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ОглавлениеINTRODUCTION
How to Use this Book
When I travel overseas, I always make an effort to learn a few phrases, and sentences to communicate with the locals. Being able to say “Ohaiyo (Good morning)!” to a ramen shop owner in Osaka or “Une café por favor (One coffee, please!)” to a waiter in Barcelona doesn’t seem like much, and they certainly weren’t enough for in-depth conversations about culture, politics, or social issues. Yet, I noticed even those humble, flawed attempts invoked a kind of warmth in the locals. I believe they interpreted these efforts as genuine overtures, as my homage to the country and to them.
In that sense, this book is for travelers like me. It’s for those who like to wander off the beaten track, explore hidden spots not listed in the guidebooks, and chat with the noodle stall owners, street vendors, and flower sellers they may encounter. You won’t learn how to read, write and speak Burmese with a polished accent and proper grammar—this kind of fluency can only come from years of dedicated study and immersive classes—but the book should be sufficient to cover all the situations you’ll find yourself in.
You should be able to order common Burmese dishes, describe your discomfort to a doctor, ask for the price of the item you want to buy, and be able to negotiate with the vendor (in most open-air markets, roadside shops and traditional bazaars, but not the Western-style department stores, where prices are fixed).
This book favors shorter, simpler casual versions of place names, vocabulary and formulaic expressions over the more complex, formal ones. Rather than asking “Would you kindly provide me with a cup of water?” Kyayy zuu pyu ywayt kya-nawt goh yay layy ta-khwet lauk payy bah kha-myaa, with all the graceful formality and differential attitude expected of a native speaker, the book instead uses the shorter, simpler (Kyayy zuu pyu ywayt yay payy bah) or “Some water, please”, which will be undoubtedly easier to master.
English in Burma
Many of my westerner friends who traveled to Burma for the first time were pleasantly surprised to find the extent to which they could rely on simple English terms and phrases to communicate with the locals. There are good reasons for this.
In the last three or four years, Burma has become much more accessible to international travelers. Forward-thinking hoteliers, innkeepers, restaurateurs—even teashop and café owners—recruited English-speaking staff in anticipation of increased tourism.
Burma also lived through a long colonial period under the British, and English is still taught today as one of the subjects in government-run schools.
The younger Burmese get their mashup English from western films and Facebook. In their status updates and comments, many young Burmese employ a hybrid language strung together with common abbreviations (like “coz” for “because”), English conjunctions, and romanized Burmese words.
You can easily find many people who can speak English with varying fluency in most metropolitan areas. Even when an English speaker is not readily available in the vicinity, you’ll find that you too can string together sentences using common English nouns (like “battery”, “bicycle”, “SIM card”, or “taxi”) with simple Burmese phrases (like Bae hmah laee for “Where is …” or Shi larr for “Is there …/Do you have …”) to make yourself understood.
For this book, we’re focusing on conversational Burmese—the spoken variety that people use daily to shop, make friends, and chitchat—rather than the written Burmese you’d find in official documents, etc. Its most rudimentary form (what the Burmese call Hta-minn zarr yay thauk or the “eating-drinking” speech) will help you to get by with a set of common expressions (like Kyite tae for “I like …,” Yuh mae for “I’ll take …,” and Ya aung for “Let’s …”) with the appropriate nouns, verbs, and adjectives.
You’ll also be glad to know that you do not need to conjugate Burmese verbs. You can use the same verb saa, “to eat”, for both singular and plural nouns, as well as to talk about eating in the present or the past. Only the future requires a slightly different treatment (more on this in A Functional Guide to Burmese Grammar).
The biggest challenge for Burmese learners is mastering the tones—the degree of stress you place on the vowel to convey the desired meaning. The good news is, you only need to deal with three distinct tones (See On Burmese Pronunciations).
A Crash Course in Burmese Culture
Having endured a series of military regimes from 1962 to 2012, Burma is finally taking steps to establish a civilian government. In the country’s landmark election in late 2015, the National League for Democracy (NLD) led by Aung San Suu Kyi won a decisive victory. An ingenious workaround by the party allowed her to hold office as the State Counsellor, a prime minister-like role with significant influence over policy making. Today, NLD’s U Htin Kyaw, a scholar and the son of a prominent poet, serves as the president.
