TIL

Myanmar Script

script-Myan

by U Kyaw Tun, M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.). Not for sale. Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR.

These pages are in Arial Unicode MS font. Please remember that not all Unicode fonts are alike. Myanmar characters are in gif picture format and you do not need any Myanmar font to read it. Myanmar spellings in both Myanmar script and in Romabama and are included. Romabama spellings are within { }, and words within < > are regular English words.

Please note that you will be seeing two systems of transliteration: the usual transliteration for Indic scripts in reddish-brown letters, and Romabama transliterations in black letters usually within { }. Romabama avoids the use of non-ASCII letters such as ā, ī, ū and ṃ and uses only ASCII letters which can be inputted directly from the key-board without the use of Unicode fonts.

This present presentation is a collection from various sources from which I may have taken a single line or a whole paragraph, some of which I have edited so heavily that I even I could no longer identify the original author. Yet, I have done my best to indicate the sources and the authors. Whatever mistakes that you may find in these texts are mine.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Characters
Akshara and Samyuktakshar
Shapes of Myanmar Aksharas
Vowels and Consonants
Vowel Trapezoid | neutral vowel
IPA Consonants | English Consonants
A probable explanation of /θ/ becoming s
English Consonants
Myanmar Akshara
Vowel Akshara | Vowel-letters and vowel-signs

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Characters

UKT: I must be very unequivocal here.

• Myanmar and Devanagari are scripts. Myanmar or Myanmar akshara (script) {ak~hka.ra} is used to write Burmese language (some prefer the term "spoken language"). One of source of confusion between "language" (spoken) and "script" (written) is the incomplete translation of Burmese words into English words. In Myanmar and Burmese, we tend to use the combined words {mran-ma sa} when we are referring to the "script", and {ba.ma sa.ka:} when we are referring to the "language". Please note that since the primary meaning of the word <language> is "use by human beings of voice sounds", the term "spoken language" is a redundancy. The following is from AHTD:

Thus, Hindi and Sanskrit are written in Devanagari-script in India, whereas Burmese and Burmese-Pali are written Myanmar script in the country of Myanmar.

Burmese Language
UKT: rewritten from:  http://ling.lll.hawaii.edu/faculty/stampe/Linguistics/lgsworld.html
Burmese language (some prefer the term "spoken language") has been classified under Sino-Tibetan languages together with Chinese. It is to be noted that Tai (to which Thai, Lao, Shan, and Ahom belong, together with Black-, White- and Red-Tai. -- http://www.seasite.niu.edu/thai/LLF/profile.htm ) and Miao-Yao (Hmong-Mien) languages are considered to be a group different from Sino-Tibetan languages. Speakers of languages of most of the branches of the Sino-Tibetan language family are to be found in South Asia.
   There are two groups in Sino-Tibetan languages: Chinese, including the dialects, and Tibeto-Burman languages.
   The Tibeto-Burman group is sub-divided into 4 groups: 1. Tibetic languages, 2. Burmic languages, 3. Baric languages, and 4. Karenic languages.
   The Tibetan, or Tibetic, language group includes at least two Tibetan proper languages spoken in Tibet, Nepal, and India: Central Tibetan, including Lhasa, the standard dialect of Tibet, and Western Tibetan. In addition there are many other languages in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh that are closely related to Tibetan proper.
   More distantly related Tibeto-Burman languages are spoken in East Asia over the borders of Myanmar (Burma); these languages, often called Burmic, include dialects of the Burmese-Lolo subgroup (including Burmese) and the Kachin subgroup.
   The Burmese-Lolo (Burmish) group has the widest distribution and the greatest number of speakers. Burmese is spoken as a second language by perhaps 90 percent of those in Myanmar who have another first or native language. The Lolo languages are spoken in Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam; they include Lisu, Lahu, Akha, Mung, Punoi, Pyen, and others, a few of which extend into northeastern India.
   Karen languages are spoken in Myanmar and Thailand and include Sgaw, Pho, Pa-o (or Taungthu), and Palaychi. Most of the languages of the Kuki-Chin (Kukish) group are spoken in Myanmar. Kachin languages also are spoken in Myanmar.

