Update: 2021-07-15 10:15 PM -0400
ScriptSpeech.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
index.htm |
Top
Binpathak-indx.htm
•
Introduction
¤ Handwriting skill
¤
Missing link between Asokan and Myanmar script
¤
Deficiency of graphemes compared to phonemes in
BEPS languages
¤ Dialects of
Sanskrit written in Devanagari script
¤
Innovations for unifying Bínpathat (BEPS) languages 
{ba.ïn-pa-þak}:
--Nya-major & Nya-minor ,
• In search of
long lost consonant Nya-major
{Ña.}/
{Ñ}
Though "killed" Nya-major,
{Ña.} has 3 registers,
, it is more of an
approximant than nasal:
[-aeNNYY1],
[-aeNNYY2],
[+]
¤
Esoteric nature of Myanmar akshara :
Akshara-major and Akshara-minor
• In search of phoneme Lha, and Hatho & Yapin sounds
in Celtic languages
• Esoteric Buddhism
¤
King Dhammazedi
{Dûm~ma.sé-ti mín:} - a Master of Yan
{ín: waiz~za}
¤
Mon Paradigm vs. Pyu Paradigm
¤ Pyu script
{pyu sa}
- UKT 180912, 210712
Which is more important to pass on information from one human being to another: script, or native pronunciation, or understandable pronunciation? Does a Bur-Myan speaker has to speak like an American (General American - GA), or Britisher (BBC pronunciation)? In other words, do we have to speak like a native speaker of English?
Now, who is a native speaker? Now that we have recognized that there are many dialects of English, such as Australian or Canadian, can an American or a Britisher claim that they are the only native speakers. When I was young, before WWII, we in Burma were trained to speak in BBC pronunciation. Now that announcers on BBC radio and television programs are speaking with various accents, I do not know what is the BBC-English.
It
is a wonder how the English language, derived from Old English of King Alfred
(849-899 AD),
who burned the cakes [bread], while preparing to expel the Danes who were invading his
country.
UKT 181018, 210712: It is interesting to note that the word "Alfred" is spelled with English short a and a long e "Ælfrēd". Note: the words "short" and "long" refers to vowel lengths, which we timed in eye-blinks: "short" = 1 blnk, and "long" = 2 blinks. What King Alfred spoke was Old English. It has short and longs vowels just like the Eastern systems.
Now a little speculation of my own. England has not only vowel lengths from the East, it also has dragon-killer stories borrowed from the East - particularly Burma. Maung Pauk Kyine
{ta.} and killed a bad-dragon. He must have flown further west and killed another bad-dragon in England. Of course, there were stories of Wizards of Twelve Strings
The speech that Alfred spoke, Old English, has become a "foreign language" in its own country. Now from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_the_Great 210712
"Alfred had a reputation as learned and merciful man of a gracious and level-headed nature who encouraged education, proposing that primary education be conducted in Old English rather than Latin [Roman speech in Latin script] and improving the legal system and military structure and his people's quality of life. He was given the epithet "the Great" in the 16th century."
I now speak with a Canadian English accent with some
French phonology thrown in. My aim is not
correct pronunciation: it should be
understandable pronunciation. But my grandson, Kan Tun, who was born in
Scotland, and brought up in Ontario-Canada would say "a pronunciation mixed with
Burmese accent
{gna.pi. þän}, and English accent
{chiiS pän} all mixed up".
To mitigate the problem of widely different
pronunciations between the three major language
groups
{sa.ka: oap-su.}, I have to
increase the number of BEPS vowels to 16+. Bringing
in Rhoticity exemplified by BEPS Ra'ric notation,
helps to bridge between Bur-Myan (non-rhotic) and
Skt-Dev (highly rhotic especially in the southern
dialect of Tamil & Telugu speakers).
See: Section 7:
SED-MCpp-indx.htm >
p072R.htm and
p088-1.htm (link chk 210715)
The most unfamiliar vowel for Bur-Myan speakers
are the highly rhotic (with R coloring) vowels in
Classical Sanskrit and Hindi :
{iRRi.} ऋ (1 eye-blink), and
{iRRi} ॠ (2 eye-blink).
However, there are two more in Védic Sanskrit, but not in Hindi. They are highly
lateral (with L coloring) ऌ and ॡ .
UKT 210713: It is well known that IE speakers like English and Sanskrit cannot handle vowels with L coloring. For example, English cannot handle Welsh words such as Llywelyn . See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llywelyn_ap_Gruffudd 210713
However, according to my close friend Dr. Maung Di who during his doctorate training in England had a Welsh professor. Burmese speakers can handle the LL words very easily. The Welsh Lly is Bur-Myan{hla.}. From this Llywelyn is
{lhæÑ:ku: mro.}: "Hey, what's this Ha'lè:gu: - Lè:gu: is good-enough."
It is probable that to avoid these vowels
the ancient Bur-Myan phoneticians has used
{ÉÑ}
in our common words, such as:
Though Hindi and Sanskrit speakers can handle the R-colored vowels, what they
cannot handle well are the L-colored vowels ऌ {iLLi.} and ॡ
{iLLi}. Now, listen to Sanskrit Lessons by
1. Sanskrit Grammar
by Dr. Pankaja Rajagopal , Shaale.com: School of
Traditional Indian Arts and Literature:
-
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL-ZRhg4pEMrNHVgVUKqpqKJ2FWBbusosK
170520
Downloaded lessons in TIL Research Station:
-
SktGramRajagopal<Ô> (link chk 210713)
and go to lesson 103,
- Lesson103<Ô>
- Lesson103<))
"I said there are 9 vowels in Sanskrit. They are अ इ उ ऋ ऌ ए ऐ ओ औ
. ... These are the basic 9 vowels. ... Of these, the first five अ इ उ ऋ ऌ ,
they are simple vowels, whilst ए ऐ ओ औ are diphthongs or
combinations of two vowels. ... Now, we'll go into varieties of these vowels.
Before that, I'd like to mention one special feature of the language: as I
listed the 9 vowels ... there is one ऌ which
you don't see in other [Indic] languages. It is written [as if there is an R,
but] ... there is no R
sound when you pronounce it. ..." [UKT: I apologize for
imperfect transcription]
UKT 210713: You'll notice that when ऋ is pronounced there is an R sound. It is
because it is a
-
{Ra.ric} but more rhotic than in Pali-Myan. Now,
-
{Ra.ric} means "wrapped around by the foot of
{Ra.}." It now requires that the foot be lengthened and wrapped "clockwise"
to the very top level. Now, when you come to ऌ
, there is no foot in
{la.}, which implies that ऌ is similar to
-
{la.hswè:} in Mon-Myan, and in Tavoyan dialect, and which was present in
Bur-Myan during Pagan period. Now, don't forget that - before King Anawrahta's
religious reforms - the Burmese were under the sway of the Ari monks
{a·ri: kri:}. Aries - because they did not observe the Monsoon Retreat - were
not properly "monks". They were Rishis with their own codes of conduct. They may
or may not observed celibacy. However, all of them could not be "debased" as
Anawrahta would labelled them. Anawratha being a shrewd politician suppressed
the
{a·ri: kri:}, because they were revered by King Taung'thu'gyi whose throne was
"grabbed" by Anawrahta's father - who was a tax-collector in the service of
Taung'thu'gyi. Here, I must emphasize that I don't claim to be a historian, and
I'm not out to defend the
{a·ri: kri:}. What I, as a linguist, must point out that there was
-
{la.hswè:}, and there is no foot in
{la.}. Therefore, ऌ is equal to Bur-Myan and Mon-Myan
-
{la.hswè:}:
{ili.} ऌ .
Now, I can safely write the 9 Sanskrit vowels:
{a.} अ ,
{I.} इ ,
{U.} उ ,
{iRRi.} ऋ ,
{ili.} ऌ ,
{É} ए ,
{è} ऐ ,
{AU} ओ ,
{ou} औ
The
above includes vowels that are known as Vowel-Letters. Though the Vowel-Letters
are important in Skt-Dev, they are not so Bur-Myan. For example, many including
university graduates in Myanmarpré could not even recognize the Vowel-Letter
{I.}. They think, it a vertical conjunct of
{ka.} over
{ku.}. In Bur-Myan, when we need to "attach" a vowel to a consonant, we use
Vowel-Signs instead of Vowel-Letters, e.g. for forming
{ki.} we use the the
vowel-sign
:
{ka.} +
-->
{ki} . We do not have to know the existence of
{I.}.
You'll notice that Devanagari script is important for us to disambiguate our aksharas. It is listed in computer character map. I still need another - this time from southern India, and Telugu is my choice for the present. Below is a table of consonants in Devanagari, Telugu script and Myanmar for comparison: on the right is a modified table from Wikipedia: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_language 210714
क క
/ ग గ
/ घ ఘ
/ / ङ ఙ
च చ/ ज జ
/ झ ఝ
/ / ञ ఞ
ट ట/ ठ ఠ
/ ड డ
/ ढ ఢ
/ / ण ణ
त త/ द ద
/ ध ధ
प న/ फ ఫ
/ ब బ
/ / म మ
य య
/ र ర
श శ/ ष ష
- sibilant
ह హ
Another point for comparison is conjugation or
conjunct formation. Bur-Myan term for conjunct is
{paaHT hsín.} "Pali vertical conjunct".