The Burmese people’s rhythm of life is governed by Theravada Buddhism, the main religion in the country. Their mindsets, attitudes, rituals, social protocols, and even superstitions are derived primarily from this faith. The country is also home to thriving Hindu, Christian, and Muslim communities.
The core principle of Buddhism is universal compassion. It teaches its followers to wrestle with existential sufferings and human desires; and to adopt the right conduct, the right speech, and the right mindset to reach enlightenment. The monastic order is part of the social fabric of Burma, where the monks are revered as the spiritual sons of the Buddha, the founder of Buddhism. For better or worse, they’re also the guardians of century-old traditions and some conservative practices.
Under the previous military regimes, western culture, NGOs, and tourists trickled in. In today’s open climate, they rush in. Change comes at breakneck speed, in the form of punk rock, rap and reggae, miniskirts, mobile phones, viral Facebook posts, and rising real estate prices, raising fear among some of the social conservatives, who feel their way of life is under threat. The backlash is noticeable in the swift rise of a small but vocal faction, led by the Race and Religion Protection Group (known by their Burmese acronym Ma Ba Tha). Left mostly unchallenged under the previous administration led by ex-military man Thein Sein, the organization gained significant influence. Some foreigners, travelers, and locals who unwittingly drew their attention and ran afoul of them have experienced expulsion and incarceration. It’s best to heed the new climate of religious sensitivity as far as possible.
DRESS CODE: In public places, sacred places, temples, and pagodas, try to dress more conservatively—shorts should be of a reasonable length for men, and the chest and legs (till below the knees) should be covered for women. Burmese women frequently wear sleeveless blouses in public places, but they usually drape a shawl or scarf around their bare shoulders when entering temples and shrines. Ensure that the airy, cotton outfits that you’re wearing in the summer are not translucent.
Most temples and shrines frequented by foreigners have signs and placards warning you what’s acceptable to wear and (perhaps more importantly) what’s not. The one ironclad rule that is enforced in all Buddhist places of worship—pagodas, shrines, and monasteries—is the no-footwear rule, so wear sensible footwear that you can easily remove and put back on.
The Burmese believe the head is the most sacred spot on one’s body and the feet the dirtiest. Never attempt to pat or touch an elder’s head in a playful, friendly manner, except during some ceremonies where you wash the elders’ hair to pay homage. Conceal any Buddhist icons tattooed on the lower part of your body (also avoid wearing pants and skirts with such symbols) from public view with long pants and sarongs while in Burma.
CUSTOMS: Public displays of affection—hugging, kissing, and fondling—is discouraged. Physical contact between the opposite sexes is not very common, so try to avoid putting your hand on their shoulders, enthusiastically grabbing their hands, or giving them a bear hug (something my fellow Californians habitually do).
Physical contact between ordinary people and the clergy—monks and nuns—is kept to an absolute minimum. The rule is stricter for women, where they should take great care to avoid sitting or standing next to monks. Ordinary people should also not tower over sacred statues, monks, and nuns. In Dharma talks held in pavilions, the monks are always placed on a podium or in chairs, while the audience sits on the floor. It’s also disrespectful to point one’s feet (the dirtiest part of one’s body) toward the monks, shrines, and altars—kneel or sit cross-legged instead.
In the Burmese social hierarchy, family elders and older people occupy a position of reverence. Address them by an age-appropriate pronoun, like “Big brother” (A-koh), “Big sister” (A-ma), “Uncle” (Oo layy) or “Aunty” (A-daw). If you must use their name, make sure to use the proper prefix as well (Koh for adult men, Oo for older gentlemen; Ma for adult women, Daw for older ladies).
Modesty, behavior guided by common sense, and respect for the local traditions would help make a good impression with the locals.
The Ongoing Debate: Burma or Myanmar?
“What’s the name of the country? Is it Burma or Myanmar?” people frequently ask me to clarify. I’m afraid there’s no simple answer. People usually pose this as a linguistic question. But they quickly learn the answer is sociopolitical.
Officially, the country is called The Republic of the Union of Myanmar. In his debut trip to the country, then President Obama began his historic speech with a symbolic nod to this name. He said “Min ga-lah bah, Myanmar pyay,” or “Hello, the country of Myanmar!” (The ordinary Burmese were thrilled by his attempt to speak Burmese, while I’m sure members of the reformist government felt legitimized by his choice of the name “Myanmar” over “Burma”.)