• Similarly Roman or Latin script is used to write English, French and Spanish (western European languages). To accommodate phonemes peculiar to the language certain characters are added to the basic Roman script: e.g.,  è and é for French and ñ for Spanish.

• Roman script uses an alphabet whereas Myanmar and Devanagari use abugidas. An individual character in an alphabet is called a letter (which is not always pronounceable), whereas the individual characters in an abugida are called aksharas {ak~hka.ra} and can always be pronounced.

• A letter of an alphabet is a just a logo without a sound, whereas an akshara is a syllable because it already has an inherent vowel.

• Vowel-characters in both abugida and alphabet can be pronounced. However, a consonant-character in an alphabet, by being just a logo, cannot be pronounced. A consonant-character in an abugida, on the other hand, by having an inherent vowel can be pronounced. Example: the letter k of English-in-Roman alphabet does not have a sound. On the other hand, all characters in an abugida can be pronounced. For example, and क(U0915), the first consonant-characters in Myanmar and Devanagari, can be pronounced. They have the same transliteration ka because they have very similar pronunciations represented by IPA /ka/.

• To form a syllable with letter k, a vowel-character such as a is added. Adding another k gives the syllable /kak/. In the case of Myanmar and Devanagari, a special device known as a virama {a.thut} is used to kill the inherent vowel of one of consonant-characters:

English:
k                   -- (cannot be pronounced.)
k + a → ka     -- /ka/ (syllable)
ka + k → kak -- /kak/ (syllable)

Myanmar:
ka + ka + virama → kak -- /kak/
   (a syllable having a meaning, a word meaning <domino>)

People usually get confused with the use of virama in formation of half-forms or conjuncts (conjoined characters) known as samyuktakshar (meaning combinations -- my personal communication with Mahdusri Pandit.) or {tham~pa.yoat~ta. ak~hka.ya}

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Akshara
and Samyuktakshar

UKT: Though the caption of this section should have been {mran-ma ak~hka.ra} (spelled the same in Myanmar and Myanmar-Pali), I am following the international trend of calling the special way of writing practiced in India, Myanmar, and elsewhere, as akshara -- a Sanskrit word, because Sanskrit is more well-known internationally than either Myanmar or M-Pali (Myanmar-Pali). Please note that my present work is part of my interpretation of Myanmar grammar, and even though I tried to "translate" the original texts on which I have based my work, I have to take a slightly different tack from time to time. Here, I am using my differentiation of abugida from the alphabet, and the akshara from the letter.

• The akshara is a character of an abugida. It is totally unlike the letter of an alphabet. However, since we are so used to the idea of alphabet and letters, we do not appreciate that there can be other forms of writing, which are better or at least as effective as the alphabet in recording a language. Here, I must make myself clear. Whereas, the IPA claims that its characters and its diacritics can record the phonemes of the human speech, the abugida of a language does not make such a claim. Yet, the akshara are presented along phonetic lines

• Samyuktakshar {tham-payoat-ta akhkara}. I only have the transliteration of Sanskrit word "Samyuktakshar". This word is obviously made up of two words: the last word being  {akhkara}. Leaving the {ak~hka.ra} aside, I looked up for a word closest to Samyukta which appears to have an equivalent in PTS (Pali Text Soc. Dictionary) p691. Meaning given by PTS is "associated with, connected".

We hear the human speech with our ears. The groups of characters that represent human speech are known as syllables. (Note that speech or language is made up of words, and that the words are made up of syllables. What we hear are the syllables.). In Myanmar abugida, the basic characters themselves are syllables known as {akhkara}.

Here are some examples of 33 basic consonantal aksharas:ka {ka.} , sa {sa.} ,  ta {ta.} , and pa {pa.} . These are not like the letters of the Roman alphabet. The letters corresponding to the above aksharas are: k (no sound), s (no sound), t  (no sound) and  p (no sound). The above consonantal-aksharas are some of the 33 basic consonantal aksharas. Combinations of basic consonantal aksharas give rise to conjoined aksharas or conjuncts or .

