prop-con5.htm
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.
UKT: Based on
• Properties of Consonants and Vowels, Kevin Russell, Linguistics Department, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3T 5V5, CANADA http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/arts/linguistics/russell/138/notes.htm.
• Online Phonetics Course (UNIL), Department of Linguistics, University of Lausanne, Switzerland.
(This source was downloaded in 2000 or a few years later, and instead of the original links, you can still get to them from: http://www.unil.ch/ling/page30184_fr.html -- UKT: 070823)
Consonant parameters - 5
Table of Myanmar and Devanagari aksharas
(individual character)
Buddh Gya Inscription (1306 A.D.) (ancient
writings)
Groups of aksharas / {wag}-aksharas
• Plosives (Plosives in onset)
Plosives in the coda (Killed plosives)
• Fricatives
Fricatives in the coda
• Nasals
Nasals in the coda
{a.wag}-aksharas
• Approximants {a.wag}-aksharas
• Medials and consonant clusters
• Affricates {ya.ping.}-medials ({ra.ris}-medials may
be included)
• Laterals {la.} and its medials
Pronunciation of some Burmese-Myanmar consonants
UKT notes largely from Wikipedia
for updating my knowledge
Identification of {a.wag}-characters (Approximants ?)
UKT: This is a continuation of Consonant parameters of prop-con.htm.
While writing Consonant 2, I realized that the file was getting big, and I had to split into 2 files. The result is there are some sections with the same heading but different content, however, there are bound to be some repetition.
I intend not to go deep into Burmese-Myanmar in #2. #3 will contain more info on Burmese-Myanmar.
In this paper, we will study the Burmese-Myanmar basic consonants and the medials formed from them, based on our previous knowledge of the consonants.
The names of the POA used by the Eastern linguists, and those of their contemporaries in the West (IPA) differ. Remember, the 'gutterals' are velars, and the 'cerebrals' are retroflexes. Moreover, the Eastern linguists count the POA starting from the interior of the mouth toward the lips:
{wag}-aksharas
1. Gutterals, {ka.}-group, velars
2. Palatals, {sa.}-group, palatals
3. Cerebrals, {Ta.}-group, retroflexes
4. Dentals, {ta.}-group, alveolars and dentals
5. Labials, {pa.}-group, labials
c1 and c2 are 'voice-less', and, c3 and c4 are voiced. c5 are nasals.
{a.wag}-aksharas are mostly approximants. r6c5 {tha.}, similar to the English <th> in <thin> and <that>, has /θ, ð/ sounds.
Whenever we speak of old Myanmar writings, we refer to the Myazedi inscriptions
of Pagan. We easily forget that Myanmar had land connections to the Buddhist
sites in India even in the days of the Gautama Buddha, some 2500 years ago.
Perhaps the oldest kingdom in Myanmar was at Tagaung (not Pagan) established by
the Magadhi speaking people, the relatives of the Buddha himself, who had fled from
India. If so, Pali-Myanmar might be the Magadhi itself, the language used by the
Buddha. The following is from an old inscription found in India. The caption of
the paper "Pali Character and Burmese Language" is rather intriguing. Please
note also when the paper was published: 1834 long before the whole of Burma came
under the British rule, and long before the British historians in Burma had
discredited the story of Tagaung being the origin of Myanmar:
{mran-ma a.sa. ta.kaung: ka.}.
There is also a possibility that there might be other old stone inscriptions in India written in Myanmar.
From: SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No. 2, Autumn 2003,
ISSN 1479-8484 . Revised: 27 March 2004.
http://web.soas.ac.uk/burma/1.2%20PDF%20FILES/1.2%2003%20inscription-revised.pdf
Click on the image on the right to get a larger view. (This pdf file was
downloaded and set in HTML immediately on 2004 Sep 17, just days before our
departure from Canada to Yangon where my wife Daw Than Than, who was suffering
from cancer, died of food poisoning on 2004 Dec 05. I had not looked into this
paper until today 070825.)
SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Editorial note: After the initial posting of this reprint, Dr. Tilman Frasch (Manchester Metropolitan University) sent the following useful and cautionary note on the 19th century translation below: "This is the first of several attempts to read and translate the text of an inscription Burmese monks left at Bodhgaya when visiting the site in 1296-98 AD. Burney had reached Bodhgaya in the company of a Burmese delegation to the Governor-General of India, and presumably he was helped by the Burmese in his translation. However, neither his nor any (but one) of the later translations is fully reliable, as usually the name Putasin is misread as Pyutasin (l. 11 of the Burmese version reprinted here). Putasin (or Buddhasena) is the name of the local ruler of Bodhgaya; it was mixed with with the epithet Pyu-ta-sin (or "Lord of 100.000 Pyu") which the Rakhaing Minthami Egyin attributed to king Alaungsithu. The only reliable translation comes from G. H. Luce, Sources of Early Burma History, in Southeast Asian History and Historiography (Festschrift GEH Hall), eds. C.D. Cowan and O. W. Wolters, Ithaca 1976, p. 41-42."
Translation of an Inscription in the Pali Character and Burmese Language, on a stone at Buddh Gya, in Behar,Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal May, 1834
When the Burmese ambassador MENGY MAHA CHESU and his suite were on their way to the Upper Provinces, to visit the Governor General; they took the opportunity of paying their devotions at the celebrated Buddhist temple near Gya. There, as usual making notes of every occurrence, they took copies of an ancient inscription in the Pali character, discovered by them, in a half-buried situation near the Maha Bodhi gach or sacred papal tree, on the terrace of the temple. A copy of their manuscript having come into RATNA PAULA’s hands, he had obliged me by lithographing the text; as a sequel to the more lengthy inscription from Ramree in the present number.
It will be remembered that there is a near coincidence in the names of the kings of Ava, alluded to in the two inscriptions; although an interval of more than 500 years separates the two in date; this can only be cleared up by a better knowledge of the history of the country, than we now possess. In the Burmese chronological table, published in Crawfurd’s Embassy, SATO-MANG-BYA (probably the same as Sado-meng) only founded Angwa or Ava in the Sakkaraj year 726. In 667-8, TA-CHI-SHANG-SI-HASU reigned in Panya; his grand-son founded and reigned in Chit-gaing.
UKT: Some Burmese-Myanmar words from the above paragraph:
• SATO-MANG-BYA -- {tha.to: ming: bya:}
• Sakkaraj year 726 -- {thak~ka.raaz 726} (Myanmars are very well-versed in astronomy-cum-astrology, and the king on the advise of his council would start a new era. BE 726 belongs to the present era, which was started by a king during the pre-Pagan period. For everyday life Myanmars use the lunar calendar. However, the years are solar years, and it is the duty of the royal council, to calculate the exact number of days, hours and minutes for every year, and the lunar calendar is updated by adding an extra "leap month" every three years or so. Even to this day, this duty is carried on by a government-appointed body of mathematicians, astronomers and astrologers. The beginning of a year is set at the transit of the Sun from Constellation Pisces to Constellation Aries.)
• TA-CHI-SHANG-SI-HASU -- {ta.si:rhing thi-ha-thu} (probably the king who on finding a dead white elephant floating down the Irrawaddy river, had it propped up and mounted it. He then claimed himself as the "Lord of One")
• Panya -- {ping: ya.}
• Chit-gaing -- {sis keing:} (The fall of Pagan to the Mongols (Chinese) is cited to be 1287, and 1296-98 AD corresponds to the end of Pagan period and the beginning of the Pinya {ping:ya.} period.) (A remark about Myanmar official names: it is the usual practice to refer to the kings and people in high places by their titles and so the Burmese ambassador, and MENGY MAHA CHESU {ming:kri: ma.ha sæÑ-thu} is the title conferred on the person by a royal decree. MENGY or {min:gyi:} means "High Official" referring to the power bestowed on him; MAHA {ma.ha} means "Great"; and SITHU is the title bestowed on him by royal decree.
At page 111, Lieut. BURT refers to an unintelligible inscription at Gya, mentioned by Mr. Harington; but that contained only one line, and was in a different locality. The present inscription seems therefore to have escaped attention up to the present moment; it is now recorded as furnishing an authentic note on the construction of the Buddha Gya monument in the year 1305 A.D.; for it may be presumed that the previous Chaityas and Buddhist structures had been long before levelled with the ground, and the inscription states, that previous missions to reconstruct the edifice had been unsuccessful. As proving that this spot is held in peculiar veneration by the Burmese, it may be remembered that in 1823, a deputation of Buddha priests was sent from Amarapura, by the Burman emperor, to perform the obsequities of his predecessor, recently deceased, at the shrine of Buddha Gya.
