*
{ak~hka.ra}
* 
<alphabet>
* 
{ïn~ga.laip}
* 
{ïn~ga.lait}
* 
{lhya-hking} * 
{Na.kri:}
* 
{nga.}
* 
{Ña.kri:}
* 
{ña.lé:}intro.htm
by U Kyaw Tun (UKT), M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.), and staff of TIL (Tun Institute
of Learning, http://www.tuninst.net ).
Based on Barron’s Educational Series, Grammar In Plain English, by Diamond, H. and Dutwin,
P., Barron’s Educational Series, Inc., 1977.
Prepared for students of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, Myanmar. Not for sale.
indx-GPE
Contents of this page
Contents of this page
Introduction
UKT notes
• abugida
• {in~ga.laip}
• IPA
• palatal nasal
• syntax
The following gif's are inserts in this file. They must be included in file
transfer:
* {ak~hka.ra}
* <alphabet>
* {ïn~ga.laip}
* {ïn~ga.lait}
* {lhya-hking} * {Na.kri:}
* {nga.}
* {Ña.kri:}
* {ña.lé:}
Very few people love Grammar: at least the traditional way of learning it. The terminology which we have to memorize has very little practical meaning in day-to-day speech. The scope of this manuscript can be judged from the aim of the original book: To prepare for the General Educational Development (GED) test.
<grammar> ko kreik pa-tèý hso-tè. lu ha a.lwan rha: pa-tèý// a.htu:tha.hpring. tha.ma.ro:kya. <grammar> ko moan: kra. tèý// mhan-pa-tèý// Ba-hpric lo. lè: hso tau. tha.ma.ro:kya. <grammar> ha sa.ka: prau: tè. né ra mha loän:wa. ni: pa: a.thoän: ma.wing-Bu://
We should note that when a Myanmar child goes to school to learn English, we say in Burmese that he goes to learn {ïn~ga.laip sa} or the written English. Of course, he will come to know how to "speak" English, but the primary goal is to learn how to read and write. However, in these lessons, the emphasis will be on spoken English first and then to proceed to written English.
pa-hta.ma. U:hsoan: ïn~ga.laip-sa thing ta la:/ ïn~ga.laip-sa.ka: thing ta la: hso-ta hkwè:hkra: thi.Bo. lo tèý//
a.hku. thing-hkan:sa twé ka. sa.ka: a.prau: mha lo ûp tè. a.hkré-hkän ka. sa. mèý/ ta.hpræÑ:hpræÑ: nè. a.rè: Bak ko wing thwa: mèý//tha.ma.ro:kya. thad~da tho.ma.hoat <traditional grammar> ha ïn~ga.laip-sa a.ré: mha ma.pa ring ma.hpric-Bu: lo. hting-kra.tè. lu twé ka. mya: pa-tèý// da-kraung. <A noun is the name of a person or thing.> hso-ta mro: ko sa. thing kra. tau. tèý// di-lo poän-thé <definition> twé ko kyak hkeing: lo. thing-kra: ra.tè. kyaung:tha: ha <definition> twé a.lwat rwat ring: nè. <grammar> ko krauk thwa: tau. tèý// ïn~ga.laip sa.ka: prau pran tau. lè: <grammar> mhan pa. ma.la: hso tè. sait wing la-pri: sa.ka: prau: ma.htwak tau.Bu://
a.hku. thing-hkan:sa mha <traditional grammar definition> twé ha ïn~ga.laip sa.ka: prau: tè. né ra mha-tha ma.hoat/ a.ré: mha lè: loän:wa. ni:pa: ma.lo Bu: lo. twé. ra. laim.mèý// pran-prau: pa. mèý/ ma.lo-Bu: hso ta <grammar> ko prau: ta ma. hoat Bu:// <definition> twé ma.lo Bu: lo. prau: ta hpric tèý//
In any spoken language, we start with a <syllable>, and then group the syllables into <words>. Then we arrange the <words> in a definite pattern to form a meaningful sentence. The arrangement of words is known as <syntax>. In these lessons, we must always remember that syntax is more important than the traditional grammar definitions.
