鲜花( 0) 鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The1 F w! `! g, j1 _0 w1 ^4 h( d
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the* Y- l" \% a+ @
syllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
8 z! _( C2 U. c6 X$ I9 [- ?' @% ~and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial1 x/ X+ k$ v: B
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of6 R2 P3 S; u9 j9 G
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).4 t/ n b- T! J4 k
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=
2 j! S. @4 N) ~; B1 ~[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
3 q3 {; l" k% r; J" Q(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
3 Q$ ?3 |" J& Z$ xretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on5 U: e& ^" L/ Q4 @
possible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
! [+ t; I3 ]( @/ M: \) I5 E$ f(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two
' O+ I; @/ O% u/ D! w" T Q% ^: Psegments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
9 j+ R* W a- Q; b8 z* ]semivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e./ Q$ z, g$ Y7 X/ s6 Z
end with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In9 ?& r- F; C3 {& G8 h
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,& x2 A4 E$ B3 z/ V" h; ^
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..
9 U! e. {$ G9 N( c) ?- {
1 s: K# o' n: S- h(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch). d% I% B8 c+ v3 M; Y
and American speakers of English, |
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