But you’ll find that the Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, head of the current NLD-led government, frequently refers to the country as “Burma” in English. It’s the name I grew up with, so it feels more natural to my tongue rather than calling it “Myanmar”, which feels like a strange faraway land. I suspect Suu Kyi continues to use “Burma” for some of the same reasons I do. Old verbal habits are hard to break.
Some argue against “Burma” because it carries the stench of colonialism, a name given by the British rulers, which was part of the argument made by the previous military regime when it tried to replace many of the old British-era names with the new Burmese-flavored ones, e.g., Creek Road in Yangon became Bo Myat Tun Road). Yet, the root of “Burma” is distinctly Burmese. It stems from the Burmese word Ba-mah, which refers to the ethnic majority Burmans.
Others reason “Myanmar” is a better term—a more inclusive reference to cover the Shans, Karens, Kachins, and other ethnic minorities that also call the country home, although the nationalist group We the Burman Organization or “Dohbama Asiayone”, which played a crucial role in the anti-colonial movements of the 1930s, would disagree. They believe the word Ba-mah refers not just to the Burmans but also the other ethnic groups. (“Myanmar and Burma mean the exact same thing”, letter from Bertil Lintner, January 2012, The Financial Times, http://www.ft.com)
Ba-mah and Myanmar are also accepted as the spoken and literary versions of the same noun (even if what this noun refers to is still debated). Many Burmese speakers routinely write Myanmar to describe the country or the people, but pronounce the word as Ba-mah in conversation. This dilutes the argument that one word is more inclusive than the other.
The Burma-Myanmar debate will eventually be settled linguistically by the Burmese users’ overwhelming usage of one as the preferred standard for the country and its people.
There is, however, a political answer to this linguistic dilemma. Choosing what some see as the name of the ethnic majority to represent the entire country will remain controversial as long as the ethnic minorities feel inadequately represented. The solution, therefore, rests with fostering trust, equality, and camaraderie among all ethnic groups within the country’s border, regardless of their regional, culture, and religious differences. That, I humbly submit, is a surefire way to end the Burma-Myanmar debate.
On Burmese Pronunciation
Learn and imitate the singsong melody of the phrases to be able to pronounce the Burmese tones. For example, the tonal structure of Nay kaungg laa or “How are you?” is long-high-high, thus the second and third words (kaungg laa) should be pronounced in a tone higher than the initial word (nay). And the phrase Loh jin dae or “I want …” is long-long-long, thus all three words should be fairly even in pitch.
There is a growing list of free YouTube Burmese tutorials featuring native speakers’ pronunciations for you to emulate. My own clips are available at http://tinyurl.com/kwong-burmese-lessons; you can find others at http://www.facebook.com/burmeselesson.
TONES: Every vowel in Burmese can potentially be pronounced three ways:
• The short tone is voiced with a short, abrupt end, as if someone has interrupted you midway during a word. The effect is similar to English words like “bet”, “cut”, or “boot”.
• The long tone is voiced with a sustained vowel that lingers, similar to the vowel sounds in English words like (the month of) “May” or (a soda) “can”.
• The high tone is voiced as if you’re raising your voice in excitement or hollering to get someone’s attention. English speakers usually pronounce words like “blue”, “blame”, or “star” in such a fashion.
The tones are important to distinguish between words like စ sa “to begin”, စာ sa “letter” or “literature”, and စား sa “to eat”, which would usually be rendered simply as sa.
• To signal a short tone in this book, we use the basic form sa, or with a t to round up the sound. In such instances, do not pronounce the t, but use it to shorten the vowel sound.
• A long tone is rendered as sah or paw. For instance, paw “to appear”.
• To indicate a high tone, we double the vowel, so sa becomes saa. An e might be added to the vowel to artificially raise the tone, as in for poe “insect”, or the end-letter may be doubled instead, as in sainn “green” (color).
Note: If I can achieve phonetic clarity by a simpler means, I employ it instead. For instance, “gourd” should be rendered as Buu thee but writing Boo thee is much more effective in conveying its actual sound. If a well-recognized English word already exists for a Burmese item, then that supercedes the romanization rules.
