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TIL

Preface and Introduction

Pre-intro.htm

by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) (M.S., I.P.C., USA), Daw Khin Wutyi, Daw Zinthiri Han and staff of Tun Institute of Learning (TIL). Not for sale. No copyright. Free for everyone. Prepared for students and staff of TIL  Research Station, Yangon, MYANMAR 
 - http://www.tuninst.net , www.romabama.blogspot.com

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Binpathak-indx.htm

Contents of this page

• Preface
• Introduction
  ¤ Salutations to our teachers
  ¤ Swastika
  ¤ The Curse of Babel and Shibboleth
  ¤ The Legend of Four Brahmas landing in Burma

UKT notes :

Contents of this page

• Preface

UKT 180801:

I owe a lot to my teachers who had taught me Bur-Myan {sa} and {sa.ka:}, the first being my father U Tun Pe and mother Daw Hla May. I remember my old teachers in Kyait'htaw Saya Kywè's {hsa.ra kroèý village-school. There I'd my first taste of reciting the Mora {mau:ra.}(Peacock) Paritta in Saya Kywè's school. Listen to recitations:

Mora (Peacock) Paritta by Mingun Sayadaw {mín-kwun: hsa.ra-tau} - bk-cndl-Mingun<))
and its equivalent the Gayatri Mantra by Anuradha Paudwal - bk-cndl-gayatri<))
The essential difference between Buddhist recitation and Hindu recitation is the absence of {OÄm} in Buddhist text. The Hindus would end with a closing /m/ sound. The recitations are worships to the morning: pix on the right shows a {na.ga:} greeting the morning sun.
ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः -------------- oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं -------------- tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि --------- bhargo devasya dhīmahi
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥ --- dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt  -- Rigveda 3.62.10

source: Gayatri Mantra in 4D - Recite the most powerful mantra in the Universe - YouTube

I remember my teachers in Kungyangon schools: headmaster U Hpo Hlaing  {U: hpo: hlaín} and his son U Nyunt Shwé {U:Ñûn.rhwé} .

Then in East Rangoon, the d'Silva sisters & Daw Khin Myint Gyi (who I came to regard as my elder sister). And again in East Rangoon, Saya U Chit Tun (a Christian who hailed from Bassein) at Saya Solomon's Tutorial Classes.

At the university level, I remember U Kyaw Yin, U Hla Maung and U Hla Shwé. Because of my respect for the university teachers who came to head the Myanmar Language Commission (MLC) at one time or another, I will always have high regards for MLC.

I shall always remember my good friend U (Dr.) Tun Tint, with whom I still argue. He is so close to me that he would not hesitate to call me a Man-on-the-street {lûm:pau-ka.lu} implying a rustic fellow, and I return call him the Learned-on-ivory-tower Pyin'nyashi {prín-Ña shi.} on an Ivory tower. My work is not to find fault with the MLC, but to come up with a unifying language which I am calling BEPS (Burmese, English, Pali, Sanskrit speeches in Myanmar, IPA-Latin, & Devanagari scripts.

In the course of my work, I have to come up with many innovations: one-to-one definitions, and new "what on earth" aksharas, such as Super-Thwehto.

I've to write the vowel /é/ written as Tha'we'hto or Thwehto {þa.wé-hto:}, placed on the left of the consonant being modified to be easily read by non-native Bur-Myan peoples who have not gone to school in Myanmarpré. For them the Bur-Myan transliterated into Engl-Lat is simply not understandable and misleading. The most problematic are the conjuncts - both vertical {paaHT~hsín.} and horizontal {paaHT~twè:}. The word {paaT~twè:} is a word coined by me for the Tha-major {-þ~þa.} conjunct which is mute.

I've solved the problem of left-handed vowels found in Bur-Myan and Bangla-Bengali - the simplest being {þa.wé-hto:} {é} -->   - using such innovations as Super Thwehto. It results in a new form of of the motto of Shin Kic'si {rhín-kic~sæÑ:}, the Buddhist monk who was praised as the foremost Grammarian by the Gautama Buddha himself. Note: Super Thwehto is to be used when it is found placed between two consonants, e.g. it is only used in {ût~htau:}, not in {tau:}.

