TIL

Myanmar

index_myanmar.htm

U Kyaw Tun (UKT), M.S. (I.P.S.T., U.S.A.) and staff of TIL. Not for sale. Prepared for internal use of TIL Computing and Language Center, Yangon, Myanmar.

Font used for these pages is exclusively Arial Unicode MS.
For Burmese-Myanmar characters, I use my own designed .gif pix, which are based on WinInnwa font. See font22design. It should be noted that since the transcriptions of Burmese is not reliable, I have used a one-to-one transliteration of Burmese-Myanmar to Burmese-Latin, which I have named Romabama.

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index_myanmar

Contents of this page

• Burmese Empire in 18th Century - indx-sanger.htm
  - by Father Vincenzo Sangermano with notes by U Kyaw Tun
• Folk Elements in Burmese Buddhism - indx-folk.htm
  - by Maung Htin Aung (Dr.) with notes added by U Kyaw Tun
• Nat Worship - indx-natworship.htm
  - by U Kyaw Tun, a collection from various sources
• Pali Dictionary - indx_P-Dict.htm
  -  by U Kyaw Tun, et. al.
• Pali Grammar - indx_P-Gram.htm
  - by U Kyaw Tun, et. al.
• Sense Door Thought Process - sense-door.htm | abhidhamma.htm
  - Abhidhamma Papers (Essay), www.samatha.org/publications/abhidhammapapers/ch3_2.html
    Each time we perceive an object through the senses, a series of thought-moments occurs which constitute a process. These thought moments, or cittas, are according to abhidhamma, different 'minds' or states of mind. One follows another in rapid succession (usually too quickly to be perceived individually) and in a certain order. Normally for the perception of an object through one of the senses, seventeen thought-moments occur.
• Translation of an Inscription in the Pali Character and Burmese Language, on a stone at Buddh Gya, in Behar - Bur-inscrip-india.htm
    - From Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal May, 1834, reprinted in 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 080118

Contents of this page

Libray index - a mini-library to accompany this folder not included in Internet version. This mini-library contains copy-righted materials, and is made available for research purposes. It also contains unfinished materials. Some of the collected materials:
• Abhidhamma - from Wikipedia
• Burmese Family -- Mi Mi Khaing. First published in 1946. Reprint 1996.
• Founding villages and early palaces of Bagan by Bob Hudson, 2001 "Texts and Contexts" Conference, Yangon, December.
An exploration of some chronicle and parabaik sources via computer mapping, field survey and archaeological excavation
http://acl.arts.usyd.edu.au/~hudson/villages_parabaik.pdf download 071124
• History of Rangoon -- by B. R. Pearn -- with notes by U Kyaw Tun
• Old furnaces by Bob Hudson, field survey and initial excavation 2002
Old iron metal producing furnaces excavated at Pagan.
http://oldindustry.org/Iron_Info/myanmar_iron.PDF download 071124
• Origins of Bagan by Bob Hudson, PhD thesis submitted to University of Sydney, 2004
The archaeological landscape of Upper Burma to AD 1300.
http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/638/3/adt-NU20050721.14490701front.pdf download 071124
• Pali Literature of Burma -- by Mabel Haynes Bode, The Royal Asiatic Society, 1909
 

UKT notes
• Romabama (update: 080118)

Contents of this page

UKT notes

Romabama

Romabama transliteration is being improved continually. And the last date of improvement should should be noted. The following is of 080118. I am starting to apply Romabama for back transliteration of English-Latin to English-Myanmar. These rules will be known as Reverse Romabama Rules.

Romabama Rule 01 - ASCII characters
Romabama is designed for writing e-mails  without using any special fonts. Thus only ASCII characters are used.

Burmese-Myanmar consonant-akshara characters are always arranged according to phonemic principles in a matrix of 7 rows x 5 columns. Broadly speaking, they are grouped into 3 groups: the classifiables {wag}, the nasals, and the non-classifiables {a.wag}. I have coloured the classifiables blue, the nasals red, and the non-classifiables green. The classification follows that of Brahmi, the script of Emperor Asoka (273BC-232BC). Please note that phonology has been known in the East thousands of years before the appearance of the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Among the {wag}-aksharas, the columns are made up of:
c1 - tenuis; c2 - voiceless; c3 - voiced; c4 - voiced-pharyngealised; c5 - nasal

One of the most interesting "nasal sound" is represented by the character is r2c5 {Ña.} of Burmese and {ña.} of Pali. In Romabama it is represented by Spanish Ñ.

