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INTRODUCTION

The Burmese language is the official language of Myanmar, used by the majority Burmese people and as the lingua franca by the other ethnic minority groups in the country. It is officially called “Myanmar language” for easy reference and political reasons within the country.

Sitting like a bridge between China and India, Myanmar has many sociocultural connections to those two Asian giants and language is an example. The Burmese language is in the Tibeto-Burman family, and is a tonal language like Thai and Chinese. Burmese borrowed and adapted Brahmic alphabets which originated in India. Over time, the letters evolved into the rounded version used today.

The following sections provide some basic information about Burmese grammar, and how to put a sentence together.

Grammar

English is a SVO language (i.e., subjects come before verbs, and verbs come before objects), but Burmese is more of a SOV language. It is also possible to start a sentence with an object but verbs almost always come at the end of the sentences. The subject of a sentence is followed by the particle ka or ga. The object of a sentence is followed by the particle ko or go. The verb, in spoken sentences, is followed by the particle tae or dae (or thi in written sentences). For example:

Kya naw ga ngarr ko kyite dae.

I (kya naw) like (kyite) fish (ngarr).

Pronunciation

Burmese has three major tones: (1) short and creaky, (2) level and long, and (3) high, long and falling tone.

လ လာ လား

la lar larr

The first tone sounds like it or eat in English, with the final t sound swallowed in the back of the throat. The second tone has a rising tone similar to huh? in English. The last tone sounds like long vowels with no stop at the end in English as in the words see, saw, or zoo.

There are two other tones: the shortened tone and the stopped tone. The shortened tone is similar to the sound of a in the English word ago. Stopped tones are also very short. They are similar to English vowels with the stops such as p, t, or k at the end.

In this dictionary, the tone of a word is reflected by its romanized spelling.

Aspiration

Aspiration means adding a breath of air to a sound. For example, the letter p in the words spin and spot is not aspirated, but it is aspirated in the words pin and pot. In this dictionary, the letter ‘h’ is used to mark consonants that are aspirated.

Romanization of the Burmese sounds

Unlike Chinese, Japanese, and some other languages, Burmese does not have a standardized romanized version of its sounds. The romanization format used in this dictionary is mainly based on the model that young people in Myanmar are using on social media and the Internet.

When speaking Burmese, remember not to pronounce the final consonants of words. Final consonants given in the romanized words in this dictionary are a guide to the length, tone and rhythm of a word.

Consonants
b	b sound, as in bush, book, ball
d	d sound, as in dance, doll, drown
ch	ch sound, as in chin, chocolate, child
g	g as in go, get, good
h	h sound as in house, him, hire
k	unaspirated k sound as in sky, scar, skin
kh	aspirated k sound as in key, king, call
l	l sound as in live, low, long
m	m sound as in mall, meet, must
ng	ng sound in English as in lung, sing, ring
p	unaspirated p sound as in spin, spy, spot
ph	aspirated p sound as in pet, poor, pot
r	r sound as in rat, raw, ring
s	s sound as in saw, sir, so, sun
sh	sh sound as in shoe, shop, shine
t	unaspirated t as in stall, steel, style
ht	aspirated t as in time, Thailand, talk
th	unvoiced th sound as in thin, thick, theft
th	voiced th sound as in that, those, there
w	w sound as in wall, war, with when it is used in initial position and pronounced as the w sound in queen, quick, penguin when it is used after another consonant.
y	y as in you, year, yes
z	z as in zoo, magazine, zebra

Consonants with an added ‘y’ sound.
by	No English equivalent. The closest sound is the initial sound of the words beauty, bureau, Buchanan. The b and the y are pronounced as one sound.
gy	j sound as in jeans, jacket, jaw
ky	No English equivalent. The closest sound is the initial sound of the words tuition, cue, Kyoto. The k and the y are pronounced as one sound.
my	Like my in Myanmar. No English equivalent. The closest sound is the initial sound of the words muse, music, mule. The m and the y are pronounced as one sound.
ny	No English equivalent. The closest sound is the initial sound of the words ‘new, nuclear, nuisance’ in a British accent. The n and y are pronounced as one sound.
py	No English equivalent. The closest sound is the py sound in the words pew, computer, puberty. The p and the y are pronounced as one sound.

Vowel sounds
a-	Like a as in ‘ago.’ (This sound is called schwa in phonetics.)
a	The shortened sound of art without the final consonant.
ar	Sounds like the interjection uh, when you are not sure what to say.
arr	Rhymes with car, bar, star.

eet	The same sound as ee in keep, feet, cheap
i	The same sound as y in city.
ee	The same sound as ee in see, bee, fee.
ook	The same sound as oo in food, shoot, loop.
u	The same sound as u in university or you? with a rising, surprised tone.
oo	The same sound as oo in zoo, do, fool

ayt	The same sound as a in maze, ace, base.
ay	Pronounced like the unstressed word say in Oh say can you see as in the American national anthem, or like may in May I?
ayy	Like the ay sound in way, stay, lay but with more stress.
aet	Like the a sound in apple, stopping the sound at the back of the throat.
ae	Like sal in salmon.
ell	The same sound as ell in sell, tell, bell.

awt	The same sound as o in hot, lot, got.
aw	The same sound as au in Australia.
aww	The same sound as aw in saw, mall, raw.

ant	The same sound as u in hunt, punch.
an	The same sound as un as in uncover, unfriend.
ann	Rhymes with run, bun, sun.
oht	The same sound as o in both, ghost, most.
o	Sounds like oh in the exclamation uh-oh!
ohh	The same sound as o in go, no, so, oh.

aint	The same sound as i in pint, ninth.
ai	Like the y sound in the unstressed word my in the phrase my car (where the stress is on car).
aii	The same as the i sound in eye, time, kind.

eaint

The same sound as ai in paint, saint.

eain	The same sound as ai or a in main, same, tame with rising intonation.
eainn	The same sound as a or ai in shame, lame, rain

aungt	The same sound as oun in mount, count.
aung	The same sound as ao in Mao Zedong.
aungg	Rhymes with cow, down, pound.

ownt	The same sound as on’t in won’t, don’t
own	The same sound as one in zone, pronounced with the rising tone.
ownn	The same sound as one in bone, phone, lone.
ont	The same sound as on in bronze.
on	Sounds like the English word on, said with a surprised tone.
onn	The same sound as oon in moon, soon, loom.

et	The same sound as et in bet, met, set.
at	Like the u sound in cup, mug, but.
ate	Like the vowel sound in the words bake, state, eight, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.
ite	Like the vowel sound in the words bite, kite, night, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.
ut	Like the vowel sound in the words put, good, bush, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.