Since there is no term for horizontal conjunct
I've coined the word
{paaHT twè:}. We'll take only one example.
See:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telugu_script 210714
Devanagari :
--> क + ् + ख --> क्ख
Telugu :
--> క + ్ + ఖ
--> కఖ
Because different computer rendering engines work
differently conjunction on character map and on this
page are different. What is shown in Wikipedia is
different from what you see here.
UKT 210715: To one, who as a child of 5, had to spend months to develop handwriting skill, by writing perfectly rounded circles, handwriting skill is a must to learn the Bur-Myan language.
We were then in the Zeroth GradeSee videos:
- How to write devanagari script । learn to write devanagari lipi alphabet - Bing video 210715
- how to write devanagari alphabet - Bing video 210715
Speaking comes naturally to a human. Writing a script needs a dexterity of fingers. Of the human species of interest to me, Homo neanderthalensis, Homo erectus, Homo sapiens, and a recently discovered one Nesher Ramla Homo. See: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nesher_Ramla_Homo 210715. who could learn to write, the one with the most dexterous thumb would be the first to learn.
Now, see:
https://www.eng.yale.edu/grablab/pubs/Feix_Interface2015.pdf 210715
"Enhanced manual grasping is considered to have been a key adaptation separating
the earliest primates from other early mammals [1,2]. This ability to evolve
among primates to become most refined in humans; co-evolving with bipedalism,
tool-use, brain enlargement and language [1-7]. [UKT: "language" is presumably
speech, but we can expect script to follow closely] Compared with other
primates, the anatomy of the human hand helps to facilitate unique abilities,
including forceful precision pinch grips between the pad of the thumb and the
pads of the fingers and precision handling (manipulating objects within one
hand). [3,5] "
The muscle used primarily is the flexor pollicis longus located in the forearm.
It is most commonly used to flex and control the thumb and is only found in
humans -- no other primates have the muscle. Now see Neurokinesthetic
Approach to Hand-function and Handwriting, by Mary Benbow, (date of
publication not given) in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
-
MBenbow-NeurokineHandwrit<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 210715)
"Functional handwriting must be taught more efficiently, thoroughly and
permanently to all school children."
The oldest script found in the Indian subcontinent extending into Myanmarpré is not Devanagari nor its immediate predecessor - the Nagari. It is Asokan the script of Magadha Mahajanapada. Magadha Kingdom was just a part of the Mahajanapadha -- boundaries of which had changed from time to time: now it has totally disappeared. On the other hand the Mahajapadha is largely defined by the culture and not by race or religion. To me, kingdom is a political unit, but janapadha is linguistic and culturally defined.
The word janapadha is the ancestor of Bur-Myan word
{za.na.poad} which the MLC MED2006 defined as:
•
UKT 210715: Though MLC allows it,However, it is to me a place inhabited by peoples of same or similar culture such as Bamah and Mon defined by language (primarily the same consonants and verbs), the same or similar diet, the same or similar music, exposure to the same or similar diseases, exposure to the same or similar weather conditions, the same or similar dress, etc.
An example is the word
{da-na.ku.þol}. - bkcnd-danakuthol<)) (link chk 210716)
Those at research station can watch - MonMyan-Dana'kutho<Ô> / bkp<Ô> (link chk 210716)
The first 4 phonemes are Pali-Myan, and both Mon-Myan and Bur-Myan write the same:
Deeper down in BEPS, we see six spoken languages
belonging to three language groups - the
additional being Mon-Myan belonging to
Austro-Asiatic (Aus-Asi) language group.
UKT 180812, 210716: The three language groups are:
-
-
-{au-a-si} , also known as
My dream is to come up with a Lingua Franca for the whole of South-east Asia. If
only I could link Bur-Myan and Mon-Myan through the use of Pali-Myan, we may be
able to come up with my dream of a Lingua Franca for South-east Asia -
not speech but script - using Romabama. After all these were Buddhist countries
at one time before the incursion of Sanskrit of Hindus and Arabic of Moslems.
Finally by use of Asokan, we may be able to include the whole of Indian
subcontinent. I'm sure Asoka the Great will be pleased.
See also:
https://www.quora.com/Are-there-lingua-Franca-in-east-and-Southeast-Asia
210716
The oldest writing system
{sa} found in the Indian subcontinent is that
on Asoka inscriptions, primarily found
throughout the Magadha Empire of the Indian
subcontinent. Its direct descendant, according
to Rev. F. Mason, is the circularly rounded
Myanmar script still used for writing Pali-Myan
(Pali speech in Myanmar akshara). See:
¤ A Pali grammar on the basis of
Kaccayano
{shín kic~sæÑ:} in Bur-Myan) - by
Rev. F. Mason, 1867 -
PEG-indx.htm (link chk 210716)
- (on line)
http://archive.org/details/apaligrammar...
130517
See downloaded pdf in TIL HD-PDF and
SD-PDF libraries:
- FMason-KicsiPaliGram-1868<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 210716)
-
FMason-KicsiPaliGram-1868-German<Ô> / bkp<Ô> (link chk 210716)
- FMasonMazard-KicsiPali<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 210716)
-
FMason-PaliFromBurPontOfView1872<Ô> / bkp<Ô> (link chk 210716)
"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."
UKT 180808: I would like to have more evidence,
even flimsy ones, to support Mason's
assertion, when I came across the Pyu script
{pyu-sa} of Myanmarpré which is extinct. As for
speech it is possible that some dialects, such
as Yaw
{yau:} and Mindon
{mín:toan:}, might be the ones surviving.
See The Yaw dialect of Burmese, by John Okell,
1989, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
- JOkell-YawDialect<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180814)
UKT 180815: With Pyu in between as the missing link we can see a close relationship between Asokan and Myanmar-script (both Bur-Myan and Mon-Myan.
The question remains, where is the relationship between Asokan and Devanagari. As a possible solution, I tried to find a missing link without a horizontal line on top. I've proposed using the Gujarati script, which does not have the horizontal line, and which is said to be very similar to Devanagari.
UKT: 170208, 120222, 140223, 171208, 180827, 181007:
UKT 181007: I emphasize that BEPS-Myan is not Bur-Myan. Thus,
{rhín kic~sæÑ:} is spelling in Bur-Myan, and
{shin kic~sæÑ:} is the spelling in BEPS-Myan. BEPS and Romabama have been invented for inter-transcription of Bur-Myan and Eng-Lat. As model, I am relying on Pal-Myan and Skt-Dev.
Long time ago, as I was starting on Romabama, I realized that to transcribe Eng-Lat into Bur-Myan and for the reverse process, I need dedicated graphemes for hissing sibilants, /ʃ/ and /s/. Then I noted that Skt-Dev has dedicated graphemes: श for /ʃ/ and ष for /s/. The problem is not only in Eng-Lat and Skt-Dev, but also in Bur-Myan.
Problem in Eng-Lat: Not only Eng-Lat is
notoriously non-phonetic, it is sorely
in need of both phonemes and graphemes. For
example, Eng-Lat has only 2 nasals /n/ (dental)
and /ma/ (labial), whereas Bur-Myan has 3 more:
/ŋ/ (velar), ɲ (palatal), and ɳ
(retroflex). Moreover, Eng-Lat has no
tenuis sounds.
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tenuis_consonant
180827
"In linguistics, a tenuis consonant
(/ˈ tɛn.juɪs/)
[2]
[1] is an obstruent that is unvoiced,
unaspirated, unpalatalized, and unglottalized.
In other words, it has the
"plain" phonation of /p/, /t/, /ts/,
/tʃ/, /k/ with a voice onset
time close to zero (a zero-VOT consonant),
as Spanish p, t, ch, k or English p,
t, k after s (spy,
sty, sky)."
UKT 180828: It is instructive to look into the IPA rendering of the word tenuis /ˈ tɛn.juɪs/
/'/ primary stress; /t/ 't' in <tie>;
/ɛ/ 'e' in <dress>: /n/ 'n' in <nigh>;
/./ syllable break
/j/ 'y' in <yes>; /u/ 'u' in <influence>;
/ɪ/ 'i' in <kit>; /s/ 's' in <sigh>
Problem in Linguistics: Whenever we talk
of tenuis consonants, we run into
fortis-lenis consonants: the IPA provides
no specific means for representation of a
fortis–lenis contrast.
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fortis_and_lenis
180827
"In linguistics, fortis and lenis
(/ˈfɔːrtɪs
English has fortis consonants, such as the p in <pat> , with a corresponding lenis consonant, such as the b in <bat>. Fortis and lenis consonants may be distinguished by tenseness or other characteristics, such as voicing, aspiration, glottalization, velarization, length, and length of nearby vowels. [UKT ¶]
UKT 180828: Transcription of p in <pat> and b in <bat> is a problem in BEPS, unless we put in 2 killed consonants in the coda:
{pækt} and {bækt}. To analyse such problems, I have to consider PTK both as onset and coda.