“This is one of the 84,000 shrines erected by SRI DHARM ASOKA, ruler of the world (Jambodwip), at the end of the 218th year of Buddha annihilation, (B.C. 326) upon the holy spot in which BHAGAVÁN (Buddha) tasted milk and honey (madhupayasa). In lapse of time, having fallen into disrepair, it was rebuilt by a priest named NAIKMAHANTA. Again, being ruined, it was restored by Raja SADO-MANO. After a long interval it was once more demolished, when Raja SEMPYU-SAKHEN-TARA-MENGI appointed his gúrú SRI-DHAMMARAJA-GUNA to superintend the building. He proceeded to the spot with his disciple, SRI KÁSYAPA, but they were unable to complete it, although aided in every way by the Raja. Afterwards VARADASI-NAIK-THERA petitioned the Raja to undertake it, to which he readily assented, commissioning prince PYUTASING to the work, who again deputed the younger PYUSAKHENG and his minister RATHA, to cross over and repair the sacred building.
It was thus constructed a fourth time, and finished on Friday the 10th day of Pyadola, in the Sakkaraj year 667 (A.D. 1305). On Sunday, the 8th of Tachaon-mungla, 668 (A.D. 1306), it was consecrated with splendid ceremonies and offerings of food, perfumes, banners, and lamps, and púja of the famous ornamented tree called calpa-vriksha; and the poor (two?) were treated with charity, as the Raja’s own children? Thus was completed this meritorious act, which will produce eternal reward and virtuous fruits. May the founders endure in fame, enjoy the tranquillity of Nirbhan, and become Arahanta on the advent of Arya Maitri (the future Buddha).”
-- End of translation.
Though not the oldest, Myazedi inscriptions (1113 AD) are well-known to those interested in Myanmar script. The inscriptions were by Prince Yaza Koammar, son of King Kyansittha of Pagan. The inscriptions, in Myanmar, Pyu, Mon and Pali languages, have been described as the Rosetta Stone of Myanmar because it permitted the deciphering of the Pyu language, which had not been possible previously. Click on the image on the right to get a larger view of the inscription. (My source http://triton.ori.u-tokyo.ac.jp/~moe/myanmar.html , updated 960522, is no longer available.)
When you compare the two scripts, you will notice that Myazedi inscription (1113 AD) is not easily readable, whereas the Buddh-Gya (1305 AD) is. Is it a case of the script changing drastically in a couple of hundred years? Or, it is a case of difference in two scripts: one being used by Myanmar monks known as Aris, persecuted by Anawrahta, the predecessor of Kyansittha, and the other used by the Mon monks from Thaton in the south introduced into Pagan by Anawrahta.
Here is a scenario -- purely a conjecture bound to be rejected by historians. Historically, Anawratha came to the throne of Pagan after killing his elder brother who was king. Naturally, the Aris (the Buddhist monks purportedly with lax morals) who had been patronized by the former king would not support the new king. Anawratha in order to pacify the nation imported a stricter brand of Buddhism from the Mons and changed the whole clergy to the stricter code of conduct. During his suppression of the Aris, he might have suppressed their writings which went underground only to resurface after the fall of Pagan. Pinya came after Pagan, and it was the king of Pinya mentioned as TA-CHI-SHANG-SI-HASU in the Buddh Gya inscription, who had sent a mission to India.
UKT: Remember, in English syllables, consonants can occur in two places: the onset and the coda. In Burmese-Myanmar (and consequently in Romabama), the effective unit is the orthographic syllable, consisting of a consonant and vowel (CV) core. The following is a clip from www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode4.0.0/ch09.pdf (download 070826)
Therefore, in Romabama, when you see a syllable in the form CVÇ, the "consonant" in the coda (represented here by Ç) is a "killed" consonant whose inherent vowel has been removed by an {a.that} (or "virama" in Sanskrit, "halant" in Hindi, and "pulli" in Tamil).
The plosives in Burmese-Myanmar akshara table are the {wag}-consonants,
with the possible exception of row 2:
row 1: {ka. hka. ga. Ga.}
row 2: {sa.}-group of Myanmar ([ca]-group of Devanagari) is best
studied with the fricatives.
row 3: {Ta. Hta. ða. Ða.}
row 4: {ta. hta. da. Da.}
row 5: {pa. hpa. ba. Ba..}
Notice that I have left out the 'nasals' {nga. Ña. Na. na. ma.} from the rows
given above.
Occlusives: when the passage of air is fully blocked, and the sound results from the sudden release of this blockage,
Continuants and Fricatives: when the passage of air is restricted but not fully stopped, the sound is that of a continuant, of which the fricatives are representatives.
The “occlusives” require a complete closure of the speech canal, not just a restriction. This is the same as "stops" of Univ. of Manitoba. The complete closure or stop of the speech canal distinguishes them from the continuants.
The “occlusion” is twofold:
• the air-stream is halted by a sudden closure in the speech canal;
• the trapped air is freed by abruptly releasing the closure.
Occlusives or stops can be neatly classified into voiceless, voiced and nasals,
depending on whether the vocal folds are not vibrating (or very slightly
vibrating and therefore not noticeable), vibrating, and/or the nasal passage is
open or not. You can feel the state of your vocal folds by placing your finger
lightly over the the area of Adam's apple. This classification has been known in
the East for thousands of years, and in Burmese-Myanmar they are grouped under
the {wag}-consonants (Devanagari: [varg].). However, when there is no complete
closure, they are not neatly classifiable. They are then described as {a.wag}
(or in ISCII parlance "non-varg"). However, there is
a controversial group (row 2 of akshara table) headed by Burmese-Myanmar
{sa.} (r2c1).
Do not be confused by Devanagari स [sa] (U0938),
which occupies the position of Burmese-Myanmar
{tha.} (r6c5).
In the neatly classifiable occlusives or stops, the tongue (active articulator) touches the roof of the mouth (passive articulator) and completely cuts off the airflow through the mouth. English stops include: [p], [d], [k], [m]. See the POA for English Consonants on the right from: ESL Start-up Kit, ed O. Ebert and W. Hawk, http://cls.coe.utk.edu/lpm/esltoolkit/. (Unfortunately, the link no longer works. -- UKT 070826)
Note: The glottal stop is produced either by the sudden opening of the glottis under pressure from the air below, or by the abrupt closure of the glottis to block the air-stream. The glottal stop is always voiceless, as the complete closure of the vocal cords precludes their vibration. (UNIL)
UKT: Though usually not mentioned, lip movements are important for ESL learners, because though they are not deaf, as adults (after the onset of puberty) they have become what I usually describe as "phoneme-deaf". With the consonants /p/, /b/, /m/, /w/, /wh/, /f/, /v/, /sh/, and /zh/, the lip movements are very noticeable, and the instructor should point that out to the students. (My note is based on www.uri.edu/comm_service/cued_speech/pg4efa.html).
The plosives in Burmese-Myanmar have been given as:
row 1: {ka. hka. ga. Ga.} - the velars or gutterals
row 3: {Ta. Hta. ða. Ða.}
row 4: {ta. hta. da. Da.} -
row 5: {pa. hpa. ba. Ba..}
Though all these plosives can be in the onset in regular Burmese-Myanmar
syllables, only the c1 characters can be in the coda (of course, there are
exceptions.). They are:
{mak}
{mat}
{map}. Though I have used [a], the inherent
vowel of the Romabama syllable, the pronunciation between rimes {ak} and {at}
are very different. However, the difference in pronunciation between {at} and {ap}
is very small.
The closeness of the pronunciations of the two rimes {at} and {ap} is due to the closeness in POA of /t/ and /p/. See POA for English Consonants.
When the Burmese-Myanmar consonants appear in the coda, they are all "killed"
consonants, and they all sport a "flag"
{tän
hkwan} to show that the inherent vowel has been removed. Since, the inherent
vowel in the conjuncts may not be killed, the conjunct never appear in the coda.
In Burmese-Myanmar pronunciation, the consonant in the "word-final position" (coda) is not pronounced. To show that the "end" consonant is not pronounced, MLC uses the notation of an apostrophe (single prime), as shown in the examples.