These artificial rules above help prevent the readers from making embarrassing mistakes, like mispronouncing phaa “frog” (high tone) as phah “prostitute” (long tone); or hsih “cooking oil” (long tone) as hsii “urine” (high tone). But keep in mind that the romanized pronunciations are merely approximations. To learn the proper pronunciation, you should spend some time conversing with a native speaker.
CONSONANTS: Many Burmese consonants map quite well to the standard English sounds, such as the English m, n, s and g. Some Burmese consonants simply do not have English equivalents. Here are the most challenging ones:
• Ng is the sound that appears in the middle of words like “singer” or in the end of words like “drinking”. But it doesn’t usually appear as an initial sound in English.
• Ny is identical to the Spanish Ñ from El Niño (Nin-yo) or the Italian N in Signore.
• Hs is nearly identical to the English s, but pronounced with a sharper sibilant, and is called the aspirated s. The distinction between s and hs may not always be clear when speaking to someone, so use the context to decipher which consonant it is.
• When the letters m, l and n are spelled as မွ, လွ, or ႏွ, they are pronounced with the H-sound preceding the consonant, as hm, hl, hn, and so on. (The Burmese name for this little (--ွ) diacritic mark means “Ha-inserted”.) Pronounce them just like “Hmmm!” but remember to round it out with the l or n sound based on the second letter.
• Ky should sound heavier than the ch from chalk, but not as heavy as the g from “George”. Pronounce the ch-sound without releasing too much air between your teeth and you’ll be close to the actual Burmese pronunciation.
GUIDE TO CONSONANTS OR INITIAL SOUNDS
| Sounds like | Example | Meaning | |
| b | band, book, bone | bah thah | faith, religion |
| by | beautiful, rebuke | byee | consonant letter |
| ch | church, choose | chit | to love |
| d | dance, do, door | dah | this |
| g | go, game, gun | gih ta | music |
| h | he, home, hunt | hah tha | comedy |
| j | jim or jam | joh | planet |
| k | skate, skull or sky | ku | to heal |
| kh | kill, key or Kansas | khaa | bitter |
| ky | chalk or chosenbut with less air escaping between the teeth | kyaungg | school |
| l | line, lone or lump | la | moon |
| hl | voiced with a breathy h preceding the l (round “hmm” out with l instead) | hla | beautiful |
| m | moon, more or morning | moe | rain |
| hm | voiced with a breathy h preceding the m (round “hmm” out with m instead) | hmaa | wrong |
| my | music | myint | high, tall |
| n | name, number or normal | nay | sun |
| hn | voiced with a breathy h preceding the n (round “hmm” out with n instead) | hna-lonne | heart |
| ng | singer | ngaa | fish |
| ny | Spanish ñ from el niño pronounced nin-yo | nya | night |
| p | spawn, spool or Spain | paan | flower |
| ph | pawn, pool or pain, with a puff of air after the p sound | phaa | frog |
| py | spew, close to ph, but with less air escaping between the teeth | pyaa | bee |
| phy | pew, pure | phyaa | to be sick |
| r | run, rule, or random | A-ma-ra puh-ra | Amarapura city |
| s | same, sun or song | saa | to eat |
| hs | similar to s but with a sharper sibilant | hsaa | salt |
| sh | she, shine or shore | shah | to find |
| t | stone, stall or stable | taung | hill |
| ht | tone, tall or table | htaung | prison |
| tw | similar to the tw from “twin” or “twain”, with the initial t like the t from “stone” | twayy | think |
| htw | twin or twain | htwayy | spit out |
| th | thought or thunder | thaa | son |
| w | water, woman or win | waa | to chew |
| y | yes, you or young | yonne | office |
| z | zen or zebra | zayy | market |
GUIDE TO VOWEL SOUNDS
Vowel sounds in Burmese come from diacritic marks, like ah, ih, or –uh. In monosyllabic words like la “moon”, the vowel a is just like the English a in “bar” or “car”. But in polysyllabic words like ya-htaa “train”, the first a vowel is not fully voiced. It’s voiced partially, like the initial a in Amanda. The half-voiced a is followed by a hyphen in the romanization to indicate its sound rolls into the next syllable. I’ve singled out only the most commonly used vowels.
