7 _Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the2 D% Q& {% j. E$ M) r! [4 h& F$ @, t
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in," E# F; r$ _7 @8 h
and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial% {- w0 F& A& S+ u, C6 {% Y' o
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of( u- {$ n' o4 K% Q
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 G- Z# r; D9 U6 B. {
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=( [4 O- Q4 ^, ~/ e; d. S
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]6 W8 ~" a$ Z. r
(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
4 c% Y L2 U1 \retroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
( x9 p* v( }( o. \% f+ opossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset" X" o( T+ s0 }% V- k, X
(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two& L& p+ d m5 r% H6 p8 [+ H2 z
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
1 M. O* ]. O9 V9 O$ }6 ?" q v% `3 psemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
' `! Z- C) A" P* Z, n# hend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In
- S( C3 N) T0 x* ]3 Acompound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,
% F1 d# m [) {! V1 gthe latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..: q3 h/ t. ~* F' Q
& N8 ~; s1 B2 V4 H, c* \(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)2 v! V/ j9 N$ R
and American speakers of English, |
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