{kak} /[ke']/ - n. Ket ; game of chance played with domino-like blocks marked with red and white spots -- MEDict013
{ka.} + {ka.} --> {ka.ka.}
{ka.} + {ka.} + {a.that} --> {kak}UKT: Romabama, because of its representation of the orthography, includes the [k] as the coda, with the note that the coda consonants are not pronounced. (I always say "as in French", the end consonant is not pronounced.). However, in MLC transcriptions (which give the pronunciations), the syllable ending glottal stop is marked with an apostrophe (or single prime).
The IPA representation is a question mark without the dot /ʔ/ (U0294).
From the MLC transcriptions given for words beginning with {ma.}, we see that placing a killed plosive in the coda, has made {ma.} a bilabial stop into a glottal stop. This process should be called glottalization, or using the parlance of the Asian linguists it should be called "guttalization". We should also note that the vowel following the onset still remains an "open (low) frontal vowel". (By "low", I mean the tongue body is in a low position.)
The fricatives in Burmese-Myanmar are:
row 2: {wag}-akshara: {sa. hsa. za. Za.}
rows 6 and 7: {a.wag}-akshara: {tha.} {ha.}
Note that, as in the case of the plosives, l have left out the nasal Ña. of row
2 in the above list.
The tongue (active articulator) doesn't touch the roof of the mouth (passive articulator), but gets close enough that the airflow through the opening becomes turbulent. English fricatives are given the Table of English Fricatives which I have drawn based on the Table of English Consonants given in DJPD16 p.x. In the table, you will see 4 sets (vl/vd) of fricatives:
UKT: To be more compatible to Romabama (in ASCII), I have to introduce 2 symbols (from IPA table) to the English fricatives:
• /θ/ (U03B8 - non-ASCII character) substituted with /þ/ (Alt0254 - ASCII character): confusion over {tha.} would be solved. We could unequivocally state that {tha.} is Old English 'thorn' [þ].
• palatal /ç/ (Alt0231 - ASCII character), confusion over {sa.} would be solved: we could unequivocally state that {sa.} is French 'c with cedilla' [ç]. Pali-Latin [c] could then be substituted with [ç] with IPA pronunciation /s/: the same pronunciation of Burmese-Myanmar {sa.}
Say the voiceless fricatives from palatal to labio-dental, / ç, ʃ , s, þ, f/
or the Burmese-Myanmar counterparts
{rha.}
{sa.} and
{tha.}.
You will notice that:
1. the POA moves from the inside to the outside, and
2. the hissing sound becomes less and approaches that of a "breathing sound".
In Burmese-Myanmar
{rha.} with
the / ʃ / is not considered to be a basic akshara, but a medial, the
orthographic formation of which had been controversial for some time until the MLC
arbitrarily opted for one in 1980s.
1. Formation from
{tha.} + {a.that} + {ha.} + {a.thut} + {ya.} --> {thhya.}
2. Formation from
{ra.} /ɹ/: (adopted by MLC as the accepted orthography)
{ra.} + {a.that} + {ha.} --> {rha.}
3. Formation from
{sa.} + {a.that} + {ha.} --> {sha.}
UKT: I hope, my old Burmese-Myanmar teachers would forgive me for suggesting #3.
Fricatives in Burmese-Myanmar:
row 2: {wag}-akshara: {sa. hsa. za. Za.}
rows 6 and 7: {a.wag}-akshara: {tha.} {ha.}
Of the 6 given above, only {sa.} and {tha.} can be in the coda. / ʃ / cannot be in the coda, because it is a conjunct. /s/, the alveolar fricative is a sibilant with a strong "hissing sound" described as a "hisser" by UNIL. When it is present in the coda, it influences the preceding vowel and change it into /i/. Thus, in Romabama, the inherent vowel /a/ has to be changed to /i/.
{mis} /[mi']/ (transcription from {mis~hsa.ri.ya.} /[mi' hsari. ja]/ - n. envy. -- MEDict353
The killed /tha./ in the coda, is very rare in Burmese-Myanmar. I can not find any with the /m/ onset. The only one I can find in MEOrtho gives /a/ in the onset. (I still have to confirm that with the editor of MEOrtho, my good friend U Tun Tint.)
{ath} in
{ith~tha.tor mring:} /[athahtou mjin:]/ -- MEDict635
Burmese-Myanmar {ma.} /θ/ like the English <th> does not have a strong "hissing" sound. Because of it the "killed" {tha.} does not affect the preceding vowel, and I can still use [a] as the Romabama vowel.
From the MLC transcription given for word beginning with {ma.}, we see that placing a killed fricative in the coda, has made {ma.} a bilabial stop into a glottal stop. We should also note that the vowel following the onset has become a "close (high) frontal vowel". (By "high", I mean the tongue body is in a high position, close to the roof of the mouth.)
Burmese-Myanmar nasals
(from r1c5 to r5c5), and Devanagari nasals:
{nga. ña./Ña. Na. na. ma.} / [ṅa ña ṇa na ma]
UKT: You might be intrigued by {ña./Ña.} for r2c5. {ña.} is Pali-Myanmar consonant, and {Ña.} is Burmese-Myanmar consonant. You will find a considerable number of Pali consonants in Burmese. In Pali, the horizontal conjunct of 2 {ña.} gives {Ña.}. Such a conjunct is used for a word meaning 'education', which I have shown as {piñ~ña}:
There are only three nasals in English: /ŋ n m/
UNIL:
The nasal “occlusives” of the vast majority of the world's languages are voiced. Voiceless nasals exists but they and their symbols are not included below.
During the production of these nasal “occlusives”, the soft palate is lowered to a greater or lesser extent, allowing a portion of the air stream to pass through the nasal cavity. Occlusion occurs in the mouth only; the nasal resonance is continuous. Indeed, many linguists rank the nasals among the continuants.Seven nasal consonants are described by UNIL
(I have changed the order from IPA to akshara. The direction taken by the akshara POA is from interior towards the lips. In the akshara matrix, these characters are in column 5 of the {wag} section, and the direction is from row r1 to row r6. I have given Unicode numbers for all characters used.):
Uvular: /ɴ / ("small cap N" U0274)
Velar: /ŋ/ (U014B) -- identified with {nga.}
Palatal: /ɲ/ (U0272) -- identified with {Ña.}
Retroflex: /ɳ / (U0273) (with the retroflex hook) -- identified with {Na.}
Alveolar or dental: /n/ (U006E) -- identified with {na.}
Labio-dental: /ɱ/ (U0271) -- as with other labio-dentals /f, v/, this is not in Burmese-Myanmar
Bilabial: /m/ (U006D)
This brought out one property of the Burmese-Myanmar akshara: the most contrastive sounds are {nga.} (a nasal) and {pa.} (a plosive). This is prominently represented in POA for English Consonants.
All the following nasals
{nga. ña./Ña. Na. na. ma.}
when present in coda are "killed" consonants.
To bring out the behavior of Burmese-Myanmar nasals, we choose {pa.} as the onset consonant. We will make some remarkable observations on actual syllables or words listed in MLC's Myanmar English Dictionary.
{ping.} {ping} {ping:}
{ping.} /[pin.]/ - v 1. raised. -- MEDict269
{ping} /[pin]/ - n. Same as {a.ping} -- MEDict267
{ping:} /[pin:]/ - n 1. wedge; drive in a wedge. -- MEDict269{piñ.} {piñ} {piñ:}
{piñ.}
{piñ} /[pjin]/ (transcription from {piñ~sa.} /[pjin sa.]/ - adj five. -- MEDict272)
{piñ:}{pæÑ.} {pæÑ} {pæÑ:}
{pæÑ.} /[pji.]/ (transcription from {ta.pæÑ.} /[dabji.]/ - n. pupil, disciple, follower, servant. -- MEDict162
{pæÑ}
{pæÑ:} /[pji:]/ - adj. archaic many; plenty. -- MEDict272{paN.} {paN} {paN:}
{paN.}
{paN} /[pan]/ (transcription from {paN~Na} /[pana]/ - n. gift; present. -- MEDict273{pan.} {pan} {pan:}
{pan.}
{pan} /[pan]/ - v 1. wear (on the head or in the ear). -- MEDict275
{pan:} /[pan:]/ - n 1. flower. -- MEDict275{pam.} {pam} {pam:}
{pam.}
{pam}
{pam:} /[pan:]/ (transcription from {ping pam:} /[pin ban:]/ - v. be wearied; be tired. -- MEDict268
From the above actual examples, we draw the following conclusions:
1. All the 3 tones that are exemplified by
{a.
--> a --> a:} and
{i.
--> i --> i:} are realised.