There are two kinds of conjuncts, one class being pronounceable (and are therefore aksharas) and the other unpronounceable. The unpronounceable conjuncts are described as half-forms because when an akshara is placed anterior to them, syllables can be formed. Though the half-forms still contain an inherent vowel, they cannot be pronounced because the vowel part is in the wrong place. This description becomes illustrative when we use the transliterations instead of the actual aksharas:

ka + ka +  virama   → kak   (syllable)
+   + ( ) →

ka +  virama  + ka →  kka  (unpronounceable half form)
+ ( ) + →

ta  +  kka  →  takka  (syllable)
+   → 

The 33 basic aksharas in Myanmar script are all syllables. Some have meanings of their own and are therefore monosyllabic words. Thus, ka {ka.} means <to dance>, sa {sa.} means <to tease> or <to begin>. ta {ta.} , and pa {pa.} by themselves have no discernable meanings, but can come to have meanings in combination with other syllables.

Here, we must note that a consonantal akshara is more than a consonantal letter of the alphabet. An akshara can be made equal to a letter by killing its inherent vowel, e.g.

ka {ka.} + virama → (no sound, is identical to English letter k)

It should be noted that is actually . It is presented as a vertical ligature with a hidden virama. There are also examples of horizontal ligatures, a very misunderstood character being the so-called "grand tha." {tha.kri:}:

tha {tha.} + virama + tha {tha.} → ththa {th~tha.}

Thus, the word for the unit of weight measure, viss  {peith~tha} is pronounced as "peith-thah" in stead of "pi-thah". Similarly, the Myanmar word for "education" {pyin-ña}, because it contains a horizontal ligature, is pronounced as "pyin-nyah" in stead of "pa-nyah".

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Shapes of Myanmar Aksharas

The shape of Myanmar aksharas are basically circles. A Myanmar child learning to write has to practice drawing perfect little circles within two parallel lines. This requires not only skill but also discipline and it is because of this practice a Myanmar child is a very disciplined child.

Do you know what the first grade in a kindergarten is called? Of course, the Zero-th Grade, because the child learns to draw circles which is the same as Myanmar numeral zero.

The characters for some consonants are written with one circle (printing term: an en), and for others with two circles (printing term: an em) drawn tightly together -- a ligature. One commonly used character has three circles tied together, with the middle circle squeezed almost beyond recognition. The vowel sign for the second vowel is called {weik cha.} (the empty circle shows where the consonant-letter has to go in). This glyph also has an alternate form which is used in combination with some en-width characters. It has a special name based on its shape: {mauk cha.} -- literal meaning: "crestfallen").

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Vowels and Consonants

Vowel Trapezoid

A hall-mark of an abugida is the presence of an inherent vowel which is the same in each and every consonantal letter -- at least within one language. What then are the sounds represented by the Devanagari a अ U0905 and the Myanmar a {a.}? Is the inherent vowel in Devanagari the same as the inherent vowel in Myanmar?

That the inherent vowel is the same, is to be contrasted with syllabaries like Katakana and Hiragana, which have one distinct symbol per possible syllable, and the signs for each syllable have no systematic graphic similarity.

The inherent vowel in Devanagari (and presumably in Myanmar) is described as "close to the English short a", a statement which had lead me astray, because the so-called English a itself is not clearly defined. The glyph a (U0061) is not given as a vowel phoneme in DJPD16. See page viii or go to 2.2 Vowels and diphthongs in my collection. It is given as a part of diphthongs /aɪ/ in English word <buy> and /aʊ/ in <now>. Moreover, when you look into how the English a is pronounced in DJPD16, you will see that it is pronounced in many ways. Follow the following links to see what I mean:

< A> in < AE> < AEO> < AI and AY> < AU and AW>), and my notes on Myanmar < AYE>.

