Lonely Planet Burmese Phrasebook

Burmese BURMESE © Lonely Planet Publications bmaska; consonants k K g G c s S z Z v ! @ £ $ % t T d D n p P b B m y r l w q h L A ká·jì ká·gwày sá·lòhng sá·layng tá·tuh·lìng·jay’ tá·wung·bè tá·wùng·boo pá·zow’ tá·şing·dòo pá·óo·toh’ yá·puh·le’ yá·gow’ há lá·jì gá·nge gá·jì zá·gwè ngá zá·mying·zwè dá·ying·gow’ dá·dwày dá·yay·hmoh’ dá·óo·chai’ bá·luh·chai’ lá introduction nyá ná·jì ná·nge bá·gòhng má wá·lòhng thá á vowels (the hyphen is used as the consonant base) creaky high á -c\. -◊\> íng e-. -^; ì -in\; -im\; àyng -¨; òo -n\; -m\; àng e-; -¨ oo -n\ -m\ -M ang e- áy -un\> -um\. --uM> óhng -´. é -∑n\> -∑m\. -∑M> úng -ui> óh -uic\. áing e--a. e--å. -´ è -∑n\; -∑m\; ùng -ui; òh -uic\; àing e-a e-å -y\ e -∑n\ -∑m\ -∑M ung -iu oh -iuc\ aing e-a\ e-Å áw e-ac\. e-åc\. ówng B URME SE A LP HA BE T low -a; -å; à -c\; -◊\; ìng ày -un\; -um\; --uM; òhng àw e-ac\; e-åc\; òwng plain high -a -å a -c\ -◊\ ing -^ i -in\ -im\ ayng ay -un\ -um\ -uM ohng stopped (ie followed by the sound heard between ‘uh-oh’) -s\ i’ -ut\ -up\ oh -it\ -ip\ ay -∑t\ -p∑ \ u’ -k\ e’ -iuk\ ai’ -t\ -p\ a’ e-ak\ ow’ aw e-ac\ e-åc\ owng bmaska; -u óo -n\> -m\. -.M áng introduction – -i í -in\> -im\. áyng Burmese is part of the Tibeto-Burman language family. As the national language of Myanmar (Burma), it has over 40 million speakers, of whom more than 30 million use it as their first language. The variety of Burmese of Mandalay and Yangon, which is spoken throughout the central area of Myanmar, is considered the standard language and is taught in schools everywhere. Many other languages, such as Rakhine, Tavoyan, Intha, Yaw, Danu and Taungyo, are spoken in Myanmar, but nearly everyone in the country knows Burmese, and widespread literacy has been achieved through schools and adult literacy programmes. With Burmese you’ll be understood everywhere in Myanmar. There are two varieties of Burmese – one used in writing and associated formal situations, the other in speaking and informal situations. The main differences are in vocabulary, especially the most common words and particles (eg ‘this’ is di in spoken Burmese, but i in the written language). The phrases in this chapter are in the informal spoken variety, which is appropriate for all situations you’re likely to encounter as a traveller. Many Burmese nouns are borrowed from English, though the meaning and sound may be somewhat different. There are also some loan words from Hindi. Much of the more formal vocabulary comes from P