2. There is no glottal stop.
3. When the POA of the nasal is deep inside the mouth, the "killed" nasal in the
coda affects the central vowel producing a change in pronunciation. And
Romabama has no choice but to change the central vowel to reflect the change in
pronunciation in the case of {nga.} and {ña.}.
4. The "killed" Burmese-Myanmar {Ña.} gives a very different pronunciation which
is similar to /i/. To bring out the difference in pronunciation and to show that
a "killed" {Ña.} is in the coda, Romabama has to adopt the rime {æÑ}. It should
be noted that this rime is quite common in Burmese-Myanmar.
Note:
English <l> is 'clear L' with pronunciation /l/ not /ɫ/.
English <r> is /ɹ/ and not IPA /r/.
English <y> has pronunciation /j/. /j/ above is not the English <j>.
English <j> which has the pronunciation /ʤ/ as in <judge> /ʤʌʤ/.
Burmese-Myanmar aksharas are:
{a.wag}-aksharas: {ya. ra. la. wa.}.
Burmese-Myanmar {ya.} is the equivalent of English <y>.
Burmese-Myanmar {ra.}, like English <r>, is /ɹ/ and not
IPA /r/.
Burmese-Myanmar {la.} is English 'clear L'.
UKT:
• Note that the above list is row 6 without {tha.}, the equivalent of English <th> or Old English [þ] (Alt0254). [th] is a digraph with pronunciation /θ/, not /tʰ/.
• It should also be noted that the equivalents of {ya.} and {wa.} in English are <y> and <w> and they are sometimes described as 'semi-vowels', which can also mean that they are 'semi-consonants'. However, in Burmese-Myanmar {ya.} and {wa.} are considered to be full consonants, but not classifiable. Note also that the POA for {ya.} and <y> /j/ is palatal, and {wa.} and <w> is labial.
• Burmese-Myanmar is definitely not a rhotic language. In this respect it is similar to BBC English in pronunciation, but not to the American English. In fact, most of the people of Myanmar, except those in the west coast (the Rakhines or Arakanese) pronounce {ra.} as {ya.}. The names of the characters are pronounced the same: {ya.} is {ya. pak-lak} meaning "{ya.} on its back"; {ra.} is {ya. kauk} meaning the "the crooked {ya.}".
• Pali-Myanmar, unlike Sanskrit-Devanagari, does not have many {ra.} and {ra. ris} sounds. This has led me to suggest that Pali-Myanmar might be (a pure conjecture) the eastern dialect of the ancient Magadha, the birth place of the Buddha, brought into Myanmar by the relatives of Buddha fleeing from the wrath of Prince Vidūdabha{wi.Ta-Tu-pa.} who had seized the throne of Kosala from his father King Pasenadi
{path~thé-na-di}. (Glass Palace Chronicles vol. 1).
The tongue (active articulator) approaches the roof of the mouth (passive articulator), but doesn't even get close enough for the airflow to become turbulent. English approximants include / j /, /w/, /ɹ/ (U0279), and / l /.
See liquids and glides. Note that IPA does not include [w] in its Table of Pulmonic Consonants, which I have given in both prop-con.htm and prop-con2.htm. UNIL lists /j/ and /w/ as semi-vowels.
UKT: Because 4 out of 5 aksharas in row r6, has been described as approximants, I will describe the {a.wag}-characters as "generally approximants". However, UNIL has identified them separately. See
Identification of {a.wag}-characters in my notes.UKT: No mention of "approximants" is found in UNIL's Consonants file. Neither is it found on its Index file. And so, it is probable that UNIL does not use the word "approximant" for the consonants. However, it uses spirants for some of the consonants listed as "fricatives".
The above 4, together with {ha.} can be conjoined to a {wag}-akshara to form a medial. The medial is a consonantal akshara in all respects except that its inherent vowel may not be killed. Because of this, the medials are always found in word-initial positions, or as the onset of the syllables, but never in the word-final or "coda" of a syllable. The medials are so called because they have a mid-pronunciation derived from the two aksharas conjoined. (statement to be checked.). Because the medial-former is a fricative, the medials are known as 'affricates'. (statement to be checked.)
The medial formed from: (the processes still to be checked, and included in my
notes.)
• {ya.} --> {ya. ping.}. See velarization.
• {ra.} --> {ra.ris}. See velarization, (and rhoticization ?)
• {la.} --> {la.hswè:} (no longer used in Burmese-Myanmar, except in Tavoy area
(to be checked) ({la.hswè: is used in Karen-Myanmar (to be checked)
• {wa.} --> {wa.hswè:}. See labialization.
• {ha.} --> {ha.hto:}. See glottalization.
The only Burmese-Myanmar consonant that can be conjoined with {ya. ra. wa. ha.} is {ma.} (to be checked.)
In Devanagari, [ra] can be conjoined with any akshara. (to be checked.)
See consonant cluster in my notes.
See also Approximants and Fricatives
Medials are those consonants that have an intermediate pronunciation between that of the basic consonant and the medial-forming consonant (or another medial). The phonotactics of Burmese-Myanmar allow {ya. ra. wa. ha.} to be the medial formers. {la.} is said to be a medial former in some forms of Myanmar dialects (Tavoy-area) and languages (Sgaw Karen). Except for the {ha.} the medial formers are approximants and none from the fricatives.
The pronunciation of <ch> in <church> is given as /ʧɜːʧ/ (US) /ʧɝːʧ/ -- DJPD16 p097. To my Burmese-Myanmar ear <ch> sounds like {hkya.}, but when I see [ts] or [ʧ] as representative of <ch> being derived from /t/ and the fricative /s/, I am at a loss. The Burmese-Myanmar {hkya.} or more specifically {kya.} is derived from /k/ and the approximant English <y> with the pronunciation /j/. That is, {kya.} must be transcribed as /kja/ or /kʲa/.
To explain the Burmese-Myanmar medials, we can use two very English words, which use consonant clusters as onsets, i.e. there are more than one consonant in the onset.
<British> /'brɪt.ɪʃ/ -- DJPD16 p070
The Burmese-Myanmar for the onset of <British> is the same /br/. The pronunciation is the same particularly if you are using the Arakanese dialect (dialect of Burmese used in the west coast of Myanmar). The transcription of the word in Burmese-Myanmar is:
<British> = {bri.ti.thhya.} (compare <br> with {bra.} in the onset.)
Other example are the medials formed with <w> and {wa.}. The lip rounding is very noticeable.
<twin> /twɪn/ -- DJPD16 p553
<twin> = {twing:} (compare <tw> and {twa.} in the onset)
Another example is the Burmese-Myanmar medial {lha.} transcribed as [HLA] (I contend the transcription is a mistake). This is a medial formed, not from a stop or plosive, but from {la.}, an approximant, and [h] ([h] is not an aspirate but a glottal here). It is formed from {la.} or <l> and [h] and has the pronunciation /ɬ/ (U026C), the very sound found in Welsh, and which the English speakers are used to pronounce with a "double L" sound.
From the above, we can say that the Burmese-Myanmar medials are consonant clusters allowable by its phonotactics. They can be only in the onset of the syllable, and not in the coda because their inherent vowels may not be killed.
Burmese-Myanmar phonotactics allow up to 4 consonants in the onset, e.g.
{mhrwa}
(meaning to divide into segments) -- MEDict381.
Are the affricates the Burmese-Myanmar {ya.ping.} (and possibly the {ra.ris.} pronounced as {ya.ping.}) medials? I will give you my answer straight away: No! They are not. Let's see the reasons why.
Affricates are also called semi-plosives a consonant sound that begins as a stop (sound with complete obstruction of the breath stream) and concludes with a fricative (sound with incomplete closure and a sound of friction). Examples of affricates are the ch sound in English chair, which may be represented phonetically as a t sound followed by sh; the j in English jaw (a d followed by the zh sound heard in French… -- http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9003919/affricate
Burmese-Myanmar {ya.ping.} (and possibly the {ra.ris.} pronounced as {ya.ping.}) medials are {kya. hkya. gya.}. English has two affricates /ʧ/ and /ʤ/ (Table of English Consonants on DJPD16 p.x.), and they have sounds similar to {hkya.} and {gya.}. Given the fact that the English /k/ sounds more like {hka.} than {ka.}, we can say that the voiceless (un-aspirated) {kya.} is the "real" equivalent of /ʧ/ and the voiced {gya.} is the equivalent of /ʤ/.