Another character of row 2 that had been troubling me is r1c1 {sa.} until I came to accept that a consonant behaves in one way in the onset and differently in the coda. As an onset-consonant r1c1 is a dental-alveolar fricative with the IPA [s] sound, but as a coda-consonant (where it's inherent vowel has been killed), it behaves as a palatal stop -- the IPA [c]. If I am giving a transcription, I would not have to face this problem. I could just get away, as MLC (Myanmar Language Commission) has done by saying that the coda-consonant is a glottal stop.

Burmese-Myanmar {tha.} is NOT English letter <s> with the sound [s]. It is the old English letter 'thorn' [þ] (Alt0254) with the sound of IPA  /θ/ (U03B8).

Vowel characters (usually described as "vowel letters" as opposed to "vowel signs"):
{a.}  {a}  {I.}  {I}  {U.}  {U}  {É}  {è:}  {AU:}  {AU}  {än}  {a:} 

Burmese-Myanmar vowel-akshara characters (the "vowel letters") are arranged in a single line, starting from {a.} /a/ the lower-left corner of the vowel quadrilateral (represented by the English "short a") and moves in a clock-wise manner through {I.} /i/ and {U.} /u/ to {AU:} /ɑ/ at the lower-right corner. Please note that the vowel quadrilateral represents the position of the tongue in pronouncing the vowels. The so-called English "short a" is the most important vowel in the Asoka akshara system and is common in all its descendants including the Burmese-Myanmar.

Incidentally, the "English short a" is not a common vowel in the English pronunciation of the English syllables. I have come to this conclusion in going through DJPD16. English uses the vowel /ɑ/ mostly in syllables which to Burmese-Myanmar ears sound like /a/. Thus, <father> is pronounced as /fɑː.ðəʳ/ (DJPD16-199). This same word is pronounced by most English-speaking Myanmar with /a/ instead of /ɑ/.

I have been emphasizing all along that Myanmar is based on phonemic principles. Romabama is a method of transliteration of Burmese-Myanmar to English-Latin and also for transliteration-transcription of English into Burmese. For the later process, we are in urgent need of a character that would serve as the neutral vowel (or schwa) in Romabama. Obviously, it must be similar to <a> because the inherent vowel is said to be similar to "English short a". And, for writing email, it must be an ASCII character. The only letter that we have found is â Alt0226 (small letter A with circumflex). The circumflex accent marks a long vowel in the orthography or transliteration of several languages. See Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circumflex_accent download 070908. We have three vowel registers (or tones) in Burmese, {a. a a:}. Since â is not checked as in {a.} and grave and long as in {a:}, {â} can serve to stand for schwa /ə/. e.g. {âni} meaning the colour "red". However, in the case of {âni}, the danger is the reader might pronounce it as /{ân|i}/ instead of /{â|ni}/, and so, as long as Romabama is meant to be a "transliteration", {â} should not be used. -- UKT 071111

Though I haven't done before (071024 -- the approximate date when I first went into "Voice Quality"), I must now emphasize that Burmese-Myanmar syllables all end in vowel sounds, even in syllables of the type CVÇ (where Ç is a "killed" akshara). Because of this, we need to classify the vowels into free vowels and checked vowels, noting that checked vowels are all followed by consonants.

The free vowels (and "checked" vowels followed by killed nasals) have three tones (or registers) mentioned above. {a.} is what the Western phoneticians call a "creaky tone" and is present only in some languages of the world. It can be represented by IPA [ă], and in Romabama with {â}. {a} the normal or the most natural tone is described as "modal' and is represented by [a]. {a:} is considered to be made up of two voice segments, [a] and [ː] . Note that I have used  suprasegmentals in [ă] and [ː]. The schwa in Burmese-Myanmar is a "breathy tone". (I would like to see inputs from my peers).

Romabama Rule 02 - English-Latin alphabet
The 26 letters of the English-Latin alphabet are expanded to 52 letters by differentiating between the 26 small letter and 26 capital letters. Capital letters are used to represent individual aksharas in Romabama. They are not used at the beginning of sentences, or proper nouns.
   It is not commonly recognized that English-Latin uses digraphs to represent certain sounds, e.g., <ng> in <sing>, <th> in <thin>, <ch> in <church>. In these digraphs, each letter has lost its original sound. This would be similar to the formation of NaCl (a chemical compound) from Na and Cl (chemical elements). The properties of NaCl is entirely different from those of Na or Cl. Similarly the sound of <ng> is entirely different from that of <n> or <g>.
   Another problem of English is the presence of allophones in sounds of letters of <p> <t> and <k>. These "allophones" are recognized as different in Burmese and are represented by their respective akshara. The English <p> in <pin> sounds more like {hpa.}. When <p> follows an <s> as in <spin>, it sounds like {pa.}. Romabama uses "digraphs" such as {hp} to represent "aspirated" sounds of the c2 aksharas.
   The problem of allophones becomes acute in representing the "killed" c2 consonants (i.e. akshara under virama). Virama in Sanskrit means "vowel killer", a sign used to "kill" the inherent vowel of the akshara. The killed aksharas are found in the coda of syllables of the type CVÇ. In Myanmar calligraphy, the symbol for "killing" {a.that} is a "flag" {tän-hkwan} on top of the akshara. Placing a "flag" on the digraph is not possible in Romabama, and we just note that VÇ is the rime, where Ç is a killed consonant. To overcome this problem, the digraph is replaced by a capital letter, e.g. "killed {hk}" is replaced by {K}. In the word for "the gateway to a pagoda (MEDict349)", the killed {hka.} is represented by {Ka.}. Romabama transliteration {moaK} seems better than {moahk}. See Rule 03 for the use of other capital letters of the extended Latin alphabet.