| Vowels | Tones | Sounds like | Example | Meaning |
| aahaa | shortlonghigh | star or spa | sasahsaa | to beginletter, wordto eat |
| iihii | shortlonghigh | me | thithihthee | to knowstring togetherto bear fruit |
| uuhuu | shortlonghigh | blue or sue | kukuhkuu | to healto helpto cross |
| aytayayy | shortlonghigh | day or may | maytA-maymayy | to forgetmotherto ask |
| aetaeaee | shortlonghigh | care or bare | maetmaemaee | withoutindicates futuretensedark, black |
| awtawaww | shortlonghigh | flaw or claw | pawtpawpaww | lightto appearabundant, inexpensive |
| oohoe | shortlonghigh | so | popohpoe | to sendextra, morebug, insect |
| intininn | shortlonghigh | sin or fin | yintyinA-yinn | ripe, maturechest, breastcapital, origin |
| antanaan | shortlonghigh | fun | ya-nantnannaan | scentstinkkiss, smell |
| ontoneonne | shortlonghigh | bone oralone | montmone lahmonne | snackradishto hate |
| auntaungaungg | shortlonghigh | round or sound | sauntsaungsaungg | waitblanketharp |
| aintainainne | shortlonghigh | stain orslain | saintsainsainne | rich (with flavor)diamondgreen |
| aingtaingaingg | shortlonghigh | grind ormind | jaintpaingpaingg | lunch boxto possessto cut, divide |
The following vowels should always be pronounced in the short tone with a hard stop.
| ut | hut or cut | thut | to kill |
| et | met or bet | khet | difficult |
| it | sit or fit | chit | to love |
| ote | boat | hote | true, yes |
| aut | about or stout | thauk | drink |
| ait | bait or wait | sait | mind |
| ite | site or lite | lite | follow |
A Brief Guide to Burmese Grammar
Growing up in the heart of Yangon, I learned not one but two varieties of Burmese: The spoken (or conversational) version—for daily conversations, haggling over the price of fish in the open-air bazaar or poking fun at classmates—and the written (or literary) version, for filing reports to a superior, writing articles or literary masterpieces.
There are some distinct differences between the two. With spoken or conversational Burmese (which is what this book provides), you can say a lot of things without explicitly stating the subject and you can just recycle a handful of basic forms to create a string of short, simple sentences. In written or literary Burmese, you use a more elegant style, elevated diction, and stricter grammar, with a different set of conjunctions, prepositions, and sentence-end words.
YES-NO STATEMENTS
The easiest way to make a statement in Burmese is to follow a verb or an adjective with the affirmative sentence-end word, (tae, also pronounced dae). For example:
• The verb “to eat” is saa. Therefore, “I eat” is saa dae (The subject “I” is implied.)
• The adjective “hot” is puh. Therefore, “it’s hot” is puh dae (The subject “it”, e.g., the weather or item is implied.)
To make a negative statement, you add ma in front of the verb or the adjective, and end with the negative sentence-end word, boo. Thus, “I eat” saa dae becomes “I don’t eat” ma-saa boo. Similarly “it’s hot” puh dae will become ma-puh boo “It’s not hot.”
If the subject needs to be explicitly stated for clarity, then you can add it like this, e.g., Thuh saa dae “He/she eats”, Thuh ma-saa boo “He/she doesn’t eat”, Dih nayt puh dae “It’s hot today” and Dih nayt ma-puh boo “It’s not hot today.”
NOTE Many Burmese verbs that involve more than one word, like yay koo “swim” or sah kyet “study”. “To swim” yay koo is made up of the word yay “water” and “to cross” or “pass” koo. Likewise, “to study” sah kyet is made up of the word sah “schoolwork” and kyet “to digest”. To convert them from affirmative to negative, you have to insert the negative tag ma in front of the word that signifies the action (usually the second word). Therefore, “I don’t swim” is yay ma-koo boo and “I don’t study” is sah ma-kyet phoo.
PUNCTUATION
There are only two major punctuation marks in Burmese, which you’ll come across in Burmese signs, pamphlets, and menus. The two vertical strokes in the end of a sentence functions like the period in English, while one stroke functions like the comma in English.
YES-NO QUESTIONS
To ask a Yes-No question, you use the question tag laa, e.g., “Is he/she coming?” Thuh lah laa or “Is it hot today?” Dih nayt puh laa.
Note the high tone in laa. By contrast, the verb “to come,” lah is in the long tone, so it’s pronounced with a lower pitch.