See also English letter and Myanmar akhkara

Please remember that though I am a bilingual, the English that was spoken in my home (in Myanmar in 1930s) is not considered to be authentic English. It is generally held that every human infant has the ability to hear and articulate all phonemes of the human speech, but that ability starts to dwindle and becomes nil once the person has passed the age of puberty. At my age, (I am now 70), I am no longer able to hear and articulate all the sounds of the human speech. I am totally "phoneme deaf" -- a parallel is color-blindness with respect to seeing. Like a color-blind person (who sees only shades of gray) identifying the red, yellow and green of the traffic lights with his shades of gray, I have to rely on phoneme representations.

Phonetically, there are two methods of representing the the vowels -- the one on the right is the so-called vowel trapezoid.

Front Central Back   unrounded rounded unrounded rounded unrounded rounded high /i/ /y/ = /ü/ /ɨ/ = /u̶/   /ɯ/ /u/ lower-high ɪ   /ı ̵/     /ʊ/ higher-mid /ɵ/ /o̷/ = /ö/     /ɤ/ /o/ mean-mid /E/   /ə/ /ɚ/   /Ω/ lower-mid /ɛ/ /œ/   /ʌ/   /ɔ/ higher-low /æ/       /ʌ/   low /a/   /ɑ/     /ɒ/	UKT: I have redrawn the above after DJPD16 p.xx. DJPD16 had reproduced it from IPA. Click here to see the original.
UKT: I have drawn the above table from:  http://www.ancientscripts.com/phonetics.html. Please note that some of the phonetic symbols may not be recognised by the IPA.

You will see that /a/ (not the English a) is described as a front vowel. Even with close listening to the various sources on the Internet, I am still unable to describe the sounds represented by the Devanagari a अ U0905 and the Myanmar a {a.}.

Neutral vowels. Neutral is a term used to describe lip configuration in speech sounds, in which lips and neither rounded nor spread (see ROUNDING and SPREADING). The term 'unrounded' is also commonly used but can apply equally to spread lips. Examples for English:
   English vowels /ə/ U0259 (schwa) and /ɜː/ U025C+U02D0 are thought as having a neutral lip configuration.
-- DJPD16 see NEUTRAL .
   I did not realised that there are Myanmar syllables with this vowel, until Dr. Ko Lay was kind enough to point out that the first vowel {a.} in words such as {a-kaung}, {a-chis}, and {a-ni} is vocalised only very slightly, and where it can be considered to be a schwa.

The conclusion I have to draw, based on the above facts is that the inherent vowel can be represented by any vowels in the triangle formed by /a/ or /æ/, /ə/ and /ɒ/. Since, in Romabama, I intend to use only ASCII characters, my choice is either /a/ or /æ/ (æ can be inputted from the key board using Alt key + 0230). I will use /a/ preferably.

At this stage we will have to assume that within one abugida, say S-Devanagari or B-Myanmar, the inherent vowel is almost the same (it has been claimed that the inherent vowel in Begali is different from Hindi), but such an inherent vowel is quite different from the English a . The dissimilarity from English a is due to the elusive nature of the English a .

Though the above representations give the whole set of vowels, English does not use them all.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

IPA Consonants (Pulmonic)

UKT: See my explanation for probable misplacement of M-Pali {tha.} with E-Pali s.

IPA (revised to 1993, corrected 1996). See table given by IPA.

UKT: A probable explanation of how Myanmar has been changed to s.

• Notice that /θ/ /s/ /z/ /ʃ/ corresponding to Myanmar {tha.}, {sa.}, {za.}, {sha.} (now officially spelled ) are described as fricatives with POA (Point of Articulation) changing from dental > alveolar > post-alveolar (i.e. from front part mouth to the back). With , the tip of the tongue is touching the upper teeth. With the tongue-tip is lowered. M-Pali (Myanmar) is probably best described as a dental spirant and is not a true fricative. See UNIL (Univ of Lausanne, http://www.unil.ch/ling/english/index.html) on spirants in TIL archives. However, since I do not consider myself competent in phonetics, the only conclusion that I can draw is that since the POAs of /θ/ and /s/ as are very close, Sanskrit-speakers might easily mistook  for s.

