Final consonants given in the romanized words in this dictionary are a guide to the length, tone and rhythm of a word. When speaking Burmese, remember not to pronounce the final consonants of words. The romanization format used in this dictionary is mainly based on the model that young people in Myanmar are using on social media and the Internet. Unlike Chinese, Japanese, and some other languages, Burmese does not have a standardized romanized version of its sounds. In this dictionary, the letter ‘h’ is used to mark consonants that are aspirated. For example, the letter p in the words spin and spot is not aspirated, but it is aspirated in the words pin and pot. AspirationĪspiration means adding a breath of air to a sound. In this dictionary, the tone of a word is reflected by its romanized spelling. They are similar to English vowels with the stops such as p, t, or k at the end. The shortened tone is similar to the sound of a in the English word ago. There are two other tones: the shortened tone and the stopped tone. The last tone sounds like long vowels with no stop at the end in English as in the words see, saw, or zoo. The second tone has a rising tone similar to huh? in English. The first tone sounds like it or eat in English, with the final t sound swallowed in the back of the throat. Pronunciationīurmese has three major tones: (1) short and creaky, (2) level and long, and (3) high, long and falling tone. I ( kya naw) like ( kyite) fish ( ngarr). The verb, in spoken sentences, is followed by the particle tae or dae (or thi in written sentences). The object of a sentence is followed by the particle ko or go. The subject of a sentence is followed by the particle ka or ga. It is also possible to start a sentence with an object but verbs almost always come at the end of the sentences. GrammarĮnglish is a SVO language (i.e., subjects come before verbs, and verbs come before objects), but Burmese is more of a SOV language.
Myanmar english dictionary how to#
The following sections provide some basic information about Burmese grammar, and how to put a sentence together. Over time, the letters evolved into the rounded version used today. Burmese borrowed and adapted Brahmic alphabets which originated in India. The Burmese language is in the Tibeto-Burman family, and is a tonal language like Thai and Chinese. Sitting like a bridge between China and India, Myanmar has many sociocultural connections to those two Asian giants and language is an example. It is officially called Myanmar language for easy reference and political reasons within the country. The Burmese language is the official language of Myanmar, used by the majority Burmese people and as the lingua franca by the other ethnic minority groups in the country.