UKT 210704: English j /ja/ {ja.} (derived from medial-conjunct {gya.}), and IPA j /ya/ {ya.} are different. Similarly, English digraph ch /cha/ {cha.} is a basic consonant. It is derived from medial-conjunct {hkya.} and IPA j /ya/ {ya.}. My test for a conjunct is to find its durability when placed under a Virama {a·þût.}. English ch {cha.} and j {ja.}, and Bur-Myan Nya'major {Ña.} are basic consonants and are stable under Virama as: {ch}, {j}, and {Ñ}. To emphasize this fact, I usually present: {cha.}/ {ch};  j /ja/ {ja.}/ {j}; and {Ña.}/ {Ñ}.

Though {ja.}/ { j} can be avoided most of the times, ch /cha/ {cha.}/ {ch} is not: the word <church> is transcribed as {chaach}. Bur-Myan Nya'major {Ña.}/ {Ñ} is more important: we have many Bur-Myan words which use it: {præÑ} as in {né-præÑ tau}. 

I hope my Bur-Myan sayas, who taught me the Bur-Myan - both script and speech - would forgive me for muddying their beloved language.

Contents of this page

• Introduction

¤ Salutation to our teachers

My salutation to our teacher Gautama Buddha:

"Ye dhammā hetuppabhavā 
Tesaṃ hētuṃ tathāgato āha;
Tesañca yo nirōdhō,
Evaṃvādī mahāsamaṇō"
- https://puredhamma.net/living-dhamma/transition-to-noble-eightfold-path/ye-dhamma-hetuppabhava... 210706

'Whatever Laws are produced from Cause,
the Cause of these Tathagata
has told; and the Extinction of these,
has the great Samana in like manner declared.'

UKT 181118: Interpretations:
• "Laws" - natural laws - such as "all sentient beings are not free from mental suffering"
• "Cause" - "attachment to material things such as a living person, or one who has died
  a non-living thing such as an object like a building, a stupa, or a stone, or
  immaterial things such as an axiom, a book, a doctrine, a duty, an episode, or an idea such as an -ism
• "Extinction" - the human-being (a sentient being) overcoming attachment
I've avoided using Pali and Sanskrit terms such as Nibbana {naib~baan} or Nirvana, because of possible controversy.

UKT 210706: What I found in Questions and Answers of the Sixth Council, Viniya Pitika, vol.1, p016, is different:

{yé Dûm~ma hé-toap~pa.Ba.wa} /
{té-þän hé-toän ta.hta.ga.tau} //
{a-ha. té-þiñ~ca. yau ni.rau-Dau} /
{É-wän wa-di ma.ha-þa.ma.Nau:} //

You'll note that the Theravada Buddhism according to International Pali based on Sinhala version is different from that of Pali based on Myanmar version. However, in essence they are the same.

See also Analytical Buddhism, by M. Albahari, 2006
- MAlbahari-Analytical Buddhism<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 201009)
"Preface: For over two millennia, Eastern traditions such as Buddhism and Vedanta have claimed extraordinary capacities for the human mind. They have held that it is possible, through rigorous practices involving meditation, to attain
   Pali {naib~ba-na.} «nibbāna»
   Skt {nir~va-Na.} निर्वाण «nirvāna»
an exalted and irreversible mode of conscious existence. Some commonly reported characteristics of nibbāna include an end to all mental suffering. ... "

Copied from F. Mason, Toangoo, August 1871 :
- FMason-PaliBurView<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 201009)
"THERE are two schools of Pali. One takes for its basis the Pali derived from the oldest Burmese manuscripts, and the other the language as it now exists in books and manuscripts in Ceylon, condemning everything as irregular which differs from Singalese standards.
"The Pali books are said to have been introduced into Burmah A.D. 387, and they appear to have been preserved uninterruptedly to the present time; but preserved by frequent copying, for the palm-leaf, on which they are all written, is such a perishable material, that the oldest manuscripts are supposed by the natives I have consulted to be less than two hundred years old."