• Retroflex sounds are also called Apico-palatal sounds.
http://www.ancientscripts.com/phonetics.html

• I have identified the Burmese-Myanmar {ñ} as /ɲ/ (U0272) because it is:
-- similar to Spanish ñ (Spanish ñ and French gn has been identified with palatal nasal /ɲ/ (U0272))
    http://clauchau.free.fr/L/phonalph.html#nasals
-- close to or identical to Mon ny which is described as alveo-palatal nasal
    http://www.albany.edu/anthro/mon/phonol.html

• Please note that the cell corresponding to Bilabial approximant is EMPTY. This is inconsistent with the table of English Consonants in DJPD16.

• Consonants in yellow cells can be identified with Burmese phonemes.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

English Consonants

From: DJPD16 (Daniel Jones English Pronouncing Dictionary 16th ed) pg.x.

UKT: In reading this paragraph, the reader must take note that the English "consonants" and "vowels" pronounced by the so-called "native-speakers" can vary from country to country and to claim that the so-called BBC English is the only "correct" pronunciation is without any meaning. And therefore to identify a Burmese phoneme with an "English" letter (or the reverse process) is an impossibility. Therefore, when I say that a certain Burmese phoneme can be identified with a particular English phoneme (or vice versa), the reader must note that my "identification" is just an approximation. An example is the English p . Though it is close to the Burmese {pa.}, it is somewhere in between {pa.} and {hpa.}. Similarly the "T" in my name "TUN", is somewhere in between the {ta.} and {hta.}, and therefore my name could equally be spelled "HTUN".

English consonants can be arranged in table form as shown below. The layout of the symbols follows the principle that, where there are two consonants which differ only in voicing, they are placed side by side with the voiceless one to the left.

UKT: Note that English w is identified with /w/ in this table. It is in an empty cell in IPA Consonant chart.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Myanmar Akshara

Akshara is a Sanskrit word, whereas, in Myanmar and in Myanmar-Pali (M-Pali), it is {ak~hka.ra}.

Myanmar script has 44 characters, well-defined into vowels and consonants. For comparison, I have given two other sets of aksharas, the ancient Asoka-script now known as Brahmi, and Devanagari which is used to write Sanskrit and Hindi.

Sanskrit is learnt by some Myanmar Buddhist monks. However, Pali is learned to a greater extent by both monks and lay-persons alike. Pali and Sanskrit used in Myanmar are in Myanmar script.

Pali, the holy-language of Theravada Buddhism, is written in Myanmar-script in Myanmar but is also written in other scripts such as Devanagari, Lanka, Thai and, of course, the Roman scripts. Since, there is considerable difference in pronunciation of Pali in Myanmar, and in Sri Lanka, the same difference is found between M-Pali (Pali written in Myanmar script) and E-Pali (Pali written in English-Roman script) which is mainly based on Lanka-Pali.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Vowels

• Vowels --  {tha.ra. ak~hkara}: There are 12 basic vowels in Burmese-Myanmar, with two different ways of presentation: the "letters" and  the "signs". M-Pali, on the other hand, is said to have 8 vowels. • There is a class of characters known as semi-vowels which  could very well be termed semi-consonants.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Consonants

The layout of the above tables are in accordance with the traditional way of presenting the 33 Myanmar consonants (Burmese: {byi:~}; Pali: vyañjana). Grouping (in Pali) into Vargs and non-Vargs are from An Elementary Pali Course, by Ven. Narada Thera, http://www.buddhanet.net/pdf_file/ele_pali.pdf . Vargs are group-able consonants, whereas non-Vargs are those that have characteristics of both consonants and vowels. Non-Vargs are comparable to approximants which are divided into semi-vowels and liquids. See Daniel Jones English Pronouncing Dictionary, 16th ed.