Note: English-Latin <u> is one of the most troublesome to Myanmars, because <but> and <put> are pronounced in different ways. Because of this, Romabama avoids the use of <u>, as far as possible. Incidentally, if we are transcript <but> and <put> into Burmese, or Romabama, we would write: {bat} and {pwat} -- note the presence of <w> in {pwat} to show lip-rounding.

Romabama Rule 03 - Extended Latin alphabet
Since there is no reason why we should confine ourselves to the use of English-Latin letters only, diacritics and other suitable signs from Extended Latin alphabet are used in Romabama:
• â (Alt0226) character to be used in place of schwa /ə/ (to be used only for showing pronunciation /{a. â a a:}/)
• ä (Alt0228) in än for {thé:thé:ting} (MEDict500)
• à (Alt0224) for denoting {re:hkya. a.that} ending in a killed non-nasal, as in {Dàt-hsi} (<petrol, gasoline> MEDict218)
     alternate spelling {Daat-hsi}
     (Note: {à.} will also be used to denote possessive pronouns as in {ngà.}. As in above the alternate is {ngaa.})
• æÑ (Alt0230+Alt0209) to denote {Ña.kri:thut} as in {kyæÑ-hsan} (<cartridge, shell> MEDict034)
• Æ (Alt0198) in combination with Ñ (Alt0209) to denote {vowel-letter Ña.kri:that} as in {ÆÑ.thæÑ} (<guest> MEDict625)
• *AU (diagraph) for use when vowel letter AU is used in place of {au:} as in {AUT~Hta.} (<labial> MEDict626)
• Ç (Alt0199) is not included in Romabama "letters of alphabet": it stands for the "killed consonant" in CVÇ syllable.
• É (Alt0201) as in {É-ra-wa.ti mris} (Irrawaddy River),
• é (Alt0233) as in {é:hkyam:} (<peaceful> MEDict614)
• éñ (Alt0233+Alt0241) to denote {tha.wé-hto: ña.that} as in the name of King Thé-lè-kyaung of Pagan (very rare spelling)
• È (Alt0200) as in {a.Daip~pÈý} (<meaning> MEDict565)
• è (Alt0232) as in {è:maung:} (<lance> MEDict615)
   è (Alt0232) as in {a.pèý-hkän} (<outcast> MEDict572)
• ð (Alt0240) as in {ða.} r3c3 {ða.ring-kauk} akshara
     (Caution: the voiced-pronunciation of English-Latin <þ/th> is also given as /ð/)
• Ð (Alt0208) as in {Ða.} r3c4 {Ða.ré-mhoat} akshara
•  ï (Alt0239) and ~ to represent {king:si:} as in {ïn~ga.laip} (<English> MEDict622)
   * ï (Alt0239) without ~ to represent {nga.that} as in {kïng} (<to barbeque> MEDict015) (note <ng> is the digraph in <sing>);
   or, to represent {ña.that} as in {hkyïñ} (<sour> MEDict072). However, since {king} and {hkyiñ} are easier to write,
   the use <i> instead of <ï> may be preferable.
•  ì (Alt0236) for denoting {ré:hkya. a.that} ending in a killed nasal, as in {mìñ}
   - alternate spelling: {maañ}
• í (Alt0237) for denoting {tha.wé-hto: a.that} as in {hkít} (<age, era, period, time> MEDict064)
• ñ (Alt0241) as in {ñaaN.} (<intellect, wisdom> MEDict155)
   and Ñ (Alt0209) for {Ña.} (<night> MEDict156) both corresponding to <ny>;
• þ (Alt0254) (Old English letter "thorn") used for r6c5 akshara commonly transcribed as {tha.}:
  the use of digraph <th> introduces unnecessary confusion
• * OA (digraph) for use in place of {U.} for peak vowels in syllables without consonants in the onset,
   as in {OAs~sa} (<property> MEDict625)
• ù (Alt0249) for {lù.} in {lù.Baung} (<human society> MEDict431)
•  ý (Alt0253) for "killed {ya.}" {ya.thut} as in {wèý} (<to buy> MEDict484)
Note: Diacritics in Romabama are chosen in a way so that even if a diacritic is lost, the effect would be minimal.

