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). Phonology (Greek phone = voice/sound and logos = word/speech), is a subfield of linguistics closely associated with phonetics. ... Linguistics is the scientific study of human language, and someone who engages in this study is called a linguist or linguistician. ... This article discusses the unit of speech. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Chinese (written) language (pinyin: zhōngw n) written in Chinese characters The Chinese language (汉语/漢語, 华语/華語, or 中文; Pinyin: H nyǔ, Hu yǔ, or Zhōngw n) is a member of the Sino-Tibetan family of languages. ... Hanyu pinyin (Simplified Chinese: 汉语拼音; Traditional Chinese: 漢語拼音; Hanyu Pinyin: , lit. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiÇŽntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiÇŽnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ...

"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 is not made by all linguists and does not appear in most dictionaries. A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry. ...

Syllable structure

The segmental structure of a syllable may begin with an optional onset or initial (shengmu), followed by a compulsory rime. This article discusses the unit of speech. ... In phonetics and phonology, a syllable onset is the part of a syllable that precedes the syllable nucleus. ...

syllable: C₁(C₂)V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄) = onset: C₁(C₂) + rime: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄)

syllable: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄) = onset: Ø (null) + rime: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄)

(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 does not 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. In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language that is characterized by an open configuration of the vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure above the glottis. ... Liquid consonants, or liquids, are approximant consonants that are not classified as semivowels (glides) because they do not correspond phonetically to specific vowels (in the way that, for example, the initial in English yes corresponds to ). The class of liquids can be divided into lateral liquids and rhotics. ...

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 Jìn Dynasty. Rime tables, as used in Chinese character dictionaries, show characters listed by their onsets, rimes, grades of rime, and tones, but not necessarily in that order. ... A rime dictionary or a rime book is a type of Chinese dictionary that was used in ancient times. ... Rime tables, as used in Chinese character dictionaries, show characters listed by their onsets, rimes, grades of rime, and tones, but not necessarily in that order. ... Historical Chinese Phonology deals with reconstructing the sounds of Chinese from the past. ... 漢字 hànzì, hanja, kanji… in Traditional Chinese and other languages. ... A rhyme is a repetition of identical or similar sounds in two or more different words and is most often used in poetry. ... The Jin Dynasty (晉 pinyin: jìn, 265-420), one of the Six Dynasties, followed the Three Kingdoms and preceded the Southern and Northern Dynasties in China. ...

Some confusion arises from the translation of Chinese terms. Traditional Chinese philology tends to break up a syllable into four parts: Philology is the study of ancient texts and languages. ...

1. Shēngmǔ (TC: 聲母, SC: 声母): "initial" or "onset," the initial consonant. There are no consonant clusters in Standard Mandarin.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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, u (o), 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 does not 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. In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. ... Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ... Semivowels (also called semiconsonants or glides) are vowels that function phonemically as consonants. ... In phonetics and phonology, the nucleus is the central part of the syllable, mostly commonly a vowel. ... In phonetics, a diphthong (Greek and ending tongue positions. ... Rhotic consonants, or R-like sounds, are non-lateral liquids. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ... Note: This page contains phonetic information presented in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) using Unicode. ...

The following examples of Standard Mandarin syllables illustrate the differences between conventional western phonology and the two interpretations of Chinese phonology: Standard Mandarin is the official Chinese spoken language used by the Peoples Republic of China, the Republic of China on Taiwan, Malaysia and Singapore. ...