Bèý lu-myo: rè. sa.ka: mha hpric-hpric a.thän-su. lo. hkau-tè. <syllable>/ hto-mha. ta.hsing. <word> lo. hkau-tè. a.thän-twè: twé hpric pau ra. tèý// <word> twé ha a.si-a.siñ tic-myo: ko leik-na ra. tèý// è:thæÑ. a.si-a.siñ ko < syntax> lo. hkau-tèý// ïn~ga.laip sa.ka: rè. <syntax> ha ba.ma sa.ka: rè. <syntax> nè. ma.tu Bu:// <syntax> ha sa.ka:prau: thing tè. né-ra mha <grammar definition> twé htak a.ré: kri: pa tèý//
a.htak mha ba.ma sa.ka: hso-tè. a.thoän: a.nhoän: ko thoän: leik ta mha:ywing: thoän tèý lo. ma.hting pa-nè.// Ba-tha-bé da. lo. hkau-tè. <Linguistics> mha a.prau: nè. a.ré: ko hkwè:hkra: hta: ra. pa tèý// a.hku. thing-hkan:sa twé ko <Linguistics> rhu.daung. ka ré:hta: ta hpric lo. ba.ma-sa.ka: (Burmese spoken language) nè. mran-ma ak~hka.ra (Myanmar akshara) to. ko hkwè: hkra: prau: ra. pa laim. mèý//
Long before the electronic recording was invented, the spoken word was recorded on paper, or any suitable material, in the form of markings. The ancient Egyptians used little "pictures" to represent the words. The Chinese also use what can be described as pictures. Myanmars, and peoples of the Indian sub-continent and places as far away as Philippines use the < abugida>. English and the peoples of Europe use the <alphabet>.
The abugida of a written language consists of aksharas
{ak~hka.ra}, and the
alphabet consists of <letters>. (The technical term for <letter> is
<grapheme>. Grapheme is how a <phoneme> aka <sound> is represented in "ink on
paper".) The word <abugida> is relatively new and
is not well known, and in this paper, we will use <akshara> in its place.
The word <akshara> is derived from Sanskrit. In Burmese we use the term {ak~hka.ra}
which is derived from Pali. I was told by my Bengali friends of Deep River,
Ontario, Canada, that the Bengali pronunciation is also {ak~hka.ra} and not <akshara>.
The information on {ak~hka.ra} pronunciation of Bengali has led me to compare the two languages: Bengali and Burmese. Though the languages are different, many pronunciations are found to be similar. (This is just a rough observation which would have to be checked further.) This has led me to wonder if Bengali had been a Tibeto-Burman language just as Burmese is. Since the two areas speaking the languages are geographically next to each other, we should expect the two populations to be using the same set of muscles in pronouncing the syllables especially the vowels. For a description of vowel production see works on Voice Quality such as The Phonetic Description of Voice quality by John Laver, Reader in the Department of Linguistics, University of Edinburgh. Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge, London, New York, New Rochelle, Melbourne, Sydney. 1980. First published 1980. ISBN 0 521 231 760. A photocopy of this rare book is available in the TIL library.
This conjecture that the peoples of modern Bengal (India) and modern Myanmar use almost the same set of muscles to produce the similar sounds could be extended to the idea that the ancient peoples of the two area had spoken the languages of Tibeto-Burman group. Thus we would be able to conclude that the pronunciation of the Buddha would be similar to that of the people of Myanmar. And that the Pali-Myanmar pronunciation is more authentic than that of the so-called International Pali.
English uses the alphabet. There are 33 consonantal characters in the Burmese-akshara system, and 21 consonantal characters in English-alphabetic system. The 21 consonantal-characters together with the 5 vowel-characters of English-alphabetic system are sometimes known as "letters". But, here for consistency sake we will not use the word 'letter'. Instead, we will use the convention:
• Burmese-Myanmar-akshara system, or the akshara
• English-Latin-alphabetic system, or the alphabet
The biggest advantage of an akshara over the alphabet is, the akshara is based on phonemic principles which are well-known in the East for thousands of years, whereas the alphabet has no such basis.