UKT 190801: I contend that Buddhism was introduced into northern Burma, particularly to Tagaung {ta.kaún:} area in the very life time of Buddha.
   I also contend that northern Burma had been in contact with north-eastern India centuries before the time of the Buddha, and that the legend of King Abiraza {a.Bi.ra-za mín:}, whose two sons were named Kan'yaza-gyi {kän-ra-za kri:} "lit. Elder Bronze Lord" and   {kän-ra-za gnèý} "lit. Younger Bronze Lord" might be traced to the very period when Iron-weapon wielding Indo-European (IE) speakers infiltrated into north-western India. Naturally, the indigenous populations of many tribes speaking various languages belonging to the Tibeto-Burman (Tib-Bur) group of languages defended their homelands. Alas, the defenders, though numerous, had only bronze-weapons. (Note: Since "Bronze" in Pali is {kän-þa.}, the names of the princes might refer to {kän-þa.})  The period could be called the end of the Bronze-Age and the beginning of the Iron age into India.

This period also saw another group of Iron-agers invading across the Indian ocean from the south. The Tib-Bur languages disappeared eventually in the northern parts replaced by Hindi-group of languages (IE group), and in the southern parts replaced by Tamil-Telugu languages (Aus-Asi group).

The story of Krishna {ka.Nha.} killing the Kamsa {kän-þa.} कंस, «kansa» "literally the Bronze-king" is probably based on fact.

I further contend that the Myanmar akshara {mrûn-ma ak~hka.ra} had its origin in periods before the invention of Asokan script. I base my contention on the fact the Myanmar akshara consonant {ta.} is still found in the Georgian alphabet თ [Tan].

I also conjecture that the Pali spoken and written in present-day Myanmarpré is mostly derived from the speech and script of King Abiraza {a.Bi.ra-za mín:} which had been highly infiltrated by the Singalese variety. 

Contents of this page

¤ Swastika

UKT 180801: My aim is to find the relation between Bur-Myan, English-Latin, Pal-Myan and Skt-Dev. Because of this aim, words should be carefully spelled out taking care of the glyphs.

One of the main obstacles in my task is the non-phonetic nature of the everyday English language with which I have to convey my ideas via speech, and writing. English as a language is notoriously non-phonetic and its script is an Alphabet-Letter. There is no one-to-one correspondence between sound and glyphs. A possible solution is to use the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). However, IPA, which was primarily used as an intermediary between English and French, is deficient when used for Abugida-Akshara languages.

UKT 180812, 210705: The word Indo-Aryan, which was commonly used before the Second World War, has fallen into disfavour thanks to the Third Reich of Adolph Hitler. So has the Swastika {sak~ra}/ {sak~Ra} 'the spinning cross', the sacred religious symbol of the Buddhist and Hindus. As it was discovered in the ruins Indus-Sarasvati civilization, it may be assumed to be a religious symbol long before Hinduism and Buddhism come into being. From this we may further assumed that those ancient peoples must be Sun worshippers singing the Gayatri Mantra long before the Vedic age.

ॐ भूर्भुवः स्वः -------------- oṃ bhūr bhuvaḥ svaḥ
तत्सवितुर्वरेण्यं -------------- tat savitur vareṇyaṃ
भर्गो देवस्य धीमहि --------- bhargo devasya dhīmahi
धियो यो नः प्रचोदयात् ॥ --- dhiyo yo naḥ pracodayāt  -- Rigveda 3.62.10
Notice the word स्वः «svaḥ» = स ् व ः = {þwa:.} 

As a wheel can spin clock-wise (right-hand spin for positive magical aspect {a·htak lûm:}), and anticlock-wise (left-hand spin for negative aspects {auk lûm:), there are Right-hand swastika and Left-hand swastika. The religious swastika is always depicted as resting on its side. The Third Reich Swastika is depicted on its apex - making the magical aspect void.

