lang-thot-indx.htm
A collection by U Kyaw Tun (UKT) (M.S., I.P.S.T., USA) 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
Comparison of Myanmar vowels to IPA in vowel quadrilateral
Language and thought -
lang-thought.htm -
update 151231
¤ Plato's Cratylus and Socrates'
etymology -
crat.htm
¤ An Investigation of the Laws of
Thought, by George Boole, 1853
in TIL SD-Library
GBoole-Laws-of-Thought<Ô> (link chk 151211)
Bhartṛhari's Syntax, Meaning, Sphoṭa -
spho-bartri-matilal.htm -
update 151231
Sphoṭa theory of language : a philosophical analysis -
spho-cwrd-indx.htm
- by H. G. Coward in 2 parts:
¤ Metaphysical background of the Sphota
theory.
¤ The Spota theory of Language as Revelation
Speech vs. Writing in Derrida and Bhartṛhari - by H. G. Coward -
sp-writ.htm
UKT 151219: In these pages I will have to mention two major religions that are of interest to BEPS: Buddhism and Hinduism. To understand my analysis further, you should remember that by Buddhism it can be any of the following three:
1. Theravada (formerly known as Hinayana)
2. Mahayana including Tibetan Lamaism
3. Vajrayana including Tantric
By Hinduism it can be any of the following:
1. Vaishnavism - god of importance: Vishnu
2. Shaivism - god of importance: Siva
3. Shaktism - goddess of importance: Shakti or Devi
At one time or another, the first two Hindu sects are killing each other. The most virulent towards Buddhism is Shaivism.
UKT notes
• Doggie's Tale
- copy and paste
• The thibilant-sibilant
controversy (Is Myanmar script more ancient than is now accepted? If so,
where is the epigraphical evidence?)
UKT 151211: The reader should note that Skt-Dev speech has rhotic, hissing and hushing sounds, whereas Bur-Myan speak with non-rhotic thibilant sounds. Skt-Dev speech is r-coloured, whereas Bur-Myan is l-coloured. Unless you take note of the phonetic nature of the Myanmar Abugida-Akshara matrix, which is very unlike the non-phonetic Alphabet-Letter layout, you are bound to get into trouble studying the language. Moreover, Bur-Myan is almost free of the usual Grammatical monsters, the gender, the tense, and the number, and attempts by linguists to study it using these grammatical cues have come to a dead-end. Bur-Myan is almost free of inflections. I stand by this argument on the basis of ¤ Burmese Grammar and Grammatical Analysis 1899 by A. W. Lonsdale, Rangoon: British Burma Press, 1899 xii, 461, in two parts: Part 1. Orthoepy and orthography; Part 2. Accidence and syntax. - BG1899-indx.htm (link chk 151211)
To answer my own question: "Is Myanmar script more ancient than is now accepted? If so,
where is the epigraphical evidence?", I must admit that there is no epigraphical
evidence. But we have one that is better. I present the case of Bur-Myan
Akashara 
{ta.} which has become the Georgian Alphabet თ (U+10D7 Georgian Letter Tan). So
far I haven't found anyone to give me a satisfactory answer.
The reader should note that the so-called transcriptions
(sound) depends not only on how a speaker articulate the sounds,
but also on how the listener "hears" the sound.
Both "speaking" and "hearing" depends on
the first languages (L1) of the people involved, and since
here we are dealing with four languages, Burmese, English, Pali and Sanskrit, the transcriptions given by a particular person is
bound to be different from that given by another. Maybe, I might get some help,
and of course plenty of trouble, by studying and using the Sign-Language(s).
Then I can set aside those who claim they can "hear" the message of God or
Brahma - the Creator, by performing yajnas.
See ¤
LANGUAGE AND SIGN -
lang-sign.htm (link chk 151211)
Look for Aggañña Sutta
{ag~giñ~ña. þoat~tän} in
.
{ma.ha-wag~ga.}. The sutta describes a discourse imparted by the Buddha to two
Buddhist monks who were Brahmin-Poannas
{braah~m.Na. poaN~Na:}, Bharadvaja and
{wa-þíT~HTa. Ba-ra.dwa-za}.
Note: My Pal-Myan entries are from the Sixth Synod version.
From Wikipedia:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agga%C3%B1%C3%B1a_Sutta 151211
"Aggañña Sutta is the 27th Sutta of the Digha Nikaya collection. The sutta describes a discourse imparted by the Buddha to two brahmins, Bharadvaja and Vasettha, who left their family and caste to become monks. The two brahmins are insulted and maligned by their own caste for their intention to become members of the [Buddhist] Sangha. The Buddha explains that caste and lineage cannot be compared to the achievement of morality practice and the Dhamma, as anyone from the four castes can become a monk and reach the state of Arahant. Then, he explains about the beginning of the Earth and the birth of social order and its structure, including the castes. The Buddha emphasizes the message of universality in the Dhamma and how the Dhamma is the best of all things."
UKT: In comparing Myanmar vowels to IPA, we usually rely on the following three
diagrams:
(1) The vowel quadrilateral of Daniel Jones and (2) the tongue positions shown
sideways, and 3. sometimes on the lip openings.
