Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Transliteration
There's no universally agreed way to show Burmese in Roman script - the same Burmese
sound might be transliterated as
me
,
may
,
mei
,
mey
or
mae
, for example, while place names
are similarly subject to random variation (the national capital, for example, is known vari-
ously as Naypyitaw, Naypyidaw, Nay Pyi Taw and Nay Pyi Daw). The difficulty of repres-
enting Burmese sounds in Roman script can lead to a degree of confusion, given how some
Roman letters are commonly used to represent Burmese sounds with a notably different pro-
nunciation. The only real way to grasp the language's pronunciation is to listen to Burmese-
speakers themselves.
Pronunciation
There are five
tones
in Burmese - three main tones plus two additional modifiers:
Creaky high tone
High, short pronunciation with tightened throat (akin to the pronunci-
ation of the English word “squeak”). Transliterated using an acute accent, eg
á
.
Plainhightone
Longer pronunciation, starting high and falling (like the English “fall” pro-
nounced with a falling intonation). Transliterated using a grave accent, eg
à
.
Low tone
Starts and stays low. Transliterated with no additional symbol.
Stopped syllable
High sound cut short with a glottal stop at the end (like the first syllable
of “bot-tle” spoken in a Cockney accent). Transliterated with a -q, eg
aq
.
Reduced (or “weak”) syllable
Usually applied to the first syllable of a two-syllable word
wherethefirstsyllableisshortandunstressed(asintheEnglish“beneath”,orforthatmatter,
“reduced”). Transliterated with a breve accent, eg
ă
.
Burmese also distinguishes between
aspirated
and
unaspirated
consonants, the latter pro-
nounced with a slight puff of air (put your hand in front of your mouth and say the English
words “bin” and then “pin” to get a clear idea of the difference). Aspirated consonants are
transliterated by placing an apostrophe after them (eg
k'
); those in the following section
marked “whispered” begin with a sound similar to the start of the English “hmm”.
ă
as in “ab
ou
t”
a
as in “c
a
r”
a
in aq and an as in “c
a
t”
ai
in aiq and ain as in “s
i
te”
au
in auq and aun “ou” as in “l
ou
nge”
aw
as in “s
aw
”
e
as in French “caf
é
”
e
in eh as in “s
e
ll”