TENSES
Burmese verbs don’t change no matter when the action takes place, thus thuh lah dae could mean “He/she is coming” or “He/she came”. If you wanted to make a sentence with “yesterday” ma-nayt ga, you could say Ma-nayt ga thuh lah dae “He/she came yesterday” or Ma-nayt ga puh dae “It was hot yesterday”.
When talking about future events or actions, change the sentence-end word from tae to mae as well as the question tag to ma-laa. For example: Ma-net phyan thuh lah mae “He/she will be coming tomorrow” or Ma-net phyan puh ma-laa “Will it be hot tomorrow?”
For Who, What, Where, When or Why questions about the future, use ma-laee as the question tag, e.g., Bae thuh lah ma-laee “Who’s coming?” or “Who will be coming?”
With future-negative sentences, the sentence-end word remains unchanged, e.g., Dih nayt ma-puh boo “It’s not hot today” or Ma-net phyan ma-puh boo “It won’t be hot tomorrow.” If you really want to emphasize that an action has already occurred—entirely optional, since native speakers sometimes omit it as well—you may add khaet (sometimes pronounced gaet), that is, “Yesterday he/she came” is Ma-nayt ga thuh lah gaet dae, or literally “Yesterday he come (already)”.
SUBJECT AND OBJECT TAGS
In a statement like Thuh Yangon thwaa mae, the subject and the object are quite clear. No reasonable person will conclude that Yangon, a city will be traveling, thwaa “to go”, to thuh “he/she”. The only logical interpretation is “He/she will go to Yangon.”
But what about a statement like Ma Ma Oo Layy mayy dae? The verb mayy, “to ask” is clear enough. But there are two people involved: Ma Ma and Oo Layy. Who is the subject doing the asking? Who is the object being asked? In such cases, you should use subject and object tags to clarify your meaning, like this: Ma Ma ga Oo Layy goh mayy dae.
The subject tag ga, (sometimes pronounced ka) shows that Ma Ma is the one asking questions. The object tag goh (sometimes pronounced koh) shows that Oo Layy is the one being asked. Now it’s clear that the statement means, “Ma Ma asks Oo Layy [a question].”
With these tags correctly placed behind the subject and the object, you can even flip the order of the two nouns and still be confident your meaning is clear. Oo Layy goh Ma Ma ga mayy dae still has exactly the same meaning as Ma Ma ga Oo Layy goh mayy dae. Subject and object tags are important in statements like these:
• I bought him coffee. Kya-naw ga thu goh kaw phe tike tae.
• Oo Layy took Ma Ma to the market. Oo Layy ga Ma Ma goh zayy po payy dae.
PLURALS
In spoken Burmese, form plurals by adding the tags, do (short tone, sometimes pronounced to) for humans, and dway (long tone, sometimes pronounced tway) for most animals and inanimate objects, e.g., “flowers” paan dway. For example, “Ma Ma and her group” would be Ma Ma do, and “flowers” paan dway.
| I (male) | kya-naw | I (female) | kya-ma |
| We (male) | kya-naw do | We (female) | kya-ma do |
| You (male) | kha-myaa | You (female) | shin |
| You (male) | kha-myaa do | You (female) | shin do |
| He (male), she (female) | thuh | ||
| They (male and female) | thuh do |
With plural verbs, you may add the tag kya (sometimes pronounced ja) to indicate the action is taken collectively by more than one person. Compare “He/she goes to school” Thuh kyaungg thwaa dae and “They go to school” Thuh do kyaungg thwaa ja dae. But native speakers do not always use the plural tag, so you may omit it for simplicity.
TIP: In this book, we use [MALE] and [FEMALE] so readers can easily identify which phrase they should use, according to their gender.
POSSESSIVES
The first-person pronoun for a male speaker is kya-naw. The word ends in the long tone, with a lingering vowel sound. To make it the possessive “my”, pronounce it with the short tone, so it becomes kya-nawt, thus “my coffee” will be kya-nawt kaw phe.
The first-person pronoun for a female is kya-ma, pronounced in the short tone. You use the same phrase for “I” or “my”, thus “my coffee” is kya-ma kaw phe.
The pronoun for “he/she” is thuh. It’s pronounced by default in the mid tone, with a lingering vowel sound. To make it possessive, pronounce it with the low tone to become thu. “His/her coffee” will then be thu kaw phe.
