Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
BURMESE
Burmese
, or Myanmar as it is now o
cially called, is the country's o
cial language and also
the native language of the country's Bamar majority. Burmese is a tonal language that is
di
cult for Westerners to learn, but local people tend to appreciate even a modest effort.
PRONUNCIATION
There is no universally approved way to Romanize the Burmese language. The system used
here is based on the
Burmese By Ear
audio course by John Okell, available as a free download
from
W
www.soas.ac.uk/bbe. In the text we give place names and some very common words
in their most widely recognized forms. Items on specific restaurant menus are given as printed.
There are five tones which change the meaning of a word: the low tone (syllables with no
marker), the plain high tone (spoken with a relaxed throat, marked
à
), the creaky high tone
(spoken with a tightened throat, marked
á
), the stopped syllable (high pitch followed by a glottal
stop, marked
aq
) and the weak syllable (unstressed, marked
ă
). Aspirated consonants have a short
puff of breath expelled after the consonant is pronounced and before the vowel begins; those
marked as “whispered” begin with a sound similar to the start of the English “hmm”.
ă
7
as in “about”
hng
same as “ng” but
a
as in “car”
whispered
a
in aq and an
as in “cat”
hny
same as “ny” but
ai
in aiq and ain
as in “site”
aspirated
au
in auq and aun
“ou” as in “lounge”
hw
same as “w” but
aw
as in “saw”
aspirated
e
k
as in French
as in French “corps”
“café”
k'
as in “core”
e
in eh
as in “sell”
(aspirated)
e
in eq
as in “set”
ky
as in “cello”
ei
in eiq and ein
“a” as in “late”
l
as in “law”
i
m
as in “ravine”
as in “more”
i
in iq and in
as in “sit”
n
as in “nor”
o
“eau” as in French
ng
as in “long”
“peau”
ny
“gn” as in Italian
ou
in ouq and oun
“o” as in “tone”
“gnocchi”
u
p
as in “Susan”
as in French “port”
u
in uq and un
“oo” as in “foot”
p'
as in “pore”
b
as in “bore”
(aspirated)
ch
same as “ky” but
q
glottal stop
aspirated
r
as in “raw”
d
s
as in “door”
as in “soar”
dh
“th” as in “this”
s'
same as “s” but
g
as in “gore”
aspirated
gy
as in “judge”
sh
as in “shore”
h
as in “hot”
t
as in French “tort”
hl
t'
same as “l” but
as in “tore”
whispered
(aspirated)
hm
same as “m” but
th
as in “thaw”
whispered
w
as in “war”
hn
same as “n” but
y
as in “your”
z
whispered
as in “zone”
GREETINGS AND BASIC PHRASES
There is no word for a simple “hello” - rather, greetings are nonverbal or based on the situation
(e.g. “Where have you been?” ). Locals greet foreigners with the very formal
min-găla-ba
.
Goodbye
thwà-meh-naw?
Thank you
kyè-zù tin-ba-deh
Yes
houq-kéh
No
hín-ìn
Do you speak English?
Ìn-găleiq sagà
Excuse me
nèh-nèh-lauq
(to get past)
Sorry
sàw-ri-naw
Please
kyè-zù pyú-bì
pyàw-daq-thălà?
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