Affricates can be seen as a sequence of a stop and a fricative which have the same or similar places of articulation. They are transcribed using the symbols for the stop and the fricative. If one wants to emphasize the affricate as a "single" sound, a tie symbol can be used to join the stop and the fricative (sometimes the fricative is written as a superscript).
Affricate consonants begin as stops (most often an alveolar, such as [t] or [d]) but release as a fricative (such as [s] or [z] or occasionally into a fricative trill) rather than directly into the following vowel.
-- Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affricate_consonant download 070826
UKT: The generalization of Wikipedia does not apply to Burmese-Myanmar {ta.} and {da.}. I will now cite a specific case.
The English spelling given for a road in old Rangoon (before World War II), which the Burmese called {hkying:hkyaung: lam:} had a [ts] digraph in the English spelling. The name {hkying:hkyaung:} was a Chinese name; the people of Rangoon are Burmese; and the English are those transcribing the name. No wonder I was confused.
If we are to take the sequence given above for /ʧ/, Burmese-Myanmar would be {ta.+rha.} or {ta. + thhya.}, and
for /ʤ/ , {da.+ za.}. These are the articulations which we are unable to make.
And, therefore, I cannot agree with the usual notation of {kya.} as /ʧ/ , and {gya.} as /ʤ/.
English has the affricates [ʧ] (U02A7) and [ʤ] (U02A4). The stop and the fricative halves of these affricates are at the same place of articulation: the stop is in fact post-alveolar rather than alveolar. We could be explicit about this and underline the [t] and [d] (in IPA, a minus sign under a symbol is a diacritic meaning "pronounced further back in the mouth"), but most phoneticians believe this difference in the place of articulation is so predictable that it doesn't have to be marked. -- Univ. of Manitoba
Some North American authors use č (U010D) in place of [ʧ] (U02A7).
I am surprise how /ʧ/ has been arrived at. It seems, it has been arrived at starting from the first part /t/ (stop) and then moving to the /ʃ/ (fricative) part.
However, in pronouncing [ky], we do not start from /t/. We start from /k/ (velar). And then move toward /j/ (a palatal). So the pronunciation of [ky] is intermediate between [k] and [y] and should be represented as /kʲ/.
{kya} is /kʲa/ , and not /kə.ja/. Neither is it /ʧa/.
From the above, we can derive at the first part of name [Kyaw] as /kʲɑ/.
UNIL: Laterals are generally considered to be a special case, since physically speaking they could be grouped among the fricatives and spirants.
UKT: English has only one lateral consonant [ l ], and they have a hard time pronouncing the Welsh names. They ended up using [ ll ] (double L). The following is from DJPD16 p318
In Welsh words, [ ll ] may be pronounced by English speakers in a variety of different ways. In this dictionary, we suggest/ hl / (note: h is italicized, but l is not) , which stands both for the phonetic [ɬ] used in Welsh and for the English approximation of either a voiceless or voiced [ l ], and also for the variant /θl/ for British English speakers, e.g.:<Llanberis> /hlænˈber.ɪs , θlæn-/ (US) /hlæn-/
I remember my favorite junior grade school teacher, Miss Annie deSilva, whenever I came across the inability of English to pronounce Welsh names. The name was Llywelyn, and Miss Annie was teaching us the story of Prince Llywelyn and his faithful dog. See the story in my notes. Miss Annie was an Anglo born in Myanmar. Being half-Burmese, she should not have any difficulty in pronouncing [ll] sounds, which in Burmese-Myanmar is {lha.} ({la. ha.hto:). It was probable that she had not been to Wales in Britain when she was teaching us, and obviously none had told her that Myanmars could pronounce this word very well. She ended up pronouncing it as a single [ l ] telling us that Welsh names were very hard to pronounce.
Native English-speakers from Britain and North America (those I have met in person) find it impossible to pronounce Burmese names such as Ma Hla (Miss pretty). And so, I am certain that they are "phoneme-deaf" to the sound of {lha.} in [Hla]. However, I was not sure how to represent it in IPA. Then, came the Internet and after listening to the audio-files from UCLA and UNIL, both Daw Than Than and I have come to the conclusion that the Burmese consonantal sound in the name Hla is [ɬ] (U026C). (That was before DJPD16 came into my hands.)
When you form an [ l ], your tongue tip
touches your alveolar ridge (or maybe your upper teeth) but it doesn't create a
stop because one or both sides of the tongue are lowered so that air can flow
out along the side. Sounds like this with airflow along the sides of the tongue
are called lateral, all others are called central (though we
usually just assume that a sound is central unless we explicitly say it's lateral).
UNIL: They are called laterals since, during their production, the back of the tongue makes contact with the hard palate while the front of the tongue sinks down, channeling the air laterally around the tongue, down the side (or sometimes both sides) of the mouth (Fig. 3.25) (UKT: Fig.3.25 is the same as Fig.3.13b except for the caption.). (On the other hand, for non-lateral articulations, the back of the tongue rests against the top molars, and the air flows over the tongue down the center of the mouth.)
There are two distinct types of lateral:
• Lateral fricatives, where the articulation, requiring a great deal of muscular tension, resembles that of the fricatives (except for the position of the tongue);
• Non-fricative lateral, often called liquids (liquid consonants), whose articulation is very close to the spirants.
The location of the lateral channel through which the air flows is unimportant: whether it is on the left, the right, or both sides of the mouth, the nature of the sound produced is unchanged.
The side of the tongue can lower to different degrees. It can lower so little that the air passing through becomes turbulent (giving a lateral fricative like [ɬ] (U026C) or [ɮ] (U026E)) or it can lower enough for there to be no turbulence (a lateral approximant). The [l] of English is a lateral approximant.
The tongue is the most versatile part of the mouth in speech production. All three sections, the tip (apex), the mid section (dorsum), and the rear section (root or back) do play their parts. The tip is the most articulatory, and the root (back) the least. We can divide the consonants by the section of the of tongue as: coronal consonants (articulated with the tip), the dorsal consonants (articulated with the dorsum), and the radical consonants (Wikipedia download 070811).
General observations of most Myanmars exposed to the way the native-English
speakers speak:
• they speak mainly with the tip of the tongue
• there are lots of [s] sounds.
{tis-rhwat rhwat nè. prau: tèý}
No wonder they could not pronounce the laterals properly.
They are articulated with the flexible front part of the tongue. Only the
coronal consonants can be divided into apical (using the tongue tip),
laminal (using the tongue blade), domed (with the tongue bunched up), or
sub-apical (with the tongue curled back), as well as a few rarer
orientations, because only the front of the tongue has such dexterity. Coronals
also have another dimension, grooved, that is used to make
sibilants (UKT note)
in combination with the orientations above.
Coronal places of articulation include the
dental consonants (UKT note) at the upper teeth, the
alveolar consonants at the upper gum (the alveolar ridge), the various
postalveolar consonants (domed palato-alveolar, laminal alveolo-palatal, and
apical retroflex) just behind that, and the true
retroflex consonants curled back against the hard palate. --
Wikipedia download 070812
The following is a list of coronal consonants that are of interest with examples and IPA representation:
• alveolar fricatives /s, z/ {sa. , za.} : sea /siː/, zoo/zuː/
• dental fricatives /θ , ð/ {tha. , tha.} : thud /θʌd/, that /ðæt/
(Burmese-Myanmar {tha.}, like English <th> can be either /θ , ð/. It should not be confused with {sa.} and <s> with the pronunciation /s/. Many linguists in the West, who has only a second hand knowledge of Burmese-Myanmar and Pali-Myanmar, are under the impression that {tha.} is a sibilant like the Hindi-Devanagari [sa] with the pronunciation /s/.)• vl. post-alveolar fricative /ʃ/
({ha.} and is described as a medial:
. There had been a controversy among the Burmese-Myanmar scholars of how /ʃ/ should be represented in the akshara. One school of thought insisted that the medial be formed formed from
{ya.} and
{U.thhyis} MEDict610. I personally believe that
{thhya.} be retained as an alternative for /ʃ/. We are having all these controversies because of the nature of the 6th and 7th rows of the akshara-matrix which are collectively the {a.wag} aksharas or the "ill-defined group". )
• vd. post-alveolar fricative /ʒ/ , vision /vɪʒən/ (Burmese-Myanmar does not have the vd. version of
• alveolar plosives and nasal /t, d, n/ {ta. da. na.} .
(A discussion on alveolar and nasal consonants are given in plosives and nasals.)