Now the trouble for BEPS. English has no tenuis consonants. Therefore it has no PTK consonants from the point of a Bur-Myan speaker. It has only PʰTʰKʰ consonants. This point may not be important for the English speaker, but for a Burmese it is of prime importance. Thus the terms lenis/fortis is a no-no in BEPS, and I'll only use voiceless/voiced. It is for this reason, I've to group the consonants by columns:
At present only the coda: (note the nuclear vowel of the syllable)
Coda-consonant by column vl-c1c2
{pûp} /ʌ/
{pût} /ʌ/
{pak} /a/
Coda-consonant by column vd-c3c4
{bûp} /ʌ/
{bût} /ʌ/
{bak} /a/
{bæck}* /æ/ (or /í/) - the regular English word is <back>
Note: In English it is usual to substitute k with c .
* Bur-Myan speakers will notice thatBEPS has to accept 2 killed consonants in the coda, which is not permitted in regular Bur-Myan.
Fortis and lenis were coined for languages where
the contrast between sounds such as p and
b does not involve voicing (vibration
of the vocal folds cords).
[1]
Problem in Skt-Dev: However, it is unfortunate
that Skt-Dev does not have any non-hissing thibilant,
and has listed Bur-Myan
{þa.} as a hissing sibilant. IAST reflecting the
phonemics of Sanskrit proceeds to give transliterations
that do not agree with IPA. It should be noted that
Eng-Lat has the non-hissing thibilant in words like
<thin> /θɪn/ - DJPD16-535. Moreover,
in Skt-Dev, there is a mix-up of /b/
{ba.}, and /w/
{wa.}.
Problem in Bur-Myan:
In Bur-Myan /ʃ/ is commonly written as
{rha.}, and sometimes as
{þhya.}. Being conjuncts, they break
down when placed under a Virama
{a.þût}. This is not suitable for BEPS.
I then realized that for BEPS as a group, I have no choice but to come up with my own dedicated graphemes, which are not conjunct-medials, and other innovations.
There is strong link between Asokan script and Myanmar script - stronger than Devanagari script. I base my view on the circularly rounded shape of the individual glyph. There is about 33% similarity between the two. Rev. F. Mason (Taungoo, 1867), went further. Of course, there are scripts with rounded shapes - but theirs is not circular.
It is now accepted that the oldest speech
{sa.ka:} is Vedic, most probably of the Tib-Bur
(Tibeto-Burman language) group, and not of the
Classical Sanskrit of Panini. Sanskrit belongs
to IE (Indo-European) group. It was also used by
speakers of Aus-Asi (Austro-Asiatic) group such
as the Tamils. Tamils using Tamil-Brahmi is
similar to Mon-Myan using the basic Myanmar
script.
UKT 171208, 180326, 180403, 180802: I've modified the postulate of Shin Kic'si
The writing system, script
{sa}, of King Asoka
{a.þau:ka. mín:}, should be called Asokan
(now erroneously dubbed Brahmi). This has led
many to believe it is the script of Ponnar
{poaN~Na:} - the language of Hinduism, the Atta
{ût~ta.} religion. Emperor Asoka
{a.þau:ka. mín:} was Buddhist. He was never
a Hindu. Before his conversion to Buddhism -
the scientific philosophy based on the Anatta
{a.nût~ta.} doctrine, he was a Jain - a religion
similar to Buddhism. Anatta
{a.nût~ta.} is the antithesis of Atta
{ût~ta.} and the two can never be reconciled.
There are at least two major kinds of Ponnar
{poaN~Na:} 'bramin': the Braahmana Poannar
{braah~ma.Na. poaN~Na:} (the northern kind who
speak one kind of dialect of Sanskrit), and the
Shaivite Ponnar
{þi-wa. poaN~Na:} (the southern kind who speak a
different dialect). Their faith is the Atta
{ût~ta.} faith the antithesis of Buddhism. To dubbed
the Asokan as the Brahmi script is the greatest
disservice done to comparative study of language.
I usually differentiate the two Ponnar
{poaN~Na:}, by how they pronounce the close-vowels. The northern
{poaN~Na:} use /i/, whereas the southern ones use /u/.
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richa
170126, 171122, 180822
"Rucha or Richa , Skt-Dev ऋचा ... In Marathi or in Kannada [modern south
Indian languages], it is pronounced as Rucha. In Hindi [modern north
Indian language], it is pronounced as Richa ... The pronunciation of the
given name 'Richa' varies based on the geography and native language of
the speakers. Hindi speaking populace would pronounce the Sanskrit word as "richa"
as opposed to Marathi or Kannada speaking populace. Both the 'ru' and 'ri'
pronunciations of the given name are correct and are regional variants. "
This has given rise to at least two varieties of Brahmi script: Asokan-Brahmi
and Tamil-Brahmi.
See the following Wikipedia articles:
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brahmi_script 180802
-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Early_Indian_epigraphy 180802
Asokan script is a phonetic script and could transcribe
many speeches of various linguistic groups of India:
Tibeto-Burman (Tib-Bur), Austro-Asiatic (Aus-Asi) and
Indo-European (IE). It predates the International
Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) by thousands of years. However,
"the early Asokan variant of Brahmi lacks many
conjuncts and vocalic letters."
-
http://www.virtualvinodh.com/wp/asokan-brahmi/ -180711
Yet, Asokan may not be the precursor of Pal-Myan,
because of the possible absence of Pali vertical
conjuncts,
{paaHT-hsín.}. I'll have to look into
¤ A Pali grammar on the basis of Kaccayano
{shín kic~sæÑ:} in Bur-Myan) - by
Rev. F. Mason, 1867. See TIL HD-PDF and
SD-PDF libraries:
-
FMason-KicsiPaliGram<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 171224)
-
FMasonMazard-KicsiPali<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 171224)
Read also ¤ An Introduction to Kachchyana's Grammar
of Palilanguage, by James d'Alwis, 1863,
-
JAlwis-KachchayanaPaliGram<Ô> /
Bkp<ÔHgt; (link chk 180730)
Case of Nya'gyi & Nya'lé, vs. Nya-major & Nya-minor .
UKT 180915: English transcription of Bur-Myan words have created unnecessary confusion. An example is Nya'gyi vs. Nya-major. The correct Bur-Myan term should have been Nya'kri which the majority of Bamah speakers would not accept because it sounded Rakhine dialect. I have no choice but to drop the "gyi" and use the correct English term "major". It's counterpart Nya'lé is now Nya-minor .Case of phoneme
{lha.} lost in English and Hindi, but present in Welsh as double L
UKT 181119: I came across my first Welsh word in the name of Prince Llywelyn. Our teacher, if I remember correctly was Miss Annie d'Silva, and she warned that LL is difficult to pronounce. This she must have heard from her English teacher. Miss Annie was Anglo-Indian living in Burma, but nobody must have told her that the Welsh LL sound is the same as Burmese
{ha.hto:} which is a very common conjunct.
That Hindi has no Ha'tho:
{ín:sain}-town who was always frustrated pronouncing the name of a Burmese town Hlegu
{lhæÑ:ku:} which was then in Insein district. My father said, the Bengali used to complain: "Hey what is this Ha'LèGu {ha.lè:ku:}? LèGu {lè:gu:} is good-enough! My father for a while had to work as a junior clerk under the Bengali Chief clerk.
That the Welsh LL is Burmese
See also: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages 190131I still have a question. What is the /l/ sound: is it from Dental
{la.}, or Retroflex
{La.}? I expect it to be Retroflex, because in ancient languages Retroflex is quite common. However, I still have to check, and can expect no answer from the Westerners. See the Wikipedia articles below.
1. Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ll 181119
"In Welsh, ll stands for a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative sound. The IPA signifies this sound as [ɬ]. This sound is very common in place names in Wales because it occurs in the word Llan, for example, Llanelli, where the ll appears twice, or Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, where the ll appears three times.
"In Welsh, 'Ll' is a separate letter from L (e.g. lwc sorts before llaw). This led to its ligature being included in the Latin Extended Additional Unicode block. The capital ligature appears similar to a joined "IL" and the minuscule ligature like "ll" joined across the top. [4]. This ligatured character is not used in Modern Welsh. "2. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Latin-script_digraphs#L 181119
"〈lh〉, in Occitan, Gallo, and Portuguese, represents a palatal lateral approximant /ʎ/. In many Indigenous languages of the Americas it represents a voiceless alveolar lateral fricative /ɬ/. [UKT ¶]In the transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages it represents a dental lateral, /l̪/. In the Gwoyeu Romatzyh romanization of Mandarin Chinese, initial 〈lh〉 indicates an even tone on a syllable beginning in /l/, which is otherwise spelled 〈l〉. [UKT ¶]
In Middle Welsh it was sometimes used to represent the sound /ɬ/ as well as ⟨ll⟩, in modern Welsh it has been replaced by 〈lh〉.
