Final (linguistics) - Definition and Overview

The final, also called the rhyme, or in Chinese yunmu (PY: yùnmǔ, TC: 韻母, SC: 韵母), is an important concept in the phonological study of Chinese languages. It is also used in the study of some other Asian languages of these families: Hmong-Mien, Mon-Khmer, Tai-Kadai, Tibeto-Burman, etc.

The final is the second part of a syllable. The first part is called the inital. Tonal languages has the tone as the third component.

syllable: C₁(C₂)V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄) = initial: C₁(C₂) + final: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄)

syllable: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄) = initial: Ø (null) + final: V₁(V₂)(C₃)(C₄)

(C = consonant, V = vowel, optional components are in parentheses.)

The final was from the concept of yùn (TC: 韻, SC: 韵), which means "rhyme", in traditional phonological studies since the Jìn Dynasty.