TIL

English Pronunciation Guide: Consonant

A Phonetic Approach using Myanmar Akshara and the International Phonetic Alphabet in Teaching of English as a Second Language

EPG-indx.htm

by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) (M.S., I.P.S.T., USA) and staff, Tun Institute of Learning,
Based on Pronunciation Guide, Learn to Speak English Part 1: Consonant, the Learning Company, Foreign Language Division - HyperGlot TM, 6493 Kaiser Drive, Fremont, CA 94555
http://www.tuninst.net , http://www.softguide.net.mm , http://www.romabama.blogspot.com

 index.htm |Top
EPG-indx.htm

Contents of this page

Introduction
Learn to Speak English, Part 1
¤ Consonants - EPG-con.htm
¤ Vowels - EPG-vow.htm

UKT notes
 

Contents of this page

Introduction

by UKT 100331

In Burmese we have a distinction between the script (written language) and the speech (spoken language). Whatever the current usage in the country, we should try to distinguish the two: the script is {mrûn-ma ak~hka.ra} and the speech is {ba.ma sa.ka:}. To include the two, I usually write Burmese-Myanmar or {mrûn-ma sa.ka:}. This abbreviation, unfortunately has many undesirable implications going to the extreme of excluding the minority languages from the languages of Myanmarpré or Myanmar languages. We do recognize, for instance, that Karen, Mon, Shan, etc., the spoken languages are all Myanmar languages because they are spoken in Myanmarpré, and they all write in Myanmar akshara (with very slight variations in some graphemes) : a unifying force of the country. This is exactly the same as in Europe, where the spoken languages, English, French, German, Spanish, write in a common script - the Latin alphabet.

It is also unfortunate that the word akshara {ak~hka.ra} has been commonly translated as the alphabet. We find in the official dictionary of the Myanmar Language Commission (MLC), 2006:

n. character; letter of an alphabet; alphabet -- MED2006-619

We must emphasize that the akshara (technically "abugida") and the alphabet are fundamentally different. The akshara is based on sound phonemic principles whereas the alphabet is not. There is a one-to-one correspondence between the grapheme and phoneme in the akshara and a word can be pronounced as it is spelled. The akshara is a phonetic script like the IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). The first recorded akshara appeared on the stone inscriptions of the Indian Emperor Asoka more than 2000 years ago whereas the IPA is only about 150 years old. It is accepted (but disputed by me and others) that the Myanmar akshara was invented only in the Pagan period about 1000 years ago. I hold that since its unique circular shape is the only one suitable for casting of runes or {ing:} - the magico-religious squares, it is older than the Pagan period, perhaps extending to the Asoka period or even to the life time of the Buddha when some relatives of the Buddha himself had sought refuge in northern Myanmar and founded the city of Tagaung. Another trivial fact that the Myanmar akshara has magical implications is because the grapheme of /n/ has a "dragon" {na.ga:} shape. It reminds us that the upper Myanmar population had been dragon worshippers before Anawrahta of Pagan who uprooted the old beliefs and reintroduced Buddhism from the south.

In Burmese, when you do not know how to pronounce a word, all you have to do is to look at the spelling. When we carry over this habit from Burmese to English it becomes disastrous. In English, do not pronounce a word as it is spelled. More often than not you will be mispronouncing it!

Contents of this page

UKT notes

Contents of this page
End of TIL file