UKT: 180827
In the course of my work, I've to come up with
innovations, coining new glyphs such as BEPS
basic akshara
{S~hpa.} ष्थ , and even one-to-one
definitions, such as Syllable, Word, Sentence, and Syntax.
TIL HTML editor 180630: For BEPS coined aksharas such as BHS bookmarks, the following convention is used:
1. m - usual m; [m°] - ṃ
2. s - usual s; [s°] - ṣ ; [s¹] - ś :- e.g. «aṃśa» - [am°s¹a]
UKT 180511: What does the glyph
{a.} represent? In Eng-Lat script, a
represents the vowel /a/ without specifying the
vowel-duration. It could be either
{a.} of duration 1 blnk (eye-blink), or
{a} 2 blnk. It could also be the negation of
something. However, the negation in Bur-Myan
is not
{a.}, but
{ma.}.
Bringing in
{a.} as negation in Pal-Myan is a problem in
Bur-Myan. For example,
{a.} is used as negation in
{da-na.} -
{a·da-na.}. Notice the use of
"mid-dot".
A simple example of "mid-dot" is
in the combination of
{a.} and
{ma.}. The combination can give rise to two
different speech-sounds:
{a.ma.} and
{a·ma.} differentiated by the use of central vowel
schwa /ə/.
Dedicated glyph for schwa /ə/: TIL uses
'mid-dot' as symbol for /ə/ Alt0183 {·}. We
have a problem in pronunciation of Bur-Myan
{a.ma.} which can be "female animal" and
"elder sister"
{a·ma.} - with a 'mid-dot'. Not to get confused,
the official spelling for "elder sister" is
{ic-ma.}.
As an example where
{þhya.} stands for /ʃ/ see MLC MED2006-610
for Bur-Myan name for Bael fruit
{U.þhic}. Therefore, I am representing the three
basic aksharas and their killed counterparts as:
/ʃ/ with
{sha.} श , and
{sh} श्
/s/ with{Sa.} ष , and
{S} ष्
/θ/ with{þ} स्
-----
/?/ with{Ña.} ? , and
{Ñ}
Bur-Myan Nya'major
Pal-Myan Nya'major
-->~
{ñ~ña.}.
Bur-Myan Nya'major{piñ~ña} 'education' which is usually written as
{pa~ña} in both Bur-Myan and Pal-Myan.
Hindi and other Indic speakers should not
forget the virama ् at the end of
the syllables, e.g. the word pronounced
in Hindi as "Ram" is spelled
"Rama" राम
{ra-ma.mín:}/
{ra-ma. nût}. Only when you put a virama to
kill the inherent vowel of म, can
you pronounce this word as "Ram"
{raam} /raːm/. (Notice the IPA
triangular colon.) That is why I always
pronounce it in the Pali way as "Rama".
(I thank my Deep River friend Hashad Patil
for this remark.)
Skt-Dev (IE) was deficient in graphemes compared to Bur-Myan (Tib-Bur). And moreover English missed two whole columns, c2 & c4 of Akshara matrix:
Skt-Dev (IE) had to borrow what it lacked from Myanmar (Tib-Bur) script changing the pronunciation as well. We can also have the reverse where Myanmar (Tib-Bur) has to borrow from Skt-Dev. We note the following cases:
Case#1: Skt-Dev has no <wa> /w/ (rounded bilabial): it has only <va> /v/ (labio-dental)
A parallel case: Eng-Lat <wa> /o/ --> Eng-Lat <va> /v/
UKT: 170211: Remember this note is on language, both speech
For religion, I will have to look further to a time before Roman invasion which came about because of the Britain being rich in copper (Cu)
{kré:ni} and tin (Sn) two minerals needed to make the alloy bronze
{kré:Ño} to make implements of war. Note what Myanmarpré was noted for is brass
{kré:wa}, a softer alloy of copper (Cu) and zinc (Zn). Brass is not fit for making war implements and was considered to be a metal of peace.
In fact the ancients Jews forbid the use of bronze and iron in constructing their fire-altar, and allowed only brass to be used. Bronze and iron, were not allowed on or near it, because these metals were used as implements of war. See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altar_(Bible) 170211
"... The altar could not be carved using utensils made of iron or of bronze (Exodus 20:25), nor were any allowed on or near it, because iron and bronze were used for implements of war. ..."Remember the hardness scale:
(soft) copper (Cu){þän} (hard)
Note: By hardness scale is meant the ability to scratch to make a mark. Thus, an iron needle can be used to scratch a bronze plate, whilst a brass needle can scratch copper. Thus we use an iron stylus to write on palm leaves, copper and its alloys, and silver & gold substrates. See Hardness scale for scratching:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohs_scale_of_mineral_hardness (180918)
"The Mohs scale of mineral hardness is a qualitative ordinal scale characterizing scratch resistance of various minerals through the ability of harder material to scratch softer material."The English language of Old Britain (before the Viking invasion), known as Old English the language of Alfred the Great (849 - 899)
From Wikipedia on timeline in Myanmarpré:
• 638 (March) AD - Pyu of Sri Ksetra launched a new calendar
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Myanmar 180726
• 832 AD - Pyu city-states destroyed by Nanzhao raids; and
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Burmese_history 170211
• 849 AD - King Pyinbya founded Pagan (Bagan)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Burmese_history 170211For esoteric beliefs (religion) I will have to go into a time before the Roman general (later Emperor) Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) invasion of the British Isles, and the time of his invasion of Britain in (55-54 BC), and to the time of Caradoc, chief of the Catuvellauni (called Caractacus by the Romans) and the Celtic war-chieftainess Boudicca aka Boadicea. See Religion of Ancient Celts by J A Macculloch, 1911, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
- JAMacculloch-ReligionAnciCelts<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 171209)The Celtic beliefs have many similarities to those of Myanmarpré. I found the Burmese-Celtic parallels from my study the esoteric beliefs in the legends of King Arthur and Wizard Merlin. Caveat : My study of esoteric beliefs are from "shady" sources, who do not want to reveal themselves in public and must be taken only as hear-say.
From Wikipedia on timeline in Myanmarpré: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Burmese_history 170211.
• 1500s BC - Earliest evidence of copper and bronze works, rice growing, domesticating chickens and pigs in Irrawaddy valley;
• 1500 BC - Iron-working settlements south of present-day Mandalay;
• 180 BC - Beikthano city fortified by Pyu people who had entered the Irrawaddy valley from north and beginning of Pyu city-states; and
• 70 AD - Pyu city of Halin in existence.UKT 170211: See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_Arthur 170211
" King Arthur is a legendary British leader who, according to medieval histories and romances, led the defence of Britain against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries AD. The details of Arthur's story are mainly composed of folklore and literary invention, and his historical existence is debated and disputed by modern historians. [2]UKT 170211: Timeline Myanmarpré - The Pyu of Sri Ksetra Kingdom launch the Burmese calendar with the start date of 22 March 638. King Arthur would have lived at a time of Pyu period.
UKT 181113: Read Le Morte d'Arthur , by Sir Thomas Malory, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
• TMalory-LeMorteDAuthur<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 181113)UKT 170210: See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin 170210
"Merlin (Welsh: Myrddin) is a legendary figure best known as the wizard featured in Arthurian legend and medieval Welsh poetry. The standard depiction of the character first appears in Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written c. 1136, and is based on an amalgamation of previous historical and legendary figures. ... Merlin's traditional biography casts him as a cambion: born of a mortal woman, sired by an incubus (f. succubus), the non-human from whom he inherits his supernatural powers and abilities. [2]"The greatest achievement for a wizard to attain is the ability to make a dead body animate by introducing a soul Ka (Egypt) aka Bardo (Tibet) from a dead person - usually an evil entity. See :
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_the_Dead 170208
- Note: It was The Ka of Gifford Hillary, by Dennis Wheatley, 1956, which led me to the Egyptian Book of the Dead .
#1. Egyptian Book of the Dead by E A Wallis-Budge, 1898 in TIL PDF libraries:
- EAWallisBudge-EgyptBkDead<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 171209)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_concept_of_the_soul 170208
#2. Tibetan Book of the Dead by W Y Evans-Wentz, 1st ed 1917, 3rd ed 1957
- WYEvansWentz-TibetBkDead<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 171209)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bardo_Thodol 170208The wizard (f. witch) has to attain Rank#12 to do this. This is the same in Myanmar belief. Rank#12 is known as one who can wear 12 strings:
{hsè.nhic kro:tût}. He or she is known as a
{ka.wé} and the esoteric science is known as
{mhau píñ~ña}. If you would like to know more about
#3. The Life of Milarepa by Tsangyön Heruka, transl. by A Quintman, Peguin series, 2010
- AQuintman-PeguinMilarepa<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 171210)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milarepa 170208Those who want to know more about, occult, black magic and similar topics should read the works of Dennis Wheatley (1897 - 1977)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Wheatley 170210
"... During the Second World War, Wheatley was a member of the London Controlling Section, which secretly coordinated strategic military deception and cover plans. His literary talents led to his working with planning staffs for the War Office. He wrote numerous papers for them, including suggestions for dealing with a possible Nazi invasion of Britain (recounted in his works Stranger than Fiction and The Deception Planners). The most famous of his submissions to the Joint Planning Staff of the war cabinet was on "Total War". ..."