• alveolar approximants /r (ɹ), l/
{ra.}
{la.} : reef
/ɹiːf/ , lift /lɪft/. (It should be noted that the British pronunciation
for reef is /riːf/ -- DJPD16 p.449).
They are articulated with the mid body of the tongue (the
dorsum). They contrast with
coronal consonants articulated with the flexible front of the tongue, and
radical consonants articulated with the root of the tongue.
The dorsum of the tongue can contact a broad region of the roof of
the mouth, from the hard palate (so-called
palatal consonants), the flexible velum behind that
(velar
consonants), to the uvula at the back
of the mouth cavity (uvular
consonants). These distinctions are not clear cut, and sometimes finer
gradations such as pre-palatal, pre-velar, and post-velar will be noted.
Because the tip of the tongue can curl back to also contact the
hard palate for
retroflex consonants, consonants produced by contact between the dorsum and
the palate are sometimes called dorso-palatal.
--- Wikipedia download 070812
According to Wikipedia, the most common pronunciation of the English letter <g> (as in the <garden> /gɑː.dən/ (DJPD16 p221) or to <grab> /græb/ DJPD16 p232) is dorsal, a voiced velar plosive. Wikipedia also states that <k> in <skip> /skɪp/ is a vl. velar plosive, and that <g> in <get> /ɡɛt/ is a vd. velar plosive. Since, Burmese-Myanmar {ga.} is the equivalent of <g>, we must conclude that {hka} whose POA is next to it, is also a velar. We always pronounce the {ka.} {hka.} {ga.} in a "row" (i.e. the POAs are adjacent to each other, and so {ka.} must be <k>. But not quite. The English always pronounce their <k> as the Burmese {hka.}, and so what is the Burmese {ka.}? To me, the Burmese {ka.} is /q/ - a uvular. (I expect to hear reactions to this statement of mine which I am always inclined to change.). The point I would like to make here is that the Burmese-Myanmar {hka.} is not an aspirated <k> consonant, but an un-aspirated consonant as <k> and <g> are. But in Romabama, because of the paucity of letters of the English alphabet, we will use {ka.} as <k>, and accept {hka.} as the "aspirated" <k>.
According to Wikipedia, two English approximants, <y> as in <yellow> /jel.əʊ/ (DJPD16 p603), and <w> as in <white> /hwaɪt/ (DJPD16 p593), are also dorsal consonants, palatal and labialised velar respectively. This brings us to Burmese-Myanmar {ya.} and {la.} respectively, both of which are {a.wag} or "ill-defined consonants".
Though {ya.} gives us no problem, the medials formed from it and another
consonant gives us problems still not solved. As an example take the medial
{kya.}
found in the first part of my Burmese name
{kyau}:
.
The formation of this medial in Devanagari would be:
ka. क + viram ् + ya. य --> क्य kya.
UKT: my knowledge of Devanagari is nil. The formation is effected by the rendering engine of the computer program when I included the "vowel-killer" viram ् (the equivalent of Myanmar {a.that}})The next step to form the first part of my name is to supply the medial with the Devanagari vowel sign ौ
kya. क्य + au ौ --> kyau क्यौ
{kya.} is best described as an 'affricate' which is similar but not equal to {hkya.}
The next dorsal consonant is the English <w> /w/ whose equivalent in Burmese-Myanmar is
{wa.}, which
in Devanagari is [va] व . <w> is a labialised velar consonant.
According to Wikipedia, there are two labial-velar approximants among the
dorsal consonants: <witch>
/
wɪtʃ
/ and <which> /
ʍɪtʃ /. From the
English pronunciations, I conclude that this pair is: Burmese-Myanmar
{wa.} and
{wha.}.
The first member
{wa.} is a basic consonant of the Myanmar akshara, but the second is a medial
(conjunct), formed from the first;
. Both are labialised velars.
They are articulated with the root (base) of the tongue in the throat. They include the
pharyngeal and
epiglottal places of articulation.
Glottal consonants are also sometimes considered radicals, but they are more
accurately described as having no place of articulation other than their
phonation.
The term radical was coined to disambiguate pharyngeal,
which had come to mean any consonant articulated in the throat, whether the
articulator was the back of the tongue ("high" pharyngeals) or the epiglottis
("low" pharyngeals). However, radical has not completely taken over, and
pharyngeal is still commonly used in this broader sense.
-- Wikipedia download 070812.
DJPD16 p105. The end of a syllable, which is said to be made up of an ONSET,
a peak and a coda. The peak and the coda constitute the RYME (or RIME) of the
syllable.
Examples for English: English allows up to four consonants
to occur in the coda, so the total number of possible codas in English is very
large -- several hundred in fact, e.g.: <sick> /sɪk/ ; <six> /sɪks/ ; <sixth> /sɪksθ/
; <sixths> /sɪksθs/
The central part of a syllable is almost always a vowel, and if the
syllable contains nothing after the vowel it is said to have no coda ('zero
coda'), e.g. <bough> /baʊ/ ; <buy> /baɪ/
In other languages: Some languages (e.g. Japanese) have no codas
in any syllables.
Go back coda-b
The following is mainly from: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consonant_cluster download 070829
In linguistics, a consonant cluster is a group of consonants which have no intervening vowel. In English, for example, the groups /spl/ and /ts/ are consonant clusters in the word <splits>.
<splits> /splɪts/ (DJPD16 p501.
UKT: The example given by Wikipedia is a monosyllabic word. And the canonical structure is CVC. There are three consonants in the onset, a single vowel as the peak, and two consonants in the coda. To compare this to Burmese-Myanmar, consider the syllable as made up of an onset and a rime: C(VC). In Burmese-Myanmar, the conda is a 'killed' consonant.
Some linguists argue that the term can properly be applied only
to those consonant clusters that occur within one syllable. Others contend that
consonant clusters are more useful as a definition when they may occur across
syllable boundaries. According to the former definition, the longest consonant
clusters in the word extra would be
/kst/ and
/str/, whereas the latter
allows /kstr/. The German
word Angstschweiß (cold sweat) is another good example.
Consonant clusters crosslinguistically:
Languages'
phonotactics differ as to what consonant clusters they permit.
Many languages do not permit consonant clusters at all.
Maori and
Pirahã, for instance, don't permit any more than one consonant in a row
before another vowel must appear.
Japanese is almost as strict, but it allows clusters of consonant plus
/j/ as in Tokyo,
the name of the capital city. Across a syllable boundary, it also allows a
cluster of a
nasal consonant plus another consonant, as in Honshū (the name of the
largest island) and
tempura.
A great many of the languages of the world are more restrictive than English in
terms of consonant clusters: almost every
Pacific island nation's language permits either one-term clusters or slight
variations on a theme.
Tahitian,
Fijian,
Samoan and
Hawaiian are all of this sort. Standard
Arabic does not permit initial consonant clusters, or more than two
consecutive consonants in other positions.
Finnish has initial consonant clusters natively only on South-Western
dialects and on foreign loans, and only clusters of three inside the word are
allowed. Most spoken languages and dialects, however, are more permissive.
At the other end of the scale, the
Kartvelian languages of Georgia are almost unbelievable in terms of the
consonant clusters they permit. Clusters are noted in
Georgian of four, five or six terms are not unusual - for instance,
brt'q'eli (flat), mc'vrtneli (trainer) and prčkvna
(peeling) - and if grammatical affixes are used, it allows an eight-term
cluster: gvbrdγvnis (he's plucking us). Consonants cannot appear
as syllable nuclei in Georgian, so this syllable is analysed as CCCCCCCCVC. Some
Slavic languages such as
Slovak may manifest formidable numbers of consecutive consonants, such as in
the words štvrť, žblnknutie, but the consonants /r/ and /l/ can form
syllable nuclei in Slovak, and behave phonologically as vowels in this case.
Another notable word is the
Croatian word opskrbljivanje (supplying) (though note that, like
nj, lj is a single consonant here:
[lʲ]). Some
Salishan languages exhibit long words with no vowels at all, such as the
Nuxálk word xłp̓x̣ʷłtłpłłskʷc̓: he
had had a bunchberry plant. It is extremely difficult to accurately classify
which of these consonants may be acting as the syllable nucleus, and these
languages challenge classical notions of exactly what constitutes a
syllable.
Consonant clusters in loanwords:
Consonant clusters occurring in loanwords do not necessarily follow the
cluster limits set by the borrowing language's phonotactics. The
Ubykh language's root psta, a loan from
Adyghe, violates Ubykh's rule of no more than two initial consonants; also,
the English words sphere, sphinx, Greek loans, violate the
restraint that two fricatives may not appear adjacently word-initially.