Swastika is thoroughly misunderstood in North America. In trying to analyze the Folk Elements in Buddhism, by Maung (Dr.) Htin Aung, I have to keep myself reminded that I am a Scientist and a Theravada Buddhist. I must not take sides and look everything as a Scientist:
See: -- flk-ele-indx.htm > ch05-magus.htm (link 210705) 

Read also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Occultism_in_Nazism , 180802, 210706
Read also https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hitler_and_the_Occult . 210706
Read Adolf Hitler el Último Avatāra, by Miguel Serrano, 2011, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries
- MSerrano- AdolfHitlerAvatara<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 210706)
"A Book describing the ongoing, titanic and eternal battle between Gods and Devils – between a Dark Force, a Satanic Spirit and a coming, or returning Hyperborean, Aryan Age."

Read The Morning of Magicians, by L. Pauwels and J. Bergier, translated from French, 2000 in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries
- LPauwelJBergier-MorningMagicians<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 210706)
"It is said that the Emperor Asoka, aware of the horrors of war, wished to forbid men ever to put their intelligence to evil uses. During his reign, natural science — past, and present — was vowed to secrecy. Henceforward, and for the next two thousand years, all researches, ranging from the structure of matter to the techniques employed in collective psychology, were to be hidden behind the mystical mask of a people commonly believed to be exclusively concerned with ecstasy and supernatural phenomena. Asoka founded the most powerful secret society on earth: that of the Nine Unknown Men.

I hope those, lay-men and Theravada Buddhist monks, who have introduced me to the subject of their interest - the Bur-Myan occult, such the construction of Yantras {ín:}, such as the Four-rounded Yantra {sa.ma.lé:loän: ín:} "Instrument of Perfection", would forgive me for bringing in the subject of Nazi-occultism. Remember there were and still are those, inside and outside Germany, who had supported the German Führer. Both the Right-Hand Swastika and the Left-Hand Swastika of East 'instruments of power' are lying on their side, but what Hitler had worn is the one standing on one of its tips - an ineffectual one.

UKT 180803: The Bur-Myan symbol Yantra {yûn~ta.ra:} (MED2006-387c1 of Skt-Dev origin) aka { ín:}, being an important Instrument of Myanmar-occultism had spread to Cambodia and Thailand during the days of the Bayinnaung's Empire, is the source of Thai-word Yan . For Bayinnaung {Bu.rín.naún} - the emperor without an empire - who is still loved by peoples who had been his subjects including the Thais. See
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bayinnaung 180803
"He is considered one of the three greatest kings of Burma, along with Anawrahta and Alaungpaya. Some of the most prominent places in modern Myanmar are named after him. He is also well known in Thailand as Phra Chao Chana Sip Thit (พระเจ้าชนะสิบทิศ, "Victor of the Ten Directions")".

What is not well-known is about a king who was a Master of Yan {ín: waiz~za}, King Dhamazedi {Dam~ma.sé-ti mín:} of Peguan Kingdom, and his mother-in-law Sovereign-Queen Shinsawbu {rhín sau-pu.} . See:
lang-relig-indx.htm > dhamazedi.htm (link chk 210707)

The Yantra {yûn~ta.ra:} 'spinning cross' is actually a weapon which can be thrown over great distances. There are two kinds of throwing weapons: one based on square-shape with 4 arms, and another based on triangular-shape with 3 arms. Both are depicted in Asokan script. The consonant r1c1 the square-cross is the equivalent of Myanmar {ka.}, and r4c1 {ta.} of Myanmar script.

What went into Georgian script is the Myanmar {ta.} , თ (U 10D7) letter 'Tan', and not the Asokan r4c1. Why?

So far the IPA developed for the Western European languages has proven to be unsatisfactory for my work, especially in Bur-Myan which has a full set of 5 nasals, compared to 2 of Eng-Lat and 3 of Skt-Dev.

Giving only English transcription has hindered my understanding of Languages. I'm confining myself to the study of four languages at present -  speech and script - checked by languages which use the same script such as Mon-Myan which uses the same basic Myanmar akshara. I've two principles, or mottos perhaps: Script unifies and Speech divides, and the motto of Shin Kic'si Meaning is known by Script. I hope it will free us from the shackles of the Curse of Babel.