Bur-Myan:
{wa.} (Tib-Bur) (bilabial-rounded) -->
{ba.} (Tib-Myan) (bilabial)
Skt-Dev: व «va» (IE)
(labio-dental) + diagonal --> ब
«ba» (IE) (bilabial)
Case#2: Skt-Dev in need of dental-fricative hisser ष has to borrow प by adding a vertical line.
Case#3 : The MLC-approved Bur-Myan graphemes
{þhya.}, and worse
{rha.} for phoneme /ʃ/ are
unsatisfactory in Romabama. The problem
is due to Bur-Myan lacking the
necessary dental-frication hisser grapheme.
What we have is only the palatal-plosive
stop. Since to adopt a new grapheme would
play havoc in the usual transcription
between Burmese and English, I have the
adopt the following scheme:
Palatal-plosive stop:
{sa.}/
{c}
Dental-fricative hisser:
Dental-fricative husher:Palatal-approximant Nya'gyi :
Palatal-plosive stop Nya'lé ;Note: Pal-Myan made a mess of Nya'gyi :
as in the Bur-Myan word for 'education'
Case#4 : In BEPS as a group, to meet the one-to-one grapheme to phoneme, it is imperative to get rid of all the "digraphs", and to get rid of ideas of "aspiration", "allophones" and "glottal stop /ʔ/". Note: the glottal stop /ʔ/ is presented as / ' / by MLC. We have to introduce the idea of tenuis letters in Eng-Lat.
Another reason for getting rid of the digraph is because of its mix-up with diphthong. Bur-Myan and Pali-Myan has no diphthongs. I presume it is also the case with Mon-Myan. What the western phoneticians thought to be diphthongs are really monothongs written in two English letters, such as <th> for /θ/. The English <th> is transliterated in IAST for [tʰ]. As for the absence of coda sounds in Bur-Myan as promoted by the MLC (Myanmar Language Commission), I would have to say that it is only true for the Mandalay and Yangon (Irrawaddy valley) Burmese accents.
There are at least 3 digraphs (consonants) to get rid of in Myanmar script, and their replacements in BEPS which are all ASCII compatible.
In fact by Myanmar language we mean the languages of all indigenous ethnics who write in the Myanmar script, e.g. Bur-Myan and Mon-Myan are different languages. Bur-Myan is the dialect of the Irrawaddy valley, but the so-called Rakhine and Tavoyan are dialects of Bur-Myan. Yet they are all Myanmar languages because they use the Myanmar script (except Chin and Kachin which write in Latin script.).
- UKT 180803, 180915
There are two contenders for r2c5 cell of the
Myanmar akshara matrix. In both Bur-Myan and
Mon-Myan tables the occupier of r2c5 cell is Nya-major
{Ña.}, but in Pal-Myan table the occupier is Nya-minor
{ña.}.
I'm using MLC Burmese Orthography, 1st
ed 1986, ed. U Tun Tint (in Bur-Myan) as my
reference. On p090-p095, I find entries with
Onset for Nya'gyi to be 45 and for Nya'lé
as 6 only, showing that the Bur-Myan Nya'gyi
{Ña.} was the rightful occupier of r2c5. However,
for BEPS, I've no option except to move Nya'gyi out
- maybe into Kingdom-come.
It was also probable (I said "probable" and write my conjecture in a hilarious manner) done also by ancient Bur-Myan phoneticians when Pali from Sri Lanka appeared on the scene in the days of Anawrahta's religious reformation when the Bur-Myan language of the Burmese monks - Ari aka Arigyi ("gyi" to show their "primitive nature" and who are be "feared" if not "hated".) had a setback.
The Arigyis were replaced by the Theravada monks from Thaton - Mon-Myan speakers who could not understand the speech of Bamah speakers of Northern Burma with capitals in Pagan and Taguang.
Nya-major in the Onset, was to some extent
replaced by
{gnra.} probably derived from Mon-Myan r1c5
{gn~ra.}. Nya-major in the Onset, has been
equated to
{gnra.} by U Tha Myat in his Burmese Orthography,
1961, p.085, available in TIL Research Library in
ink-on-paper book. What I have is the original
book which has deteriorate somewhat.
UKT 180804, 180930: It seems that the Pyus had lived in sizeable communities without a central power headed by a king. They were mostly farmers, mostly peacefully since the Stone Age, in a fertile land among tropical forests.
See: Origins of Myanmar farming , a news paper article from Science , by Etienne Berges, - https://www.mmtimes.com/news/origins-myanmar-farming.html 180924
"Myanmar’s archaeological research seems at a turning point. A recent ancient DNA study of individuals living in ancient Myanmar suggests that the story is more complex than previously thought. At the step of a volcano in Sagaing division, to the east of Chadwin river, lies the prehistoric cemetery of Oakaie 1. There, dozens of individuals were buried between 3200 and 2700 years ago alongside pottery, beads and bracelets. Among them lie two adult women, dubbed “S28” and “S29” by the archaeologists who found them."The pair were probably wrapped in a burial shroud and buried 3,000 years ago, after having lived in Myanmar’s late Neolithic era. Both were discovered in 2015 by the Franco-Myanmar Archaeological Cooperation Project, directed by U Aung Kyaw and Dr T.O Pryce. S28 and S29’sDNA have been analysed as part of the first ever whole genome study of prehistoric South East Asia, recently published in Science."
Tagaung was the first kingdom established
by King Abiraza
{a.bi.ra-za mín:} who had fled from Magadha
Janapada when defeated by the Védic speakers the new
arrivals from the Persian (Iranian) plateau in the
Battle of the Ten kings aka
«dāśarājñá» (c. 14th century BCE). His
subjects in Tagaung were indigenous Pyus who
later became merged with Bamah - the fast horse
riders
{mrûm~ma} from the further north.
The episode is described in a jingle:
{mrûm~ma a. sa./ ta.kaún: ka.//)
The episode is not a conquest by the horse riders over the Pyus. It is the result of the invasion of Pyu territory by the kingdom of Nanchao, now a part of China. Nanchao was expanding and it needed more soldiers. It raided the Pyus and carried off a large number, 3,000, of able-bodied males. The Pyus females probably without much objection accepted the horse riders as husbands, and so the merger is not war but a large scale wedding!
Those at the TIL Research station can watch a
video on one Myanmar-horseman who became
one of my paternal tutelary Ma'nes, MyinByuShin
Nat
{mrín:hpru-shín nût}. He was a fast horse
rider who prided his horsemanship and his
favourite white horse. He betted his life against
the onrush of water along the bed of a wide dry
river in Upper Burma - the area of my
father's ancestors. MyinByuShin had almost crossed
the river-bed through which water would rush along
as soon as dark clouds start to cover the hills
above. It is said, the onrush of water caught just
the hind leg of the horse, and carried away both
the horse and rider to become a horse-riding Nat.
There was no sword-fights and no drinking: the
dance was that of a brave man - the perfect
husband for a Pyu bride!
-
MyinHpruShin<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk
180805)
The boisterous Myanmar orchestra is set to the
music of a galloping horse. According to my
paternal grandmother Daw Choak, when her father
U Yan Shin's (himself a fast horse rider) family
fortune was about to rise, she as child of ten,
could hear the jingling bells of a fast horse
galloping around their house throughout the whole
night.
Read Battle of the Ten kings: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Ten_Kings 180804.
UKT 180804: I've written on the Battle of Ten Kings in my TIL Pali-English Dictionary of 2012-10-31, quoting an account mentioned in the Glass Palace Chronicles and translation by U Pe Maung Tin.
Actually, I cannot let Nya-major
{Ña.}/
{Ñ} just die (into the Kingdom-come).
I've moved it down to Approximant row,
and let Nya-minor
{ña.}/
{ñ} stay in r2c5.
However, in IPA table Palatal-approximant cell is
occupied by
{ya.} and its killed-form
{ý}. Since Bur-Myan speakers tend to finish the word
endings with emphasis, I can easily move the
{ya.}/
{ý} to the neighbouring velar cell, and place
{Ña.}/
{Ñ} in the Palatal-approximant cell.
Now, I must look for entries with Coda for killed-Nya'gyi
{Ñ} with three registers:
-
{æÑ.} (1 eye-blink),
-
{æÑ} (2 blnk), and
-
{æÑ:} (2 blnk with emphasis).
For plosive-stops checked by
{Ñ.}
r2
{sa.}:
e.g. ---- ,
{sæÑ},
{sæÑ:}
---
{hsa.}: e.g. ---- ,
{hsæÑ},
{hsæÑ:}
For medial-conjunctions checked by killed-
{Ñ.}
r1
{kya.},
{kra.}: e.g.