UKT: English does not allow two fricatives in onset. The following examples of violation of this rule, because the examples are loan-words from Greek..
<sphere> /sfɪəʳ/ (US) /sfɪr/ -- DJPD16 p500
<sphinx> /sfɪŋks/ -- DPJD16 p500
Consonant clusters in English:
In English, the longest possible initial cluster (UKT: onset) is three
terms, as in split; the longest possible final cluster (UKT: coda) is
four terms, as in twelfths, bursts and strengths.
However, it is important to distinguish clusters and
digraphs. Clusters are made of two or more consonant sounds, while a
digraph is a group of two consonant letters standing for only one sound.
For example, in the word ship, the two letters "s" and "h" together
represent the single consonant
[ʃ]. Also note a combination digraph and cluster as seen in "lightning"
with three terms: <gh> <t> and <n>; or "length": <ng> <th>.
UKT:
<lightning> /'laɪt.nɪŋ/ -- DJPD16 p316 (UKT: I don't understand the example).
<length> //leŋkθ/ -- DJPD16 p312 (UKT: <ng> is digraph [ŋ] and <th> is digraph [θ].)
Go back con-cluster-b
A continuant is a sound produced with an incomplete closure of the vocal tract.
All vowels and fricatives are continuant. The antonym of 'continuant' is 'stop'.
--
www.sil.org/linguistics/GlossaryOfLinguisticTerms/WhatIsAContinuant.htm /
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuant
Go back continuant-b
From: http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-pronunciation-c.htm
The letter [c] in French is a lot like the [c] in English. It can be pronounced in one of two ways:
1. Soft pronunciation (see Vowels for explanation) - In front of an E, I, or Y the C is pronounced like an S. Listen
2. Hard pronunciation (see Vowels for explanation) - In front of an A, O, U, or a consonant, the C is prounced like a K. Listen
3. When a C is in front of a hard vowel but has to be pronounced as a soft C, the accent cedille - ç - is added to make it soft. Thus, ç is never found in front of an E or I, because those are soft vowels.
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UKT: I always pronounce my Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} with the tongue tip held lightly between the upper and lower teeth, just as I have seen many Canadian TV anchors do when they pronounce the English <the> /ðə/ (DJPD16 p533). Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} has two pronunciations θ, ð/ similar to English <th> which is a dental nonsibilant fricative (also often called "interdental"). From the following, I have to conclude that Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} is an interdental non-sibilant fricative.
In linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth, such as /t/, /d/ , /n/ , and /l/ in some languages. Dentals are primarily distinguished from sounds in which contact is made with the tongue and the gum ridge, as in English (see Alveolar consonant), due to the acoustic similarity of the sounds and the fact that in the Roman alphabet they are generally written using the same symbols (t, d, n, and so on).
Sanskrit, Hindi and all other Indic languages have an entire set of dental plosives which occur phonemically as voiced and voiceless, and with or without aspiration. The nasal plosive /n/ also exists in these languages, but is quite alveolar and apical in articulation. In these languages these coronal stops are very similar to those found in Spanish (apico-dental), but different than those in French (lamino-alveolar), and quite distinct from those found in English (apico-alveolar). To the Indian speaker, the alveolar /t/ and /d/ of English sound more like the corresponding retroflex consonants of his own language than the dentals.
The following are dental consonants that are of interest to me for
this paper (I have taken only the English):
• dental nonsibilant fricatives (also often called "interdental"):
<thing> /θɪŋ/ , <this> [ðɪs]
-- Wikipedia download 070812
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A consonant sound can be described
completely by specifying each of the parameters for place and manner of
articulation. For example, [k] has the following properties:
1. active articulator -- tongue body (dorsum)
2. passive articulator -- soft palate (velum)
3. constriction degree -- stop
4. state of glottis -- voiceless
5. nasality -- no
6. laterality -- no
7. airstream mechanism -- normal
-- Univ of Manitoba
So [k] is a voiceless oral central
dorso-velar stop. To the Burmese-Myanmar speakers, including myself, what the
English pronounce for <k> sounds like {hka.} than to {ka.}
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The usual assumption is that all vowels are syllabic unless otherwise marked. The off-glides of diphthongs should be marked as non-syllabic, either using a consonant symbol or a non-syllabic diacritic. There can even be meaning contrasts in some dialects between syllabic and non-syllabic:
<naive> [na.iv]
| <knife> [nai̯f]
<employ> [əm.ˈplɔi̯]| <employee> [əm.ˈplɔ.i]
The following is from Wikipedia download 070813 with a note saying "this article does not cite any references or sources".
A non-syllabic vowel is a vowel-like sound that is not the nucleus of a syllable or mora (i.e. it doesn't make up the most prominent part of the syllable). In languages such as Japanese and many Polynesian languages, every vocalic segment constitutes a separate syllable or mora. That is, there are no diphthongs.[dubious – discuss]
However, languages such as English have large numbers of diphthongs. A convenient way to indicate that a vowel sound is a non-syllabic part of a diphthong is to write these as approximants, such as <eye> /aj/ or <cow> /kaw/. However, phoneticians often object that the final segments of these diphthongs do not have the constriction of the consonants / j / or /w/ as in <yes> /jɛs/ or <wall> /wɔɫ/, but rather are purely vocalic, and therefore the symbols <j> and <w> are inappropriate. In addition, there are languages where a sequence like [ao] is a diphthong, but contrasts with a diphthong [au]; the symbol <w> obviously cannot be used for both. In such cases the IPA non-syllabic diacritic [ ̯] can be used; this is dubbed an arch. Beside enabling contrasts like [ao̯] vs [au̯], this allows a more precise transcription of standard diphthongs. For instance, the diphthong in English bay may be transcribed with a near-high vowel as [beɪ̯] rather than [bej].
The "w-like" pronunciation of the letter "ł" in standard Polish can be transcribed as /ʊ̯/ (although /w/ is more common).
(UKT: The sentence immediately above reminds me of the inability of English speakers to pronounce the Burmese-Myanmar {lhwa.} for <saw> (used for cutting wood) and {lha.} for <beautiful>. The IPA symbol that Daw Than Than and I could associate with {lha.} is [ɬ] (U026C) mentioned above. Unfortunately neither of us could speak Polish.)
Note that in practice many diacritics, including the arch, are often left out in broad transcription, so that bay is frequently transcribed [beɪ] (or even [beː] or [be]). It is necessary to know the phonology of the language in order to understand what is meant by such transcriptions.
Non-rhotic varieties of English compensate for the lack of r-coloring in high vowels by epenthising a non-syllabic schwa immediately after the core vowel. Yielding [biə] for [biɹ], beer.
Spanish and Italian both have a non-syllabic [o] as in bacalao and ciao, respectively (or invertedly, almohada and Edoardo respectively). In both these languages the [ao] diphthong is phonetically distinct from the [au] diphthong, i.e. the difference is not merely orthographic. Therefore the diphthong in the Italian Pao.lo cannot be said to be identical to that in the Portuguese Pau.lo.
Dialects of Caribbean Spanish that drop an intervocalic /d/ will often put the [ao] diphthong into use, as in: pa.sa.do→pa.sao. Spanish will also employ a non-syllabic [e] in words such as, pe.lear or de.sear.
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The identification of the {a.wag}-characters {ya. ra. la. wa. tha.} of row r6, and {ha.} of row r7, has given me endless trouble, and I am still unsure of what I have found. Based on Gavin Russell's identification of / j /, /w/, /ɹ/ (U0279), and / l / as approximants, I will say that Burmese-Myanmar {a.wag}-characters are approximants. However, UNIL has identified them separately as given below:
{ya.} /j/ - True fricative
{ra.} /r/ - Trill ; / ɹ / (U0279) - Spirant
{la.} /l/ - Non-fricative lateral
{wa.} /w/ - Semivowel
{tha.} /θ/ (U03B8)- Spirant ; /ð/ (U00F0) - Spirant (UKT does not agree with UNIL)
{ha.} /h/ - Glottal
My interest is how Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} is to be described. I cannot call it a "spirant" as UNIL has called /θ/ and /ð/ as "spirants". In all probability, UNIL would have called {ra.} a "spirant" because of its similarity to English <r>.
It is to be noted that <th> of English (specifically /ð/ in <this> /ðɪs/) has been called "dental non-sibilant fricative" -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiced_dental_fricative. (download 070817). Using the definition of "sibilant" given by AHTD as a "hissing sound like that of <s> or <sh>", I would have to call Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} a non-s-sounding fricative.