Contents of this page

¤ The Curse of Babel and Shibboleth

When speaking English, a Bur-Myan speaker should learn to imitate the English phonology. It is because of the notoriously confusing nature of English spelling: learn to think of English pronunciation in terms of phonemes rather than letters [{graphemes}] of the alphabet.
See: Section 2: English phonetics
- Eng-phon-indx.htm (link chk 210707)

UKT 180813, 210707:

Why peoples of different language groups speak different mutually non-understandable speeches, has been explained in two ways:
#1 the religionist explanation, and,
#2 the scientific explanation.

A religionist explanation:

From Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel 180331

"The Tower of Babel (Hebrew: מִגְדַּל בָּבֶל‬‎, Migdal Bāḇēl) as told in Genesis 11:1-9 is an origin myth meant to explain [and frighten the people with an image of the wrathful God, to bring them into submission to the priests] why the world's peoples speak different languages. [1] [2] [3] [4] "

UKT 210708: Though I know the English version from both King James Bible and modern Gideon, I still need to know a Burmese version. A look into Judson's Bible in : https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/myanmar-judson-1835/   210708

UKT 210708: The following excerpt is from the above source:

Genesis {kûm~Ba U:} "beginning of the world" : 11:
1.  ... ... 
4. ... ... ... ...
5. ...
6. ... ... ...
7. ... ...
8. ... ... ...
9. ... ... ... 
  Babylon city

See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon 210710:
"Babylon was the capital city of the ancient Babylonian empire, which itself is a term referring to either of two separate empires in the Mesopotamian area in antiquity. These two empires achieved regional dominance between the 19th and 15th centuries BC, and again between the 7th and 6th centuries BC."
UKT 210710: Gautama Buddha (fl. 5th - 6th BC) would have probably heard about the Babylonian empire and other ancient civilizations. He would have known or speculated that there must been of men and women who must have discovered the Four Noble Truths , and Anatta Principle -- the previous Buddhas.

UKT 210708: The above passage from Judson's Bible makes me uncomfortable because of my understanding of a loving Father. Maybe, it is because of the succession of translations from Hebrew to Greek, to Latin, to English, and to Burmese. More over, Hebrew language itself is probably not of one dialect but several as indicated in the story of Shibboleth {shib~bol leþ} vs. {Sib~bol leþ}.

Before going to the story of Shibboleth {shib~bol leþ} vs. {Sib~bol leþ}, I'll say something concerning Linguistics and Phonology of languages with reference to Burmese, English, and Sanskrit.

My mother, as child with the name Mary Lwè, and I, also as a child with the name Harry Kyaw Tun, went to English schools before Burma became independent. The teachers were Christians belonging to the Church of England. King James Bible is familiar to us. Let's see what Wikipedia has to say of King James Bible relating to the English language:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_James_Version  180404, 210711
"The King James Version (KJV), also known as the King James Bible (KJB), [note: 1], is an English translation of the Christian Bible for the Church of England, commissioned in 1604 and completed as well as published seven years later in 1611 ... ... ... Noted for its "majesty of style" the King James Version has been described as one of the most important books in English culture and a driving force in the shaping of the English-speaking world. [note 3, 4].

Before you read the story in Bur-Myan in Judson's bible, note :
1. Eng-Lat labio-dental digraph ph  {fa.} changes to Bur-Myan bilabial {hpa.}
2. Burmese pronounce English j as {gya.} not {ya.}.
3. In English a name such as Jordon can mean a river, a kingdom, the name of a man, etc. In Bur-Myan, it is customary to specify, and "Jordan River" is {jau-dûn mric}. The word {mric} must be included.
4. MLC uses the grapheme {rhi.} for "husher" Sha श /ʃ/ . I've used the alternate version, also approved by MLC {þhyi.}. My reason is to point to the problem of presence or absence of Ha'hto {ha. hto:} sound for the same grapheme involving {þa.}.
5. I cannot use the diagraph th for , for in Sanskrit and Hindi the digraph th stands for grapheme {hta.} थ (U0925)थ . To solve this problem I use the Old English "thorn chanracter þ " for {þa.} instead of the common usage in Myanmarpré as {tha.}.
6. Sanskrit and Hindi do not have thibilant sounds, and so thibilant-fricative {þa.} is only for Bur-Myan and Pal-Myan.
7. I've to invent a new akshara for Sanskrit/Hindi sibilant-fricative {Sþa.} , which I will also use for Mon-Myan whenever necessary.