,
,
;
,
,
---
{hkya.}, {hkra.}: e.g. ---,
,
to be continued
UKT 180327, 180919: Whether we like it or not, we Bur-Myan speakers as a group
are immersed in Esotericism. Perhaps, as the legend goes the most prominent
Master of Myanmar Esotericism is BoBoAung {pa.hta.män Bo:Bo:aún}.
See Section 5: Myanmar language and culture, and Myanmar religions :
organized and folk.
¤ Folk Elements in Buddhism --
flk-ele-indx.htm > 05.
Cult of Magus -
ch05-magus.htm / Cult of Runes (part of
ch05-magus.htm)
Masters of the Buddhist Occult: the Burmese Weikzas -
weikza.htm
(UKT: Though this work is full of mistakes, I am
including it, to show how a scholarly article can be misleading.)
I am preparing an article "Weikzas of the Right-hand Path and Kawé
of the Left-hand Path", from:
Soans and Bilus , see:
MC-indx.htm >
MCc1pp-indx.htm > p072R.htm
"Soans are still supposed to be present in Yaw, the area of
Pondaung-Ponnya range."
As I go into this section, which can be misinterpreted as biased (opinionated maybe: but not biased), I must make myself clear. I have never proselytized anyone. I have no wish to belittle any religion - ancient or modern. I do not wish to offend anyone: just as I honour my parents, grandparents and their fore-parents, I view what they have believed to be worshipful - whether these gods and goddesses are axiomatic or not. It was the position of my late father U Tun Pe, who had advised me: "you may or may not believe in a god or nût; but never offend it. Leave it alone." He gave an example - of his friend U Hpo Zan and our family friend - who made a point to offend U Shin Gyi Nût the guardian of waterways of the Delta. It is believed U Hpo Zan, a Methodist-Christian, met a tragic end.
{ka.gnèý}, companion of Ka'major
{ka.kri:} UKT 180403, 180911:
I've been trying to find out what a Bur-Myan speaker would understand by the terms esoteric and esotericism. First how do we understand it in English. The meanings given in AHTD does not convey much:
es·o·ter·ic - adj. ¹. a. Intended for or understood by only a particular group: an esoteric cult. See note at mysterious . b. Of or relating to that which is known by a restricted number of people. ². a. Confined to a small group: esoteric interests. b. Not publicly disclosed; confidential. - AHTD
es·o·ter·i·cism - n. ¹. Esoteric teachings or practices. ². The quality or condition of being esoteric.
Looking back into Bur-Myan usage, I remember by what is meant by
Paritta {pa.rait ta.ra:} well-known to Myanmar-Buddhists, by U Sao Htun
Hmat Win, Dept. of Religious Affairs, Rangoon, Burma, 1981, in:
- Section 4
• Paritta and Truth -
ParittaTruth.htm (link chk 180911).
"- Protection from danger by exoteric power.
(p003) ¶. In the daily life of a Burman Buddhist, critically speaking, the outlook is very much religious as in other great world religions. The following statements may reveal how much Burmese Buddhism is religious. ¶. Buddhi is an Ideological System. It is a religion of Explicit Salvation and hence is to be called Nibbanic Buddhism. ¶. Again it is a religion of Proximate Salvation and can therefore can be classified as Kammatic Buddhism. ¶. It may even be typified as a religion of chiliastic Expectations, for imminent and immanent salvation, the enjoyment of better world as an event which occurs within history, to be known as Esoteric Buddhism."
Lha
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celtic_languages 190131
"The Celtic languages are a group of related languages descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic". The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 1707, following Paul-Yves Pezron who had already made the explicit link between the Celts described by classical writers and the Welsh and Breton languages."
UKT 190131: On the basis of folklores Irish and Welsh may be related to Bur-Myan (Tib-Bur), (just as Georgian on the basis of script), and I wouldn't just group them into IE (Indo-European) group.
For me, who has no training in Phonetics, terms in that discipline are still obscure. For example I am not sure how to describe medial-formation in phonetic terms: Velarization and Palatalization.
From: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/624756/velarization 140325, 190130
Velarization, in phonetics, secondary
articulation in the pronunciation of consonants, in which the
tongue is drawn far up and back in the mouth (toward the
velum, or
soft palate), as if to pronounce a back vowel such as
o or
u . Velarization is not phonemic in English, although for most English
speakers the l in <feel> is velarized, but the l in
<leaf> is
not. It is distinctive in some languages (e.g., Arabic). Velarized
consonants may be distinguished from velar consonants, in which the primary
articulation involves the back of the tongue and the velum; in velarized
consonants there must always be some other primary articulation.
[UKT 190131: descriptions giving "the tongue is drawn far up and back ..." may
be intelligible to some, but for me not as simple as describing in terns of
spelling such as {ya.pín.}, {wa.hswè:} and {ha.hto:}. Moreover when consonants
are described as "broad" and "slender", it puts me in a tailspin.]
Excerpt from: https://irishpalatals.sites.ucsc.edu/getting-started/introduction/ 170319, 190130
Listen to the Irish pronunciations from: http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/_b 170319
Irish consonants come in pairs consisting of a ‘slender’ version and a ‘broad’ version. For example, the ‘slender’ b is the first sound in the word beo (‘alive’), whereas the first sound in the word bó (‘cow’) is the ‘broad’ b. Beo and bó differ only in the slenderness vs. broadness of the b .
In phonetic terms, both the slender and the broad consonant of a pair are articulated with the same primary gesture. For b, this primary gesture is the lips closing to stop the airflow from the mouth. However, they differ in their secondary articulation — the details of how they are pronounced.
The slender consonants like the b in beo are palatalized, meaning that the tongue body moves up and forward toward the hard palate, as if making a “y” [j] sound, while the primary articulatory gesture is going on. (This is known as secondary palatalization. A consonant with a palatal primary articulatory gesture is English y (IPA /j/) as in you.)
In Irish, palatalized consonants are spelled with ‘i’ or ‘e’ next to them. ['i' & 'e' are front vowels.] In linguistics, they are written with a small ‘j’: [bʲ]. In the SSANOVA diagrams on this website, palatalized consonants are represented with green lines. (See Interpreting Figures.)
Note on Interpreting Figures:
#1. Ultrasound frames and videos
The black-and-white, blurry images and videos are recordings from an ultrasound device. To make these recordings, an ultrasound probe is held in place on the underside of the speaker’s jaw, between their chin and their neck. The probe produces an image of a vertical plane directly above it. In these images, the front of the mouth is on the right and the root of the tongue is toward the left. Brighter areas indicate a rapid change in density; the surface of the tongue appears as a white line. These images are the basis for the SSANOVA diagrams, each of which represents the average of 5-7 repetitions of the same sound by one speaker.
#2. SSANOVA diagrams
Each SSANOVA diagram (such as the one below) compares the position of the tongue when the velarized, or non-palatalized, version of the consonant is pronounced, to the position of the tongue when the palatalized version of the same consonant is pronounced. In these figures, the front of the mouth is to the right. The green lines represent the tongue’s average position when pronouncing the palatalized consonants, and the black lines represent the tongue’s position when pronouncing the velarized consonants. The green line and the black line represent averages, derived from processing several raw ultrasound frames. Because ultrasound images are “noisy” and processing is involved, it’s possible that the “real” average position of the tongue is not exactly where the green and black lines have been drawn. Statistics tells us, though, that we can be confident that the actual tongue position falls within the range marked by the dotted lines on either side of each solid line (the “confidence interval”). You’ll notice that the confidence interval is larger at the end of each line than at its middle. This is because ultrasound imaging is more reliable for the tongue body (the middle of the image) than for the tongue tip or root (the edges of the image), as well as the nature of regression analyses.
The broad consonants, in contrast, are velarized. The term velarized refers to the velum, or soft palate, toward the back of the mouth. When a velarized consonant like the b in bó is pronounced, the tongue body moves back and up toward the velum. The velum is the place of primary articulation for consonants like /k/ in kangaroo and /g/ in gorilla.
In Irish spelling, velarized consonants are written with back vowels (u, o, a) next to them (e.g., ‘b’ in bó). In the IPA, they are written with the symbol for the voiced velar fricative: [bˠ]. Our diagrams represent the velarized consonants with black lines. (See Interpreting Figures.)
Listen to the Irish pronunciations from: http://www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/_b 170319
UKT 170319: Listening Irish b in bó , and in beo
(‘alive’) have convinced me that bó is
{bo} and
that
beo
is
{byo}.
The second sound beo
is
{byo}
has the Bur-Myan
{ya.pín.} sound.
Again from: https://www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/_b 190131
this time in 3 dialects: Ulster (Uls), Connacht (Con), & Munster (Mun)
UKT 190131: What I (as a native Bur-Myan) heard:
/bó/ - Uls<))
{bau:} ; Con<))
{bo:} ; Mun<))
{bu:} [ may be related to {ha.hto:}-sounds]
/beo/ - Uls<)){byau:} ; Con<))
{byo.} ; Mun<))
{byo:} [ may be related to {ya.pín.}-sounds
Almost all Bur-Myan wag-consonants can be modified with
{ya.pín.} sound giving monosyllables, with the possible exception
of
{tya.} which is pronounced as a disyllabe: /
{t~ya.}/.
