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Re: THEORY: Mandarin vowel phonology

From:John Cowan <cowan@...>
Date:Monday, October 11, 1999, 20:01
Danny Wier scripsit:

> Well, you have a problem if you ignore the final nasal, because it changes > the vowel.
*waves hand airily* Mere surface phenomena.
> <i> after <j q x y> = [i] > <in ing> = [In] [IN] > <i> after <z c s> = [i-] (centralized i) > <i> after <zh ch sh> = [@`] (vocalic retroflex continuant)
It's only the last case that's tricky for my analysis, and I have to consider it separate. There's good backing for this: Gwoyeu Romatzyh uses "y" in precisely these cases, but "i" elsewhere, allowing the abandonment of the j-q-x vs. zh-ch-sh series.
> (*ri is romanized <er>)
I think "ri" and "er" are different syllables, in fact. -- John Cowan cowan@ccil.org I am a member of a civilization. --David Brin