From: http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html 180401, 210707

"A shibboleth   {shib~bol leþ} is one specific phenomenon involving observing use of language of "out-group" people. It is a linguistic marker that is characteristic of members of a group, which is used by another group to identify members of the first group. Such identification typically has bad consequences for the members thus identified.

UKT 210707: The Eng-Lat <shibboleth> on transforming into Bur-Myan is {shib~bol leþ}. The relevant passage on shibboleth is found in the Book of Judges, Chapter 12, verses 1-15. I'm comparing what I found in:
- www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html 210708
to Bur-Myan translation in Judson's Bible: https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/myanmar-judson-1835/   210708

The story behind the word is recorded in the biblical Book of Judges. The word shibboleth in ancient Hebrew dialects meant 'ear of grain' (or, some say, 'stream'). [UKT ¶]

UKT 210707: From: www.ruf.rice.edu/~kemmer/Words/shibboleth.html 210708
Book of Judges, Chapter 12, verses 1-15.
"In the story, two Semitic tribes, the Ephraimites {É-hpa.raim} and the Gileadites {gi.lûd}, have a great battle.

Note the word Semites: which  includes Arabs, Arameans, Babylonians, Carthaginians, Ethiopians, Hebrews, and Phoenians. (AHTD). It is a coined word of 1770s derived from Christian concept of ancient peoples as descendants of the three sons of Noah of the Flood story: Sem (Shem), Iafeth (Japheth) and Cham (Ham), which I as a skeptical chemist, and a Theravada Buddhist cannot accept outright. Just think of them as two different warring groups one of which could pronounce the {ha.hto:}-sounds, and one which couldn't. I'm giving the Wikipedia links.

UKT 210708: Deuteronomy 27:12-13 lists the Twelve tribes of Israel: 1. Reuben, 2. Simeon, 3. Levi, 4. Judah, 5. Issachar,  6. Zebulin, 7. Joseph, 8. Benjamin, 9. Dan, 10. Naphtali, 11. Gad, and 12. Asher. Both Gileadites and Ephraimites are not the original tribes.
   The word "tribe" describe division based on the biblical story and have nothing to do modern classification of linguistic groups such as IE, Tib-Bur, and Aus-Asi. Based on their pronunciations of - {ha.hto:} sounds Ephraimites and Gileadites belong to two linguistic groups. A similar situation exists in Myanmarpré: between Burmahs who could pronounce the - {ha.hto:} and Karens could not.

The story continues

Here is the relevant excerpt from the King James Bible, Book of Judges. The full account is in Chapter 12, verses 1-15.
From: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Judges+12&version=KJV 180404, 210711

" 4 Then Jephthah gathered together all the men of Gilead, and fought with Ephraim: and the men of Gilead smote Ephraim, because they said, Ye Gileadites are fugitives of Ephraim among the Ephraimites, and among the Manassites.
" 5  And the Gileadites took the passages of Jordan before the Ephraimites: and it was so, that when those Ephraimites which were escaped said, Let me go over; that the men of Gilead said unto him, Art thou an Ephraimite? If he said, Nay;
" 6  Then said they unto him, Say now Shibboleth: and he said Sibboleth: for he could not frame to pronounce it right. Then they took him, and slew him at the passages of Jordan: and there fell at that time of the Ephraimites forty and two thousand."

From Judson: - https://newchristianbiblestudy.org/bible/myanmar-judson-1835/   210708 

4. ... ... ... ...
5. ... ...  ... ...
6. ... () ... ... ... ...