UKT 180915:
Scientific Buddhism: If you were to confine yourself to the Four Non-axiomatic Principles (commonly known as Four Noble Truths), and the Postulate of Non-axiom (commonly known as {a·nût~ta. lak~hka.Na þoat}), and perhaps also to the psychological underlying Basis of Actions (Mental actions leading to Verbal and Physical actions - commonly known as {nhic hsèý lé: pic~sæÑ:}, you could arrive at a system which has nothing to do with any religions. I've explained this system to Christians, Hindus, Muslims, Wiccans, Agnostics, Scientists and Engineers many times in Deep River, Ontario, Canada, and so far none have said they could not agree with it. As a scientist and pragmatist, I hold this view, and I salute our great teacher Gautama Buddha who was not a God, a Son of the God, or a Prophet:
ye dhamma hetu pabhavd
tesan hetu tathagato
dha tesancha nirodho
evan vddi mahd samano.'Whatever laws are produced from Cause [of Mental Sufferings],
the Cause of These , Tathagata
has told; and the Extinction of These [note the word Extinction - not Salvation],
has the Great Samana like manner [human in every respect] declared.'
The
{ ín:} ["Yan" or "Yant" in
Thai] meaning an instrument {yûn~ta.ra:}
to control Nature , inanimate as well as animate
(such as people, animals, and even unseen 'spirits'.
King Dhammazedi
{Dûm~ma.sé-di mín:} was an accomplished Master of Yan
{ín: waiz~za} 'a master occultist'. The following is
what he wrote on his inscriptions known as Kalyani
inscription of King Dhammazedi (1470–1492).
"... in the Kalyani inscription of King Dhammazedi (1470–1492) in Pegu , but it was later included, with many embellishments, in the major Burmese chronicles. For example, Anawrahta is said to have proceeded from Thaton with “the thirty sets of the Piṭakas on the king’s thirty-two white elephants”, together with Mon “skilled in carving, turning, and painting”. ..."
See Kalyani inscription of King Dhammazedi , by Taw Sein Ko, 1892, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
- TawSeinKo-KalyaniInscript<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180813)
See also: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalyani_Ordination_Hall 180814
"Kalyāṇī Ordination Hall{ka.lya-Ni þaim} Pali «kalyāṇī sīmā» is a Buddhist ordination hall located in Pegu, Myanmarpré. The ordination hall is a major pilgrimage site, [1] and houses the Kalyani Inscriptions, a set of 10 sandstone pillars inscribed in Pali-Myan and Mon-Myan in 1480. [2] [3] The inscriptions are important records of Theravada Buddhist history and of that era. [3] "
The Kalyani Inscriptions are a set of 10 sandstone pillars inscribed in Pali and Mon in 1480. [2] [3] The inscriptions are important records of Theravada Buddhist history and of that era.
For more on this subject, see King Dhammazedi
{Dûm~ma.sé-di mín:} who was a Master of Yan
{ín: waiz~za} 'a master occultist'.
Section 04
-
lang-relig-indx.htm >
dhamazedi.htm (link chk 180813)
King Dhammazedi even while he was a Theravada
Buddhist monk was an occultist - a Master of
the Yan
{ ín:waiz~za}. He was loved and probably
feared by his Mon-subjects who believed the
magical power of the Yan
{
ín:} and there was peace in his kingdom during
his reign. I would have to note that the power
of the Yan might be just psychological - but
was enough to maintain peace. It is well known
that people in authority, such as kings and
present-day political leaders dabble in occult
employing occultists, but King Dhammazedi was
special a proven master occultist. See Mental
Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics, by
G Houtman, 1999
-
GHoutman-MentalCultBurPoliti<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180813)
It should be noted that what are described as Yans in Thailand are different in spirit (idea) from their ancestors the Burmese-Yans even though the characters used in writing still have Myanmar script.
To my query "Who is the god of the Thai Yants", Google answers:
"THAI TATTOO SAK YANT MEANING 5. Hanuman was a mythical monkey God in the time of Rama and according to legend, Hanuman is invincible and has powers far greater than humans, including the ability to fly. The ancient Thai epic story Of Ramakian depicts Hanuman, the monkey god, who was said to be Rama's strongest warrior." - Google 180823
Myanmar Theravada Buddhists do not worship any entity except the Supreme Teacher, Gautama Buddha. They look down on any who worship Brahmas, Devas, Nats, Nagas, etc. And so worshippers of any entity has to acknowledge the Supremacy of the Buddha in Knowledge. Any Theravada monk engage in occultism could be severely sanctioned even to the extent of disrobing and expulsion from the Order.
UKT 180829: "Mon Paradigm vs. Pyu Paradigm" will be moved under: - BEPS-indx.htm
Mon Paradigm - Culture in form of written script had spread from Lower Burma to Upper Burma
Pyu Paradigm - The opposite of the above.
Then comes along Michael Aung Thwin and his
Mon Paradigm which states (and which
Prof. Aung Thwin would not accept) that Mon
in southern or Lower Burma, is the civilizing
factor of culture of Bamah aka
Burmese (in northern Upper Burma). See
The Mists of Ramañña, by M. Aung-Thwin,
2005, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
-
MAungThwin-MistRamanna<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180817)
See Introduction, p9.
"Thus there is no evidence to support:
a) the presence of a Mon (or any other) kingdom in Lower Burma prior to the rise and development of Pagán,
b) the conquest of Thatôn by Aniruddha, or
c) the “civilizing” of Upper Burma [Pyus] by Lower Burma [Mons].
In fact, the primary evidence suggests just the reverse: it was the kingdom of Pagán that was responsible for the demographic, cultural, and infrastructural development of Lower Burma, providing it with the wherewithal that turned a sparsely populated “frontier region” into an independent polity for the first time only in the late thirteenth century. In short, it was Upper Burma that was responsible for the civilizing of Lower Burma."
I must now mention one of his critics,
D. M. Stadtner, 2008, and his
fellow critics coin another word the
Pyu Paradigm
-
DMStadtner-MonLowerBurma<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180808)
Prof. Stadtner states:
"The Mon presence at Pagan, according to
later Burmese chronicles, was triggered by the
conquest of Thaton in Lower Burma by the ruler
Aniruddha, or Anawrahta (c. 1044 – c.1077).
(fn.1) [UKT ¶]
fn.1: The most influential chronicle for the Mon Paradigm was the Hmannan Mahayazawin-daw-gyi, [aka Hmannan Yazwin
{mhûn-nûn: ra-za.wín}] a portion of which was translated into English and is known by the title of The Glass Palace Chronicle (Pe Maung Tin and G.H. Luce 1923). Other “histories” treated the events in slightly different ways. See the Vaṃsadīpanī, translated and discussed by Patrick Pranke (Pranke 2004, 145–146).
"The purpose of capturing Thaton was
the seizure of the Pali canon, which became the basis of the introduction of
Theravada Buddhism upon the return to Pagan by [King] Anawrahta. A
simple version of this event was recorded first in the Kalyani inscription
[aka Kalyani Sima
{ka.lya-Ni þaiM}]
of King Dhammazedi (1470–1492) in Pegu, but it was later included, with many
embellishments, in the major Burmese chronicles. For example, Anawrahta is said
to have proceeded from [City of] Thaton with “the thirty sets of the
[Theravada Buddhist] Piṭakas on the king’s thirty-two white elephants”,
together with Mon [people who would not understand Bur-Myan speech] “skilled in
carving, turning, and painting”.
UKT 180819: My question is how large was Thaton in the 11th century? See A History of the Far East, by A Crofts and P Buchanan, 1958
- ACroftsPBuchanan-HistFarEast<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180819)
from Book 1: Backgrounds of Far East to 1600:
"The man of the East survived through slow endurance; he was passive rather than furious, less a gladiator than a toiler. By mastering the Asian Heartland [UKT: Pyus would fit into the description than the Mons.], he became fit to thrive in every latitude of earth."See: The Gold Coast: Suvannabhumi? Lower Myanmar Walled Sites of the First Millennium A.D., by E. Moore, and U SanWin, 2007
- EMooreSanWin-Suvannabhumi<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180820)
See also : Change in the Landscape of First Millennium AD Myanmar, by E. Moore & U WinMaung (Tampawaddy), 2006
- EMooreWinMaung-FirstMilleniumMyan<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180820)
See the above mentioned Glass Palace Chronicle, by U Pe Maung Tin and G.
H. Luce, 1921, in TIL HD-PDF and SE-PDF libraries:
-
UPMT-GlassPalaceChronicle<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô>
(link chk 180814)
In Part 4, on p78, of Glass Palace Chronical, by Tin & Luce:
" [Anawrahta] placed the thirty sets of the Pitakas on the king's thirty-two white elephants and brought them away."
