Everything about Final Linguistics totally explained
In the study of
phonology in
linguistics, the
rime or
rhyme of a
syllable consists of a
nucleus and an optional
coda. In the study of
Chinese languages, rimes are better known as
finals or in Chinese,
yunmu (
PY: yùnmǔ,
TC: 韻母,
SC: 韵母).
"Rime" and "rhyme" are variants of the same word, but the rarer form "rime" is sometimes used to mean specifically "syllable rime" to differentiate it from the concept of poetic
rhyme. This distinction isn't made by some linguists and doesn't appear in most dictionaries.
Syllable structure
The segmental structure of a syllable may begin with an optional
onset or initial (
shengmu), followed by a compulsory rime.
» syllable: C
1(C
2)V
1(V
2)(C
3)(C
4) = onset: C
1(C
2) + rime: V
1(V
2)(C
3)(C
4)
syllable: V
1(V
2)(C
3)(C
4) = onset: Ø (null) + rime: V
1(V
2)(C
3)(C
4)
» (C = consonant, V = vowel, optional components are in parentheses.)
The rime is usually the portion of a syllable from the first
vowel to the end. For example, /æt/ is the rime of all of the words
at,
sat, and
flat. However, the nucleus doesn't necessarily need to be a vowel in some languages. For instance, the rime of the second syllables of the words
bottle and
fiddle is just /l/, a
liquid consonant.
Chinese language studies
Rimes are particularly significant in research through the use of
rime tables on
historical Chinese phonology and the origins of
Chinese characters. The concept of
yùn (TC: 韻, SC: 韵), meaning "rhyme", has been important in phonological studies since the
Jin Dynasty.
Some confusion arises from the translation of Chinese terms. Traditional Chinese
philology tends to break up a syllable into four parts:
- Shēngmǔ (TC: 聲母, SC: 声母): "initial" or "onset," the initial consonant. There are no consonant clusters in Standard Mandarin.
- Yùntóu (TC: 韻頭, SC: 韵头) or Jièyīn (介音): "final-head" or "medial," the glide before the center vowel. It can be i, u or ü in Standard Mandarin.
- Yùnfù (TC: 韻腹, SC: 韵腹): "final-center" or "nucleus," the center of a syllable where the volume is the highest. Notice that it differs from the standard definition of syllable nucleus, which typically includes the medial. In addition to this, many Chinese phonologists will group the final diphthong glide, i and u (o) in Standard Mandarin, as part of the coda instead of the nucleus.
- Yùnwěi (TC: 韻尾, SC: 韵尾): "final-tail" or "coda," the part after center vowel. For the phonologists who group the diphthong glide as part of the coda, it can be i or u (o), as well as -n or -ng, in Standard Mandarin. The rhotic er is usually discussed separately. Notice that this differs from the standard definition of syllable coda, which doesn't typically include glides. Still other phonologists may agree with the standard definition of syllable coda and will group the diphthong glides with the nucleus instead of the coda, leaving only n and ng as the only possible codas in Standard Mandarin.
Some Chinese phonologists even group
yùnfù and
yùnwěi into
yùnshēn (TC: 韻身, SC: 韵身) and call it "rime". So the medial may be separate from the rime but still be part of the final.
The following examples of
Standard Mandarin syllables illustrate the differences between conventional western phonology and the two interpretations of Chinese phonology:
| Syllable |
|
Western phonology |
|
Chinese phonology 1 |
|
Chinese phonology 2 |
| Onset |
Rime |
Shēngmǔ
(Initial) |
Yùnmǔ
(Final) |
Shēngmǔ
(Initial/Onset) |
Yùnmǔ
(Final/Rime) |
Yùntóu
(Medial) |
Yùnshēn
(Rime) |
| Pinyin |
IPA |
Nucleus |
Coda |
Yùnfù
(Nucleus) |
Yùnwěi
(Coda) |
Yùntóu
(Medial) |
Yùnfù
(Nucleus) |
Yùnwěi
(Coda) |
| e |
ɤ
|
|
ɤ |
|
|
|
ɤ |
|
|
|
ɤ |
|
| ai |
aɪ
|
|
aɪ |
|
|
|
a |
ɪ
|
|
|
aɪ |
|
| yue |
yɛ
|
|
yɛ |
|
|
y |
ɛ |
|
|
y |
ɛ |
|
| wang |
uɑŋ
|
|
uɑ |
ŋ
|
|
u |
ɑ |
ŋ
|
|
u |
ɑ |
ŋ |
| yao |
iaʊ
|
|
iaʊ |
|
|
i |
a |
ʊ
|
|
i |
aʊ |
|
| ma |
mɑ
|
m |
ɑ |
|
m |
|
ɑ |
|
m |
|
ɑ |
|
| pin |
pʰin
|
pʰ |
i |
n
|
pʰ |
|
i |
n
|
pʰ |
|
i |
n |
| xuan |
ɕyɛn
|
ɕ |
yɛ |
n
|
ɕ |
y |
ɛ |
n
|
ɕ |
y |
ɛ |
n |
| guo |
kuo
|
k |
uo |
|
k |
u |
o |
|
k |
u |
o |
|
| liu |
liɤʊ
|
l |
iɤʊ |
|
l |
i |
ɤ |
ʊ
|
l |
i |
ɤʊ |
|
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