ïn~ga.laip sa.ka: ka. <Latin alphabet> ko thoän: pa-tèý// da-kraung. < English-Latin> <Burmese-Myanmar> hso-tè. a.thoän:a.nhoän: twé ko twé. ra. laim. mèý// <alphabet> nè. <akshara> ha loän:wa. ma.tu Bu:// di a.hpric ko <linguistic> rhu.daung. nè. a.thän-bé-da. lo. hkau-lo. ra.tè. <phonetics> rhu.daung. to. ka. kræÑ. mha. tha kwak-kwak kwing:kwing: mring neing pa tèý//
ïn~ga.laip a.prau: mha a.thän mhan Bo.htak/ a.thän ha pa:sup nhoat-hkam: a-hkän-twing: nha.hkaung: sa.lo. Bèý n?ra ka. htwak la tèý hso ta thi.Bo. lo pa tèý// è:da ko <phonemics> lo. hkau pa tèý// è:thæÑ ka. mha. ta. hsing. a.thän a.hswè: a.ngin a.hprat a.tauk sa. lo. a.thé: saip la ta ko <phonetics> lo. hkau pa tèý//
mran-ma ak~hka.ra ko thing-poän:kri: a.si-a.siñ nè. ré: ring/ a.tan: 7 tan: <7 rows>/ a.teing 5 teing <5 columns> nè. ré: pa tèý// è:thæÑ lo ré: ta ko thïn~hkya a.thoän: a.nhoan: a.ra. <matrix> lo. hkau pa tèý/ mran-ma ak~hka.ra ko <7r x 5c matrix> lo. hkau pa tèý//
<r1-c5> {nga.} mha. <r4-c5> {na.} a.hti. kræÑ. ring nha-hkaung: thän twé ko twé. ra. pa tèý// a.thän hpric tè. né ra twé ha a-hkän-twing: mha. ta.hpré: hpré: a.pring Bak tho. htwak la ta ko twé ra. pa tèý//
a.hku. thing-hkan: sa twé ha <phonemics> a.hkyé hkän rhi. tè. mran-ma sa ko tat kywam: thu ka. mran-ma-sa tat kywam: pri: tha: kyaung:tha: twé a.twak ré: hta: ta pric pa-tèý// mran-ma sa ma.tat kywam: thé: té hka.lé: twé a.twak ma. hoat pa//
a.thän hpa.lhè <transcription> loap tè. né-ra mha <English-Latin alphabet> rè. hkyo.tè. mhu. kraung. a.hkak a.hkè: a.mya.kri: twé. ra. pa tèý// da.kraung. mran-ma lu-a.mæÑ/ mro.a.mæÑ nè. dé-tha.a.mæÑ to. ko ïn~ga.laip lo a.myo:myo: sa-loän: paung: kra. ta ko twé. ra.pa-tèý //
To overcome the deficiencies of the European-languages, linguists have to invent a phonetic alphabet known as the International Phonetic Alphabet ( IPA ).
Bèý né ra mha <English-Latin alphabet> hkyo. tè. né tha. lè: hso ring {nga.thän} nè. {Ña.thän} ko pra. Bo. <letter of alphabet> ma.rhi. ta hpric pa tèý/ na.mu-na a.né nè. ïn~ga.laip sa-loän: <sing> htè ka. <ng> mha <g> thän ma. pa/ {nga.thän} tha pa pa tèý// pra. sa. ra <alphabet-letter> ma. rhi. lo. nhic.loän: twè: <digraph ng> nè. ré: ra. pa tèý// mran-ma a.mya: prau: né-tha.lo <g> thän htæÑ. prau: ring mha: pa tèý/ a.htauk a.hta: <DJPD16 p.490>
U.rau:pa. taik <European continent> mha. sa.ka: sa mya: pric kra. tè. <English-Latin, French-Latin, Spanish-Latin> to.ko tic.hku. mha. tic.hku. tho. a.thän hpa.lhè Bo. pru. loap tè. a. hka mha twé. ra. tè. a.hkak a.hkè: twé ko kyau lwan Bo. <alphabet> tic.myo: ko ti-htwing hkè. kra. ra. pa tèý/ è:da ko <International Phonetic Alphabet = IPA> lo. hkau pa tèý//
<Burmese-Myanmar> {nga.} ha <IPA ŋ (U014B)> hpric pri:/ {Ña. kri:/ña. lé:} ha < IPA ɲ (U0272)> hpric pa tèý// <Spanish-Latin> mha < palatal nasal IPA ɲ (U0272)> ko twé. ra. pa tèý// <English-Latin alphabet> mha è:di. a.thän ko pra. sa. ra ma.rhi. lo <diagraph ny> nè. pra. ra. pa tèý//
(U014B) lo a.mhat a.tha: ha <Unicode font> nän-paat hpric tèý// <Unicode font> a.kraung: ka. <computer, information technology> tha.ma: twé nè. tha hseing lo. a.hku. thing-hkan:sa twé mha ma. rhing: pra. tau. Bu://
• IPA [ŋ] (U014B) - velar nasal (the most interior of the mouth at soft-palate or velum) - Burmese-Myanmar
• IPA [ɲ] (U0272) - palatal nasal (to the front of the most interior of the mouth at hard-palate or palate) - Burmese-Myanmar
• IPA [ɳ] (U0273) - retroflex nasal (still moving towards the front of the mouth at palate) - Burmese-MyanmarPlease note that until about a few decades ago, the furthest most you can see of the interior of the mouth is the area around uvula and velum. And so the places of production or articulation (POA) that could be described by ancient phoneticians were those of the consonants only. Vowels are produced in the interior, the voice box or larynx, which was not seen until modern times. Therefore how the vowels are produced is not well described. Much of our knowledge of the larynx and the muscles controlling them is from the surgery of the cancerous parts of the larynx. This is a point not generally appreciated by most linguists (grammarians) especially those from Myanmar especially like my friend U Tun Tint of the MLC who always insists that the "sounds" of Pali have been well described. To them my answer is: no one really knows the sounds of the ancient Pali (that of the Buddha) -- no voice recording machines have been made until recently. And the usual way of saying that such and such is the "sound of Pali" is not only wrong but very misleading.