Prof. Stadtner continues on p194:
"If it can be shown that the Pyu occupied Lower Burma, and not the Mon, then the Mon could scarcely have contributed to Pagan’s civilization. That the Pyu have been vaulted into prominence at the expense of the Mon is suggested by the title of an opening chapter in Aung-Thwin’s book, “The Pyu Millennium.” In sum, a fresh “Pyu Paradigm” has replaced a discredited “Mon Paradigm”, as one reviewer, Pierre Pichard (2006: 203–6), poignantly phrased his objections."
Whether, you accept the Mon Paradigm or Pyu Paradigm, I maintain that Asokan and Myanmar, both scripts of Magadha Mahajanapada (not Magadha kingdom) of the foothills of Himalayas, are northern scripts. They are directly related, and that there is no need for a southern Indic script to be involved.
Before we leave this subsection, let's see
-
DGDenovanEtAl-PyuLandscape<Ô> /
Bkp<Ô> (link chk 180816)
UKT 180817: The English transcriptions below have been changed so much that even I have difficulty in changing to Bur-Myan.
"The Ayeyarwady Basin
{É-ra-wa.ti mric-whûm:} occupies the depressional
portion of a geological unit called the West Burma
Plate. It is clearly demarcated by Arakan Yoma
{ra.hkaín ro:ma.} on the west (an accretionary
plism caused by collision of the Indian Plate
to the West Burma Plate) [UKT ¶]
UKT 180819: Just because, a term such as accretionary plism - a term from Geology - is outside the scope of the history of Pyus, don't ignore it. It may have a bearing of importance on what you are reading.
accretionary plism - noun, Geology . a mass of sedimentary material scraped off a region of oceanic crust during subduction and piled up at the edge of a continental crustal plate. - Google
See Section 08 ¤ Geology / Geology of Myanmarpré - -- geol-indx > myan-geol.htm - update 2018Feb
which on Geology of Myanmarpré in which you will see why we, descendants of Pyus are so rich, in spite of ourselves.
and the Shan Plateau
{shûm:koan:prín-mrín.} on the east (the boundary
is the Sagain-Namyin strike-slip fault). The basin,
mostly covered with Tertiary sediment, is divided
into two parts, the western trough (interdeep) and
the eastern trough (backdeep), by the now extinct
Bago (Pegu) Yoma volcanic arc running north-south
through the Jade Mine, Wuntho, Mt. Popa
{poap-pa:taún}, and the Bago Yoma
{pè:hku: ro:ma.}. The western trough is further
subdivided into the Upper Chindwinn (Chindwin), the
Central (or Ma-gway (Magwe)), and the Lower Ayeyarwady
Basins. The Central and Lower Ayeyarwady Basins are
separated by the Tayetmyo (Thayetmyo) Syntaxis. The
eastern trough
consists of the Monywa-Shwebo Alluvial Plain,
(p119end-p120begin)
the Sittaung (Sittang) Depression, and the Bago Alluvial
Area.
"The Ayeyarwady River flows down southward
within the eastern trough until its makes an abrupt
turn at Sagain toward the southwest. After crossing
the volcanic arc around Pakkoku into the western
trough, it flows down southward to the delta. Most
probably, the Ayeyarwady used to flow straight to
the south from Mandaley to the Mottama (Martaban)
Bay through the Sittaung Depression. This depression
becomes a narrow corridor (a few tens of km wide)
between the Shan Plateau
{shûm:koan:prín-mrín.} and the Bago Yoma
{pè:hku: ro:ma.}. Presently the corridor is drained
to the north to the Ayeyarwady
{É-ra-wa.ti mric} and to the south to the
Sittaung River
{sic~taún: mric}. The divide is somewhere
between Pyawbwe
{pyau-Bwèý mro.} and Yamethin
{ra.mæÑ:þín: mro.}.
"Thus, the Upper Ayeyarwady has two access
routes to the sea; the one along the Ayeyarwady
directly to the sea, and the other through the
corridor to Mottama. The former actually is part
of the great distant route to Yunnan via Bhamo, and
navigable most of it. The part downstream of Pyay
{præÑ mro.} along this route must have been only
sparsely settled until the mid-19th century [UKT:
the date mid-19th does not make sense.]. The latter
is mostly an overland route and passes through the
fertile lowlands apparently densely populated since
the early times. Kyaukse, Meiktila (Meikthila), and
Toungoo are all located along the corridor, with
Bago at the southern exit."
UKT note: The paper gives the Pyu sites within the above area. Now, where are the Mon sites?
- UKT 180726
Just before the 2018 July update, I notice the following Wikipedia article. I do not agree with many points given in the Wikipedia article. For your judgment I am comparing the three scripts,
Why is the Bur-Myan akshara r4c1 თ present in
the Georgian alphabet? If Asokan had preceded Bur-Myan,
it should have been Asokan bola, or
Devanagari त !
From: Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyu_script 180726
The Pyu script is a writing system used to write the Pyu language, an extinct Sino-Tibetan language that was mainly spoken in present-day central Burma. It was based on the Brahmi-based scripts of both north and south India. The best available evidence suggests that the Pyu script gradually developed between the 2nd and 6th centuries CE. [UKT ¶]
The Pyu script's immediate precursor appears to be the Kadamba script of southwest India. [UKT ¶]
UKT 180806: See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kadamba_alphabet 180916
and judge yourself if Kadamba script, can ever be the "immediate precursor" of Pyu script. Perhaps it is the Pyu script which had given rise to Kadamba script. In any case, until I can get a reasonable explanation of Myanmar თ {ta.} in the Georgian language, I will maintain that Myanmar script is as old as Asokan, if not older!
The early period Pyu inscriptions always included interlinear Brahmi scripts. It was not until the 7th and 8th centuries that Sri Ksetra's inscriptions appeared all in the Pyu script, without any interlinear Brahmi. [1]
Many of the important inscriptions were written in Sanskrit and Pali, alongside the Pyu script. The Pyu sites have yielded a wide variety of Indian scripts from King Ashoka's edicts written in north Indian Brahmi and Tamil Sangam literature, both dated to the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE, to the Gupta script and Kannada script dated to the 4th to 6th centuries CE. [1] [2]
The Pyu script is presently not in Unicode. Its inclusion was proposed in 2010, [3] and has tentative placement in the Unicode Consortium's roadmap. [4]
UKT 181113: From: Le Morte d'Arthur , by Sir Thomas Malory, in TIL HD-PDF and SD-PDF libraries:
• TMalory-LeMorteDAuthur<Ô> / Bkp<Ô> (link chk 181113)
(Ch V p. 40).
How King Arthur commanded to cast his sword
Excalibur into the water,
and how he was delivered to ladies in a barge )
Then Sir Bedivere departed, and went to the sword, and lightly took it up, and went to the water side; and there he bound the girdle about the hilts, and then he threw the sword as far into the water as he might; and there came an arm and an hand above the water and met it, and caught it, and so shook it thrice and brandished, and then vanished away the hand with the sword in the water.
So Sir Bedivere came again to the king, and told him what he saw.
Alas, said the king, help me hence, for I dread me I have tarried over long.
Then Sir Bedivere took the king upon his back, and so went with him to that
water side. And when they were at the water side, even fast by the bank hoved a
little barge with many fair ladies in it, and among them all was a queen, and
all they had black hoods, and all they wept and shrieked when they saw King
Arthur.
Now put me into the barge, said the king.
And so he did softly; and there received him three queens with great mourning; and so they set them down, and in one of their laps King Arthur laid his head.
And then that queen said: Ah, dear brother, why have ye tarried so long from me? alas, this wound on your head hath caught over-much cold. And so then they rowed from the land, and Sir Bedivere beheld all those ladies go from him.
Then Sir Bedivere cried: Ah my lord Arthur, what shall become of me, now ye go from me and leave me here alone among mine enemies?
Comfort thyself, said the king, and do as well as thou mayst, for in me is no trust for to trust in; for I will into the vale of Avalon to heal me of my grievous wound: and if thou hear never more of me, pray for my soul.
But ever the queens and ladies wept and shrieked, that it was pity to hear. And as soon as Sir Bedivere had lost the sight of the barge, he wept and wailed, and so took the forest; and so he went all that night, and in the morning he was ware betwixt two holts hoar, of a chapel and an hermitage.
(Ch VII p42) OF THE OPINION OF SOME MEN OF THE DEATH OF KING ARTHUR; AND HOW QUEEN GUINEVERE MADE HER A NUN IN ALMESBURY
YET some men say in many parts of England that King Arthur is not dead, but had by the will of our Lord Jesu into another place; and men say that he shall come again, and he shall win the holy cross. I will not say it shall be so, but rather I will say: here in this world he changed his life. But many men say that there is written upon his tomb this verse: Hic jacet Arthurus, Rex quondam, Rexque futurus.140
Thus leave I here Sir Bedivere with the hermit, that dwelled that time in a chapel beside Glastonbury, and there was his hermitage. And so they lived in their prayers, and fastings, and great abstinence.
End of TIL file