Smith's Bible Dictionary : www.kingjamesbibledictionary.com/Dictionary/Gileadites#: ... 210708
• Gileadites, the (Numbers 26:29; Judges 10:3; 12:4,5), a branch of the tribe of Manasseh, descended from Gilead.

Some groups [not necessarily of the same language group {sa.ka: oap-su.}] pronounced it with a sh sound [ श ś [ɕ] /ʃ/ ], but speakers of related dialects [may be belonging to a different language group] pronounced it with an s  [ ष ṣ [ʂ] /s/ ].

UKT 180401: This fricative-sibilant husher श ś [ɕ] /ʃ/ phoneme is known in BEPS Bur-Myan as {sha.}/ {sh}, but the fricative-sibilant hisser ष ṣ [ʂ] /s/ {Sa.}/ {S} is not known. It's place is taken by fricative-thibilant {þa.}/ {þ} /θ/.  Fricative-thibilant is unknown is Skt-Dev. To understand this note of mine you have to know the BEPS consonants. (link chk 180926)

Romabama {ro:ma.ba.ma} (my invention as a intermediate ASCII language) to harmonize BEPS. It is yet to be accepted by MLC (Myanmar Language Commission).]

We find a parallel to the two ethnic-groups mentioned in the Bible in two ethnic groups in Myanmarpré: the Bamah (Burmese) and Karens. As far as I know shibboleth {shib~bol leþ} has not been used to oppress the Karens by the Bamah majority

Ref: Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karenic_languages 190802 
"The Karen or Karenic languages, are tonal languages spoken by some seven million Karen people. They are of unclear affiliation within the Sino-Tibetan languages. The Karen languages are written using the Burmese script."
UKT 190802: The minute I see the term "Burmese script", I began to have doubts. It is unfortunate that linguists still do not differentiate "speech" from "script". Burmese is speech and Myanmar is script. "Speech divides" whilst "script unites." The unfortunate incident had arose out of differences in speech". 

When I ask my Karen cook to slice {lhi:} me some unions, she will bring {li:} 'penis' onions. I could never made her pronounced the Ha'hto {ha. hto:} sounds.

Personal note: I dip into the King James Bible (KJV) (Christian Bible for Church of England written during 1604 to 1611), from time to time to see how English as a language has been changing. It was the Bible my mother Daw Hla May (Theravada Buddhist) was exposed to, when she went to Diocesan Girl School in Rangoon at the turn of 19th to 20th century under the name of Mary.

In British-Burma, children going to Christian schools had to take up English Christian names even though they came from Buddhist families. My name was Harry. The colonialists were trying to make us ‘Macaulay’s Children’ - Burmese only in ethnicity, but British in outlook and religion. An education policy set by Baron Macaulay which backfired in India and Myanmarpré.

Scientific explanation of the Babel

See:
- RBoyle-SkepticalChymist<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180926)
"Robert Boyle, The Sceptical Chymist, 1661, or Chymico-Physical Doubts & Paradoxes, Touching the Spagyrist's Principles Commonly call'd Hypostatical; As they are wont to be Propos'd and Defended by the Generality of Alchymists. Whereunto is præmis'd Part of another Discourse relating to the same Subject."
- RHickey-LangSoc<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180926)
"Language is both a system of communication between individuals and a social phenomenon. The area of language and society – sociolinguistics – is intended to show how our use of language is governed by such factors as class, gender, race, etc. A subsection of this area is anthropological linguistics which is concerned with form and use of language in different cultures and to what extent the development of language has been influenced by cultural environment."

The confusion between languages can be explained scientifically as the result of speakers of a particular language group using a particular set of vocal muscles, and another using a different set. We lay aside what has been explained as the nefarious work the Christian God.

My Christian friends always love their God as a merciful and understanding God. It is unthinkable for them to see their God to be so mean. He surely would not play such dirty tricks on the very people whom he had created. His aim would not be to make them subservient, but to love and understand each other. The King in Heaven is not a cruel despot like some on Earth.

