Since 1989, the government has preferred the
literary form Myanmar to refer to the country, its language and
its people as a whole. The English name for many other places
and groups was also changed in 1989.Like many other languages,
Burmese has two varieties: one is used in writing and associated
formal activities; the other is used in speaking and other
informal situations.
There are 33 consonants in the writing system, and there are
traditionally held to be 12 vowel sounds. As in other languages
spoken in the region, there are various combinations of
consonants; and the vowel sound of each syllable is written by
adding one or more symbols above, below, before, or after the
consonant that it follows. Additional markings are used to
represent the tones. Given the written form, it is almost always
possible to know how to pronounce a word, but because of changes
in pronunciation over the centuries the reverse is not true.
Many Burmese nouns are borrowed from English, though the meaning
and sound may be somewhat different. If you are totally stumped,
you can try the English noun in the middle of a Burmese sentence
and this may sometimes work. There are also some loan words from
Hindi. Although much of the more formal vocabulary comes from
Pali, the language of Theravada Buddhism, it is pronounced in a
Burmese way, and so sounds different from Thai, Sri Lankan or
other Pali Pronunciation.
Apart from the spoke/written difference, Burmese is not a
difficult language. The three tones are less difficult to keep
apart than the five tones of Thai or the six tones of
Vietnamese, and some effort to produce them will be rewarded by
the delight of Burmese people. Other aspects of pronunciation
can best be learned by listening and imitation.
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