Burmese language

Sino-Tibetan language of Myanmar

Burmese (in Burmese ba-ma-sa, pronounced /baa-MAA-saa/) is a language spoken in Myanmar (also known as Burma). Burmese is a Sino-Tibetan language, meaning that is close to Chinese and Tibetan.

Burmese
Myanmar language
မြန်မာ
PronunciationIPA: [mjəmà]
[mjəmà ]
Native toMyanmar, Bangladesh (Chittagong Hill Tracts), India (Tripura), China (Yunnan), Thailand (Mae Hong Son and Tak)
RegionMyanmar
EthnicityBarma people
EraBurmesee25
Second language: 10 million (no date)[1]
Early forms
Mon–Burmese (Burmese alphabet)
Burmese Braille
Official status
Official language in
Myanmar
Southeast Asia
Regulated byMyanmar Language Commission
Language codes
ISO 639-1my
ISO 639-2bur (B)
mya (T)
ISO 639-3Variously:
mya
int
tco
rki
rmz
Tay
Glottolognucl1310
Linguasphere77-AAA-a
Areas where Burmese is spoken (in dark blue those areas where it is more widely spoken).(The map does not indicate where the language is majority or minority.)
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Writing system change

Burmese is written in Burmese script.

Tones change

Burmese is a tonal language. Burmese has three tones (high, medium, low: plus two 'stops or abbreviated additional, qualifying 'tones)

Burmese has no gender. For instance, the word သူ (pronounced "thew") could mean "he" or "she". However, some words have natural gender e.g. ဆရာ saya (male teacher) and ဆရာမ sayama (female teacher).

Unlike in English, verbs in Burmese do not change based on tense. Instead, other words are added after to show tense.

Loan words change

Burmese has many English and Indian words (loan words) due to colonization by the British and interaction with the neighboring country of India. However, Burmese is a very distinct and full language itself with a long history and many different dialects.

Examples change

Here are some examples of words and sentences in Burmese.

Hello = min-ga-la-ba

How are you? = Nei kaun la?

I am (name) = Cha-naw yè nan-bè ga _______

(Kya-naw is replaced with kya-ma for females.

What is your name? = Ka-mya na mei be' lo khal le' (OR) na mei be' lo khal le' (You can omit "Ka-mya=You")

Are you from Burma? = Nae ba-ma pyi ga la da la?

(Note: To ask if someone is from other countries, just replace ba-ma pyi with any of the countries below.)

References change

  1. Cite error: The named reference e25 was used but no text was provided for refs named (see the help page).