Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The standard Burmese greeting is the rather formal
min-găla-ba
(meaning roughly “bless-
ings upon you”), although this only entered the language in the post-colonial period as a re-
placement for the colonial “Good morning/good afternoon”. Given that there's no clear equi-
valent of “hello” in Burmese, foreign visitors have adopted
min-găla-ba
as an easy, all-pur-
pose greeting, and the phrase has been embraced with gusto by the Burmese as a way of ad-
dressing foreigners.
Burmese speakers themselves rarely use
min-găla-ba
, preferring more informal greetings,
typically
nei kaun la
(“how are you?”) or just “hello”. You might also hear
htamin sa pi bi la
- literally, “have you eaten rice?”.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Traditional
Burmesenames
areofoneortwosyllablesonly.Therearenofamilysurnames
in Burmese, nor can names be shortened or divided - a man named Tin Moe, for example,
can't be called “Tin” or “Mr Moe”. In order to indicate the relative positions of two people
talking, names are often combined with a further word: Tin Moe, for example, would be
called U Tin Moe (where “U” signifies “Mr” or “uncle”) in formal situations or Ko Tin
MoeorMaungTinMoebyhisfamilyandfriends(“Ko”and“Maung”meaning“brother”).
The female equivalents are “Daw” (“Mrs” or “aunty”) and “Ma” (sister). Women do not
change their names upon marriage.
Astrology
also plays a major role, with children traditionally given a name reflecting the
day of the week on which they were born. In addition, Burmese commonly change their
names to reflect changing circumstances - Aung San, for example, was born Htein Lin but
changed his name to Aung San (meaning “victory”) when embarking upon his revolution-
ary career.
Traditionalnamingsystemshavebeenincreasinglymodifiedby
Westerninfluences
with
the incorporation of maternal, paternal and other names, although still not in any particu-
larly consistent fashion - as demonstrated by Aung San Suu Kyi herself, who was named
after her father (Aung San), grandmother (Suu) and mother (Khin Kyi), giving her a name
which translates (loosely) as “a bright collection of strange victories”.
Temple etiquette
Dress conservatively when visiting
temples
(some travellers carry a longyi for such situ-
ations) and make sure you take shoes and socks off before entering. Inside, try not to point
yourfeetatanyBuddhaimages-localstendtositwiththeirlegstuckedbeneaththemselves.
It's traditional to walk around stupas in a clockwise direction, although no one will particu-
larly mind if you go in the opposite direction.