• Consonants -- {byi:~ ak~hkara): 33 letters. The number 33 probably has a pre-Buddhistic significance. It is very intriguing to note that the number 33 is the number of gods or devas {dewa} in the Tāvatiŋsa (E-Pali) Heaven {ta-wa.tein°-tha}. Though Myanmars practice Therawada Buddhism (the brand of Buddhism that is flourishing in Cambodia, Loas, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Thailand), they always have a deep respect for Sakka the King of Tāvatiŋsa Heaven. Sakka (see PTS p300), the beloved deva-king, the up-holder of Buddhism, being a devout disciple of Buddha, is well-loved in the country of Myanmar. He is popularly known as Thikya Min {thi.kra: min:} and he looks after the affairs of every Myanmar-Buddhist. He comes down from his heavenly kingdom at every new-year festival (celebrated as the Water Festival, which marks the transit of the Sun from the constellation of Pisces to Aries, round about the middle of April). He has with him his records in two volumes. One is made of dog-leather parchment bearing the names of all Buddhists who had done wrong during the previous year. The other is made of gold leaves which bears the names of all good Buddhists on whom the Thikya Min bestows his blessings for the new year.

My story of Myanmar script (and the Burmese language) always runs parallel, in my mind, with the story of Thikya Min and his 33 gods controlling our lives. The 33 gods are the 33 consonants, and the vowel is represented by the well-loved goddess, Thuyathati {thu-rath~tha.ti}, the protector of the Tipitaka -- the Buddhist Canon. Her counterpart in Sanskrit is Saraswati. Notice the similarity of {thu-rath~} with (the vowel). Also notice that her mount is hamsa {hin:~tha}, the Brahmanni duck (Casarca ferruginea) -- indigenous to the foot-hills of Himalayas. To the Myanmars, the goddess Thuyathati is a pure virgin always attended by pure virgins.

Saraswati, the Hindu goddess and the goddess of the Brahmins, is the goddess of knowledge and the mistress of the arts, and is the consort of Brahma. She rules the intellectual and creative realm, and is the patron saint of libraries and schools. Saraswati is not normally adorned in jewels, but instead opts for a white sari. Her vehicle is a swan, and she is often depicted holding a book in one hand and a flute in another. Notice that sara means "vowel".    The reason why I am making a comparison of Thurathati and Saraswati, is because of the remote possibility that Thurathati was a Tibeto-Burman goddess who was taken over by the Sanskrit-speaking Brahmins when they came into India. If it was so, there is the remote possibility that the Asoka-script in which Magadi or Pali was written was a pre-Aryan script taken over by the Sanskrit-speakers. It is also possible that Myanmar-script was a sister script of Asoka-script, and that the speakers using the two scripts, the Tibeto-Burmans, were able to pronounce the phoneme {tha.} as /θ/ and not as /s/.

Myanmars always have a deep respect for the written word. When I was young, and was going to a secular school in the compound of a Buddhist monastery in an out-lying area of present-day Yangon (formerly transliterated as Rangoon), if a child were to step on a book in which there were printed script, he was made to kow-tow to the book. We have a saying: {sa tis-loan: / Bu.ra: tis-hsu} meaning "one word one Buddha". We also accept that the spoken word may change from time to time and from place to place, and we say: "what is written is correct, but what is said is just sound."

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Vowel aksharas

There are two kinds of aksharas to write the vowels of an abugida, and the same is true for Myanmar: the vowel-letters and the vowel-signs. By custom, the vowels are arranged in a specific order depending on POA.

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index

Vowel-letters and Vowel-signs

The terms "vowel-letters" and "vowel-signs" are used by the computer software Microsoft Windows XP Unicode. However, Unicode version 4 call them independent vowels and dependent vowels. The vowel-letters are those that can be pronounced and are therefore true vowels, but the corresponding vowel-signs have no sounds of their own. They are used to impart a vowel sound different from that of the inherent vowel a to the consonant-aksharas. Because of this distinction, the terms used by Unicode version 4 are very misleading.

In the following table, I have shown the use of vowel letters, and how the vowel signs can form syllables out of {a.} and {ka.} for Myanmar.

The following shows how the vowel signs can form syllables out of {ka.} and {la.} for Brahmi.

Please note that you are seeing here two systems of transliteration. The usual transliteration for Indic scripts is in reddish-brown letters and Romabama transliterations are in black letters usually within { }. Romabama uses only ASCII letters, thereby avoiding the use of non-ASCII letters such as ā, ī, ū and ṃ .

Top | TIL home page
Linguistics - index
End of TIL file