Читать книгу Mini Burmese Dictionary - Aung Kyaw Phyo - Страница 5

Оглавление

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
bb sound, as in bush, book, ball
dd sound, as in dance, doll, drown
chch sound, as in chin, chocolate, child
gg as in go, get, good
hh sound as in house, him, hire
kunaspirated k sound as in sky, scar, skin
khaspirated k sound as in key, king, call
ll sound as in live, low, long
mm sound as in mall, meet, must
ngng sound in English as in lung, sing, ring
punaspirated p sound as in spin, spy, spot
phaspirated p sound as in pet, poor, pot
rr sound as in rat, raw, ring
ss sound as in saw, sir, so, sun
shsh sound as in shoe, shop, shine
tunaspirated t as in stall, steel, style
htaspirated t as in time, Thailand, talk
thunvoiced th sound as in thin, thick, theft
thvoiced th sound as in that, those, there
ww 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.
yy as in you, year, yes
zz as in zoo, magazine, zebra
Consonants with an added ‘y’ sound.
byNo 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.
gyj sound as in jeans, jacket, jaw
kyNo 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.
myLike 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.
nyNo 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.
pyNo 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.)
aThe shortened sound of art without the final consonant.
arSounds like the interjection uh, when you are not sure what to say.
arrRhymes with car, bar, star.
eetThe same sound as ee in keep, feet, cheap
iThe same sound as y in city.
eeThe same sound as ee in see, bee, fee.
ookThe same sound as oo in food, shoot, loop.
uThe same sound as u in university or you? with a rising, surprised tone.
ooThe same sound as oo in zoo, do, fool
aytThe same sound as a in maze, ace, base.
ayPronounced like the unstressed word say in Oh say can you see as in the American national anthem, or like may in May I?
ayyLike the ay sound in way, stay, lay but with more stress.
aetLike the a sound in apple, stopping the sound at the back of the throat.
aeLike sal in salmon.
ellThe same sound as ell in sell, tell, bell.
awtThe same sound as o in hot, lot, got.
awThe same sound as au in Australia.
awwThe same sound as aw in saw, mall, raw.
antThe same sound as u in hunt, punch.
anThe same sound as un as in uncover, unfriend.
annRhymes with run, bun, sun.
ohtThe same sound as o in both, ghost, most.
oSounds like oh in the exclamation uh-oh!
ohhThe same sound as o in go, no, so, oh.
aintThe same sound as i in pint, ninth.
aiLike the y sound in the unstressed word my in the phrase my car (where the stress is on car).
aiiThe same as the i sound in eye, time, kind.
eaintThe same sound as ai in paint, saint.
eainThe same sound as ai or a in main, same, tame with rising intonation.
eainnThe same sound as a or ai in shame, lame, rain
aungtThe same sound as oun in mount, count.
aungThe same sound as ao in Mao Zedong.
aunggRhymes with cow, down, pound.
owntThe same sound as on’t in won’t, don’t
ownThe same sound as one in zone, pronounced with the rising tone.
ownnThe same sound as one in bone, phone, lone.
ontThe same sound as on in bronze.
onSounds like the English word on, said with a surprised tone.
onnThe same sound as oon in moon, soon, loom.
etThe same sound as et in bet, met, set.
atLike the u sound in cup, mug, but.
ateLike the vowel sound in the words bake, state, eight, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.
iteLike the vowel sound in the words bite, kite, night, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.
utLike the vowel sound in the words put, good, bush, stopping the final consonant sound at the back of the throat.
Mini Burmese Dictionary

Подняться наверх