* I am writing this note while I am in Canada, where I have to work alone without the assistance of my secretaries who are unable to accompany me to Canada because they are Myanmar citizens and getting Canadian visas for them is next to impossible. At my age (73), my memory is not reliable. Now, I am finding that I have to come up with spellings involving {U.} in words such as <property> /[ou' sa]/ (MEDict625; not listed in MOrtho). I am forced to use "digraphs" which might be mistaken for "diphthongs" (I maintain that Burmese has no diphthongs as commonly found in English). The tentative spelling I would have to use for <property> is {OAs~sa}, where {OA} is a digraph and not a diphthong. -- UKT, Canada, July 2007.

Romabama Rule 06 - {king:si:} vowel-sign

{king:si:} /|kin: si:|/ - n. ortho. miniature symbol of devowelized nga  superscripted on the following letter. -- MEDict016
Note MEDict's "devowelized" and TIL "killed" are the same. Both mean the use of {a.that} or virama. See Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virama download 071107

Compare the way in which the two words  {hsing-kan:} <blind elephant>, and  {thïn~kan:} <monk's robe> are written. The first is written horizontally, but the second is written with the {king:si:} (literally: "centipede-ridden") sign . There are two cues to show that a {king:si:} is involved: use of umlaut over the peak vowel e.g. ï (Alt0239) and ~. The {king:si:} is actually not a conjoined sign and may be written horizontally. It is usually found in words derived from Pali and Sanskrit, e.g. Sanskrit-Myanmar {koän~ku.ma.} (n. saffron -- MEDict024) equivalent to Burmese-Myanmar {koän-ku.män}.

Caution: The problem of {a.that} that is not exactly a {king:si:}
There is an {a.that} that is not exactly a {king:si:}. Yet the consonant under it, is not a conjoined (horizontal conjunct) akshara as in {þa.kri:}. Such an {a.that} is found in {kywan-noap.} (<personal pronoun> MOrtho031) and {yauk-kya:} (<human male> MOrtho217).
   In {kywan~noap} there is only one {na.ngèý}. And in {yauk~kya:}, there is only one {ka.kri:}. For the time being, I am treating them as similar to {þa.kri:}, with a ~ in between. I have asked my good friend U Tun Tint for an explanation. He has not responded yet! (UKT 070804)

Romabama Rule 07 - Fossilized killed consonants.
(Based on personal communication with U Tun Tint, formerly of MLC)
There are 4 fossilized characters dating back to the 13 century:
  • {nhÉIk} derived from {nheik}
  • {rwÉ} derived from {ruèý} pronounced as  /{rwé.}/
  • {iÉ} derived from {é.} --> {i.}
  • {lÉ-kaung:} derived from {læÑ-kaung:}

Romabama Rule 10 - Punctuation (addition on 070914)
Traditional Burmese-Myanmar uses only {poad-hprat} (single short vertical stroke) and {poad-ma.} (single short vertical stroke). In Romabama, the following will be used:
  • {poad-hprat} [ / ]
  • {poad-ma.} [ // ]
Since, Romabama (Burmese-Latin) is based on (English-Latin), some English punctuation marks will be used.
  • Question mark [ ? ]
  • Comma [ , ]

Go back Romabama-b

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U Kyaw Tun

U Kyaw Tun first became an educator as an assistant lecturer in Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry, University of Rangoon in 1955. In that capacity he lectured to the first year Science students at Yankin College campus. The following year saw him lecturing the third year Science students (those taking Chemistry) at the main campus in addition to the first year Science students at Yankin College campus. He served for 33 years in various universities and colleges throughout Myanmar: Rangoon University, Rangoon Institute of Technology, Mandalay University, Bassein College, Workers’ College and Taunggyi College. His last posting from which he retired was Associate Professor and Head of Department of Chemistry, Taunggyi Degree College.

Though trained as a scientist and engineer, U Kyaw Tun has a keen interest in the culture, history, religion and mythology of various peoples of the world. His knowledge of several languages: Myanmar, English, French, Pali, Swedish and German has helped him in his cultural studies. He has an extensive knowledge of Hindu astrology, specializing the Ashtakavarga system.

U Kyaw Tun was a part-time columnist writing for the Working Peoples’ Daily in Myanmar and was a member on the editorial board of the North Renfrew Times in Canada. He has given several public lectures in Canada on Buddhism particularly to scientists and engineers, and to non-Buddhists.

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End of TIL file