鲜花( 0) 鸡蛋( 0)
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Traditional Chinese phonology divides the syllable into an Initial and Final. The4 o& c; u) N8 ?. F S
Initial is the way a syllable begins, usually with a consonant. The Final is the
7 |( |+ h: {# S! `/ B2 Csyllable minus the Initial. For example, in ta, chi, jin, chuang, the Finals are a, i, in,
% z: S9 a6 |' Q' I6 Y' _and uang, respectively. The longest form of a Final consists of three parts: a medial* |0 N: y! v+ K
(or: semivowel), a main vowel (or: head vowel), and an ending (or, in the case of" R% d: z3 Y8 Y7 {
retroflex suffixes, sometimes two endings, as in the er-sound ming’er ‘tomorrow’).2 C/ C4 r" W7 x Y# V
A Final in Mandarin comprises one of four medials: º (empty), /i/, /u/, or /iu/ (=, g5 ?3 R+ M' d5 j% O7 B
[y], one of three vowels: /a/, /e/, or /o/, and one of six endings: º, -i, -u, -n, -N, and [”]
9 H# c# K) j9 d; S6 _7 r. `(phonetically -r).13 Actually, there are only 40 different Finals (if Finals involving
: {$ K+ t9 Q0 z$ x/ Tretroflex suffixes are not counted). As a result of these very severe restrictions on
$ z( K! d8 r2 d3 E5 M2 u0 j' Epossible syllables in Mandarin, no obstruent clusters are possible in the onset
1 R& p ?; o& C8 o ?(Initial) nor in the coda (Final). Onset clusters can maximally have a length of two- \0 y$ ~6 }' \3 O
segments, in which case the consonant closest to the vocalic nucleus must be a
* x" n5 G4 X) ^: h: K' P) Fsemivowel. Coda clusters are disallowed; in fact, syllables are generally open, i.e.
0 X: l9 |+ \6 gend with a vowel. The only possible coda consonants are the nasals /n/ and /N/. In- q& x; A8 ]3 ^
compound vowels with /a, e, o/ as the first segment and /i, u/ as the second element,' @4 W8 j. i" H5 n, [
the latter are phonetically realised as semivowels, creating a diphthong. .. bla...bla... bla..6 P, ~& J+ ?6 a# N( D6 `# d, U- j& V
* S* K F* ~+ \% w* S
(source: Wang Hongyan, year unkown, English as a lingua franca:Mutual intelligibility of Chinese, Dutch)
3 d& ?) P7 D/ k! |9 Y* A. D# ^8 @and American speakers of English, |
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