Of the six {a.wag} characters shown above, only 4 are allowed to form medials: {ya.ping.},
{ra.ris}, {wa.hswè:} and {ha.hto:}. Since, the English /ʧ/ of
<church>, the counterpart of {hkya.}, is an affricate (not shown in IPA table),
we should also describe the Burmese-Myanmar medials as affricates. They
can be viewed as being formed from a plosive-nasal {wag.} and an approximant {a.wag}.
They would best be represented as the consonant and the superscripted
approximant as:
• {mya.} /mʲa/ (superscripted j);
• {mra.} /mʳa/ (superscripted r);
• {mwa.} /mʷa/ (superscripted w);
• {mha.} /mʰa/ (superscripted h).
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UKT: The following is almost entirely from Wikipedia, download 070817.
Liquid consonants, or liquids, are approximant consonants that are not classified as semivowels (glides) because they do not correspond phonetically to specific vowels (in the way that, for example, the initial [ j ] in English yes corresponds to [ i ]).
The class of liquids can be divided into lateral liquids and rhotics. Obstruent laterals, which are mainly found in indigenous languages of North America and include such sounds as the voiceless alveolar lateral fricative ([ɬ]), the voiced alveolar lateral fricative ([ɮ], and the affricates [tɬ], [tɬʼ], and [dɮ], are sometimes thought of as liquids but do not have their high sonority. Nor can obstruent laterals be used in the same way as sonorant laterals in the languages where they occur.
Typical liquids in English are the sounds /l/ and /ɹ/ (UKT: {la.} and {ra.}). In most other European languages the letter r represents an alveolar trill, which is its value in the IPA. In French, German and Danish, the letter r represents a uvular trill pronounced far back in the throat ([ʁ])- this may also be a uvular approximant.
Some European languages, such as Italian and Serbo-Croatian, have more than two liquid phonemes. These languages typically have the set /l/ /ʎ/ /r/, though some (like Russian) have /lʲ/, /ɫ/, /r/ (Russian also has /rʲ/}}).
Elsewhere in the world, two liquids of the types mentioned above remains the most common attribute of a language's consonant inventory, except in North America and Australia. In North America, a majority of languages do not have rhotics at all and there is a wide variety of lateral sounds - though most are obstruent laterals rather than liquids. Most indigenous Australian languages are very rich in liquids, with some having as many as seven distinct liquids. These typically include dental, alveolar, retroflex and palatal laterals, and as many as three rhotics. This richness in liquid consonants in a sense compensates for the small vowel inventories and lack of fricatives of Aboriginal languages.
Some African languages also contrast two rhotics, usually a trill and a flap.
On the other side, there are many indigenous languages with no liquids in the Amazon Basin and eastern North America, and also a few in Asia and Africa. Polynesian languages typically have only one liquid, which may be either a lateral or a rhotic.
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Approximants
that are apical or laminal are often called liquids (e.g., [ɹ] (U0279),
[l]). Approximants that correspond to vowels are often called glides
(e.g., [ j ] corresponds to [ i ], [w] to [u]).
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DJPD16 p380. In the analysis of syllable structure (and occasionally in other
areas), the first part of a syllable.
Examples for English: In English the onset may be zero (when
no consonant precedes the vowel in a syllable), one consonant, or two, or three,
e.g.: <in> /ɪn/ ; <pin> /pɪn/ ; <spin> /spɪn/ ; <spring> /sprɪŋ/
There are many restrictions on what clusters of consonants may
occur in onsets: for example, if an English syllable has a three-consonant
onset, the first consonant must be /s/ and the last one must be one of /l r j w/
. (UKT: note {la. ra. ya. wa.} are medial-formers in Burmese-Myanmar, with the
exception of {la.} which is supposed to be a medial former in Tavoy dialect and
Karen-Myanmar language known as Sgaw-Karen. ) (Statements about Tavoy and Sgaw
to be checked.)
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phonotactics. n. (used with a sing. verb) The set of
allowed arrangements or sequences of speech sounds in a given language. A word
beginning with the consonant cluster (zv), for example, violates the
phonotactics of English, but not of Russian. (Etymology - phono +
tactics, arrangement of linguistics units; see tactics. -- AHTD online
http://www.bartleby.net/61/56/P0255650.html
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This ballad relates the story of Gelert, the dog of Prince Llywelyn ab
Iorwerth. According to the tale, Llywelyn embarked on a hunting trip and left
his infant son in the charge of his faithful dog Gelert. On his return, the
Prince was greeted by Gelert, who noticed the dog's muzzle was soaked in blood,
and his son was nowhere to be seen. Llywelyn attacked the dog, and it fell to
the ground gravely injured. However, within minutes he heard a cry and
discovered his son, safe in his cradle. Beside the cradle lay the body of a
giant wolf covered with wounds, the result of a fight to the death with hound
Gelert. Llywelyn strode back to his faithful dog and watched it die from his
actions. The village of Beddgelert [lit. Gelert's grave] in Snowdonia is reputed
to be the final resting place of the hound. Source:
http://www.snowdonia.org/ in
http://www.gtj.org.uk/en/item1/25268
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sibilant Linguistics adj. 1. Of, characterized by, or producing a hissing sound like that of (s) or (sh): the sibilant consonants; a sibilant bird call. n. 1. A sibilant speech sound, such as English (s), (sh), (z), or (zh). [Latin sībilāns sībilant-, present participle of sībilāre to hiss] -- AHTD
UKT: From the following, I have to conclude that Burmese-Myanmar {sa.} and {za.} are sibilants. The inference is {tha.} the r6c5 character is not to be confused with /s/. And Pali-Myanmar {tha.} is not to be pronounced as /s/.
A sibilant is a type of fricative or affricate consonant,
made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract
towards the sharp edge of the teeth.
Sibilants are louder than their non-sibilant counterparts, and most
of their acoustic energy occurs at higher frequencies than non-sibilant
fricatives. [s] has the most acoustic strength at around 8,000 Hz,
but can reach as high as 10,000 Hz. [ʃ] has the bulk of its
acoustic energy at around 4,000 Hz, but can extend up to around 8,000 Hz.
Of the sibilants, the following have IPA symbols of their own:
• Alveolar: /s/ , /z/ (either apical or laminal)
• Postalveolar:
- / ʃ / , /ʒ/ (Palato-alveolar: that is, "domed"
(partially palatalized) postalveolar, either laminal or apical)
- / ɕ / , / ʑ / (Alveolo-palatal: that is,
laminal palatalized postalveolar; these are equivalent to ʃʲ, ʒʲ)
- / ʂ / , / ʐ /: (Retroflex,
which can mean one of three things: (a) non-palatalized apical postalveolar, (b)
sub-apical postalveolar or pre-palatal, or (c) non-palatalized laminal ("flat")
postalveolar, sometimes transcribed / s̠ z̠ / or / ʂ̻ ʐ̻ /.
-- Wikipedia download 070812
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From: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasenadi (download 070828). UKT inserts are in [...].
... the king [Pasenadi] ... sent messages to the Sākiyan chiefs [Buddha's
relatives], who were his vassals, asking for the hand of one of their daughters.
The Sākiyans discussed the proposition in their Mote-Hall, and held it beneath
the dignity of their clan to accede to it. But, unwilling to incur the wrath of
their overlord, they sent him Vāsabhakhattiyā, daughter of Mahānāma and of a
slave [commoner] woman, Nāgamundā. By her, Pasenadi had a son Vidūdabha [{wi.ta.Du-pa.}].
When the latter visited Kapilavatthu, he heard by chance of the fraud that had
been practised on his father and vowed vengeance. When he came to the throne, he
invaded the Sākiyan territory and killed a large number of the clan without
distinction of age or sex (DhA.i.339ff.; J.i.133f.; iv.144ff).
... and once when Pasenadi was on a visit to the Buddha at Medatalumpa (Ulumpa),
leaving the royal insignia with his commander in chief, Dīghakārāyana took
advantage of this opportunity, withdrew the king's bodyguard, leaving behind
only one single horse and one woman servant, hurried back to the capital and
crowned Vidūdabha king. When Pasenadi heard of this, he hurried on to Rājagaha
to enlist Ajātasattu's [nephew and king of neighbouring kingdom of Magadha]
support; but as it was late, the city gates were closed. Exhausted by his
journey, he lay down in a hall outside the city, where he died during the night.
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End of TIL file.