a:loän:hkyoän prau:ra. ring a.hku. thing-hkan:sa twé ha mran-ma twé twé. né kra. <grammar> ma.hoat-Bu: hso ta hpric pa-tèý//
An abugida, alphasyllabary, or syllabics is a writing system in which consonant signs (graphemes) are inherently associated with a following vowel. Thus, the absence of such a vowel, or other following vowels, are usually indicated explicitly. About half the writing systems in the world, including the extensive Brahmic system used for most Indo-Aryan languages, are abugida. -- Wikipedia 070710
Note both the singular and plural form of "abugida" are the same. On population basis, there are more people in the world using abugida than the alphabet. -- UKT.
Go back abugida-note-b
n. English -- MEDict622 (I have been using the wrong spelling
{ïn~ga.lait}
and in spite of my efforts to change them, there might still be some mis-spelled
words left. The correct spelling according to MEDict622 is
{ïn~ga.laip}.)
Go back in-ga-laip-note-b
n. Abbr. IPA I.P.A. 1. A phonetic alphabet and diacritic modifiers sponsored by the International Phonetic Association to provide a uniform and universally understood system for transcribing the speech sounds of all languages. -- AHTD
In 1886, in Paris, a small group of language teachers formed an association
to encourage the use of phonetic notation in schools to help children acquire
realistic pronunciations of foreign languages and also to aid in teaching
reading to young children. The group, led by Paul Passy, called itself initially
Dhi Fonètik Tîcerz' Asóciécon (the FTA). In January 1889, the name
of the Association was changed to L'Association Phonétique des Professeurs de
Langues Vivantes (AP), and, in 1897, to L'Association Phonétique
Internationale (API) ?in English, the International Phonetic Association (IPA).
The IPA’s peak of membership and influence in education circles
was around 1914, when there were 1751 members in 40 countries. World War I and
its aftermath severely disrupted the Association's activities, and the Journal
did not resume regular publication until 1922.
The group’s initial aim was to create a set of phonetic symbols to
which different articulations could apply, such that each language would have an
alphabet particularly suited to describe the sounds of the language. Eventually
it was decided that a universal alphabet, with the same symbol being used for
the same sound in different languages was the ideal, and development of the
International Phonetic Alphabet progressed rapidly up to the turn of the 20th
century. Since then, there have been several sets of changes to the Alphabet,
with additions and deletions that the progress of the science of phonetics has
indicated. -- Wikipedia 070710
Go back IPA-note-b
From Wikipedia 070710
IPA [Ñ] / [ñ] (upper / lower case )
( /
{Ña.kri:/
ña.lé:}) are represented by graphemes of the modern Roman alphabet formed by an
N or n with a diacritical tilde. They are used in the Spanish alphabet, where
it precisely represents a palatal nasal (IPA: [ ɲ ]). Unlike many other
alphabets that use diacritic marks (such as ü in Astur-Leonese or â
in Tagalog), in Spanish, Ñ is considered a letter in its own right, with its own
name (eñe) and its own place in the alphabet (after N).
The palatal nasal sound is roughly reminiscent of as
/nj/ as in "onion" IPA: [ˈʌnjən]. This description
is enough to give a rough idea of the sound, but it is not precise (it is the
equivalent of giving the pronunciation of the English word "shot" as "syot").
From Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palatal_nasal 080815
The palatal nasal is a type of consonant, used in some spoken languages.
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is
ɲ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is J. The IPA symbol is a
lowercase letter n with a leftward-pointing tail protruding from the
bottom of the left stem of the letter. Compare n and ɲ. The symbol
ɲ should not be confused with ɳ, the symbol for the retroflex nasal,
which has a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem, or with
ŋ, the symbol for the velar nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook
extending from the bottom of the right stem. In Spanish and languages whose
writing systems are influenced by Spanish orthography, this sound is represented
with the letter eñe (ñ).
Go back palatal-nasal-b
n. 1. a. The study of the rules whereby words or other elements of sentence structure are combined to form grammatical sentences. -- AHTD
Go back syntax-note-b
End of TIL file