Similarly, with proper names, like Kelly or John, you use the possessive tag yaet. “Kelly’s coffee” is Kelly yaet kaw phe, and “John’s coffee” is John yaet kaw phe.
The same tag is also used to form plural possessives.“Our coffee” (males) is kya-naw do yaet kaw phe, “our coffee” (females) is kya-ma do yaet kaw phe and “their coffee” is thuh do yaet kaw phe.
TIP: If converting first-person and second-person pronouns into the possessive form through tones is too problematic, you can use the possessive tag yaet, (short tone) for all instances. With this approach, you might come across as overly correct or proper, but the formula will be consistent and easy to follow.
WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY
The question tag for the “W-questions” is generally laee, (high tone, for present and past events) or ma-laee (high tone, for future events). The expressions to ask these “W-questions” in Burmese are as follows:
Who: Bae thuh, e.g., “Who is coming to Yangon?” Bae thuh Yangon lah laee or “Who is he/she?” Thuh bae thuh laee.
What: Bah, e.g., “What will you be eating today?” Dih nayt bah saa ma-laee or “What did he eat?” Thuh bah saa gaet laee.
Where: Bae, (or) Where at: Bae hmah, e.g.,“Where is Shwe Dagon?” Shwe Dagon bae hmah laee or “Where will you be going (lit., will you go) today?” Dih nayt bae thwaa ma-laee. (“You” is implied, not stated.)
When: Bae dawt, e.g., “When will you be going (lit. you go) to Yangon?” Bae dawt Yangon thwaa ma-laee. (“You” is implied, not stated.) “When will they be coming (lit., will they come)?” Bae dawt thuh do lah ma-laee.
Why: Bah lo, (or) Bah jaunt, e.g., “Why is he coming (lit. does he come) to Yangon?” Bah lo thuh Yangon lah laee or “Why is he not coming (lit. does he not come) to Yangon?” Bah lo thuh Yangon ma-lah lae.
PREPOSITIONS
In statements that involve multiple people and places, some prepositions are necessary. For example:
With or And: Naet, e.g., “I am going to Yangon with Ma Ma.” (Male speaker) Kya-naw Ma Ma naet Yangon thwaa dae or Kya-ma Ma Ma naet Yangon thwaa dae. (Female speaker)
From: Ka, sometimes pronounced Ga and To: Koh, sometimes pronounced Goh, e.g., “He/she is coming from Mandalay to Yangon.” (lit., He/she comes from Mandalay to Yangon.) Thuh Mandalay ga Yangon goh lah dae.
For: A-twet, or Pho, sometimes pronounced Bo, e.g., “I am buying coffee for him/her.” Kya-ma thu a-twet kaw phe wae dae (Female speaker) or Kya-naw thu a-twet kaw phe wae dae. (Male speaker).
Because of: Kyaunt, sometimes pronounced Jaunt, e.g., “I have come to Yangon because of him/her.” (lit., I come to Yangon because of him/her). Kya-ma thu jaunt Yangon lah dae (Female speaker) or Kya-naw thu jaunt Yangon lah dae. (Male speaker).
COMMANDS, APPEALS, AND PROPOSALS
Make an affirmative statement with the ending suffix tae and use boo to make a negative statement. Here are a few more useful suffixes:
Forbid an action with naet, e.g., “Don’t drink coffee” Kaw phe ma-thauk naet.
Urge something to be done quickly with lite, i.e., “Go ahead and drink coffee”, Kaw phe thauk lite.
Rally others to join you in an action with kya so, (sometimes pronounced ja zo or ya aung). The two are interchangeable. For example, “Let’s drink coffee” or Kaw phe thauk kya zo/Kaw phe thauk ya aung.
Make a request with pah, (sometimes pronounced bah), i.e., “Please give me coffee” or Kaw phe payy bah.
The grammar rules for spoken Burmese outlined above covers only the most basic elements. But these should be quite sufficient to get you started.
In many examples above, I indicated that certain words have two possible pronunciations. That’s because many Burmese words are voiced differently depending on the word that comes before (even though it’s spelled exactly the same in the written form). There are rules that govern when the soft consonants (tae, tway) should be substituted with the heavier counterparts (dae, dway). But the rules are difficult to follow if you do not know how to decipher the written script. Therefore, for the purpose of instant communication, you’re much better off following the clues in the romanized voicing guide than to learn the rules.