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The Legend of Four Brahmas landing in Burma

- UKT 181113, 201010, 210711:

According to my friend U (Dr.) Tun Tint, as far as he (aged 84) could remember, the story is told in Adikuppa kyum {aa-di.kûp~pa. kyûm:} , by {sic~kè:tau-kri: U:shwé-nau} 'the legend of the beginning of the Earth'. The legend that we heard independently goes:
   "Soon after the land was formed, sweet odors started issuing from the ground. A group of four Brahma {brah~ma} "dwellers of Space who have only ethereal bodies and who have no gender", saw it and came down to investigate. The odors were so rich that they started eating the earthy material which transformed their bodies into material and heavy bodies. They could not go back into Space. Soon sexual organs started to appear, and three turned males, while the fourth became a female. They turned to sex pleasures and had children and started the human race. They had to elect a leader who was called the Universal Monarch {ma.ha þûm~ma.ta. mín:}."

UKT 210711: The Buddhist idea of a Universal Monarch is vastly different from that of current World.
Dr. Asha Fernando, Univ. of Sri Jayewardenapura, Sri Lanka gives her idea of a Universal Monarch according to Buddhist views:
- https://www.academia.edu/712609/justice_in_Buddhism_and_Platonism 210711
"The Buddha's description of a Universal Monarch brings to the forefront his conception of justice. The King should place human welfare as the goal of sovereignty. The king is supposed to roll the wheel of prosperity, both material and moral. According to the Buddha, birth into a royal family does not by itself qualify a person to be king. His duty is to provide moral ward and protection (dhammikam rakkha varana guttim) for all the subjects including the army, those associated with the warriors, the householders, the villagers, those living in the provinces, recluses, as well as the beasts of the forest and birds of the air. That means the entire universe and its creatures are under his protection." 

This legend might have been derived from the Buddhist Aggañña Sutta {ag~giñ~ña. þoat~tän}, in Digha Nikaya. The story was told by Buddha to two monks Bharadvaja {Ba-ra.dwa-za} and Vasettha {wa-þéT~HTa.}.
See also: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agga%C3%B1%C3%B1a_Sutta 201010, 210712
"In the second part of the Sutta, the Buddha tells the story of how human beings came to dwell on Earth."  

UKT 190803: I doubt that it was the Buddha who had told this story. The story tells us that the land of Myanmarpré at the time of alien landing was already solid ground. Geologically, the mainland of Burma was under the ancient Tythis Ocean until geologically recent times.
See Section 08: What the Earth has to say
- earth-indx (link chk 210712)
and  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tethys_Ocean 190803

See also The ancient Tethys oceans of Asia: How many? How old? How deep? How wide? by Ian Metcalfe, 1999 in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries
- IMetcalf-TethysOceanBurma<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 190803)

Inset map from Ian Metcalf (1999) is now replaced by a new map from
www.igg.cas.cn/xwzx/yjcg/201603/W020160331602933732421.pdf  210712. See downloaded paper in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libralies:
- CZLiuEtAl-TethyanMyanOphilites<Ô> / Bkp<Ô>
UKT 210712: #1. The area bounded by "Shan Boundary" where Yangon is now situated is the Irrawaddy-Sittang basin. #2. An ophiolite is a section of Earth's oceanic crust and the underlying upper mantle that has been uplifted and exposed above sea level and often emplaced onto continental crustal rocks. - Wikipedia 210712. #3. The Greek word ophis (snake) is found in the name of ophiolites, because of the superficial texture of some of them. - Wikipedia 210712 #4. Why is it that Burma (Myanmar) is always associated with Naga {na.ga:} - the king of snakes? .
See: Folk Elements in Buddhism -- flk-ele-indx.htm
and to - 07.06. Cult of Naga - ch07-cult-naga.htm
It is even found in Myanmar akshara: "short {na.} looks like a coiled snake who has raised its head to strike.

We must conclude that the story or legend of Four Brahmas do not have any basis. Yet, it was Burma where the Spacemen were supposed to have landed is called the Brahmadesh {brah~ma dé-þa.} which eventually came to be called Burma, and the speech {ba.ma sa.ka:}.

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UKT notes

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End of TIL file