However, these diagrams lead us to forget that pronouncing the vowels depend on the idiolect (person to person), the dialect (group of persons), the language, particularly the first language, L1 (living languages such as Burmese, English, Hindi, Mon, etc.), and the language group (such as Indo-European, Tibeto-Burman, Austro-Asiatic). We must also not forget that what a person articulate can be judged differently by foreign phoneticians. However, this last piece of uncertainty can now be taken care of by measuring the acoustic signals, the so-called formants F1 and F2 and giving a statistical model in three dimensions as shown below.
-- UKT 130613
Mnemonic
The Doggie Tale:
Little doggie cringe in fear -- ŋ (velar),
Seeing Ella's flapping ears -- ɲ (palatal)
And, the Shepard's hanging rear -- ɳ (retroflex).
Doggie so sad he can't get it out
What's that Kasha क्ष
when there's a Kha ख ?
And when there's Jana ज्ञ
what I am to do with Jha झ?
On top of all there're hissers,
Sha श /ʃ/ and Ssa ष /s/,
when I am stuck with Theta स
/θ/ !"
Note to digitizer: you can copy and
paste the following:
Ā ā ă Ē ē ĕ Ī ī ĭ Ō ō
ŏ Ū ū ŭ ː
Ḍ ḍ Ḥ ḥ Ḷ ḷ Ḹ
ḹ Ṁ ṁ Ṃ ṃ
Ṅ ṅ
Ñ ñ Ṇ ṇ Ṛ ṛ Ṝ ṝ
Ś ś Ṣ ṣ Ṭ ṭ ɕ ʂ
• Instead of Skt-Dev ः {wic~sa.} use "colon" :
• Avagraha ऽ use apostrophe
• Root sign √ ; approx ≅
• IAST Dev: भ आ इ ई उ ऊ
ऋ ऌ ऍ ऎ ए ऐ
ऑ ऒ ओ औ
च «ca» छ «cha» श
ś [ɕ] /ʃ/ ; ष ṣ [ʂ] /s/;
स s [s] /θ/ ;
ऋ {iRi.} & ॠ {iRi},
viram ् , rhotic ऋ ृ
• Skt-Dev Row #3: ट ठ ड ढ ण ;
conjunct ट ् ठ
= ट्ठ
• Skt-Dev special phonemes: Ksa क ् ष
= क्ष
• Undertie in Dev transcription: ‿ U203F
• Using ZWNJ (ZeroWidthNonJoiner), e.g. ,
क्ष
(code: क्‌ष)
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zero-width_non-joiner 150630
• IPA-, Pali- & Sanskrit nasals: ŋ ṅ ṅ ,
ɲ ñ ñ , ɳ ṇ ṇ, n n n , m m m
Pali- & Skt {þé:þé:ting}: aṁ , aṃ
• IPA symbols:
ɑ ɒ ə ɛ ɪ ɯ ʌ ʊ ʃ ʧ ʤ θ ŋ ɲ ɳ
ɴ ɔ ɹ ʔ /ʰ/ /ʳ/ /ː/
<king> /kɪŋ/ (DJPD16-300)
<church> /ʧɜːʧ/ (DJPD16-097)
<success> /sək'ses/ (DJPD16-515)
<thin> /θɪn/ (DJPD16-535),
<thorn> /θɔːn/
(DJPD16-535)
circumflex-acute :
ấ U+1EA5 , ế U+1EBF
upsilon-vrachy ῠ
small-u-breve ῠ ŭ
Go back Dog-tale-note-b
UKT 101107, 151211:
My assumption on writing the following notes is: the shape (based on
circles) and the way in which the Myanmar glyphs are traced is of extreme
importance to Bur-Myan because the script was and is still used for
casting the runes - an ancient magico-religious discipline which clearly
predates Buddhism.
Casting a rune has to follow 3 steps:
1. Using prescribed formula - Tantra
2. Concentrating on the hand-stroke reciting a prescribed formula - Mantra
3. Consecrating the rune, when it becomes an instrument for the owner to gather
the magical power - Yantra. In Thailand the Yantra is known as Yan.
See Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yantra_tattooing 151211
• SaDaBaWa Rune signifies the "imperfect" becoming "perfect". The starting
akshara 
{sa.}
is an imperfect circle because it is dented on the left side. As an individual
struggles to become perfect, he goes through another imperfection - a circle
dented in the bottom, then through another circle dented on top. Finally, he
comes to "perfection" - a full circle. This way of counting, the clockwise is
the "right-hand" way. You can also go through the reverse process. Start from
being "perfect", and go through the "left-hand" way, and become the most
"imperfect". This rune in all probability is connected to the well known
Swastika of the Nazis which is left-handed. The Swastika is well-known in
Myanmar: it is the "disc-weapon" of the "Universal Monarch".
Now coming to the "Figure-Rune", on the right, can you guess the
person or deity depicted? It is
{þi.kra:mïn:} to the Buddhists, who can be equated to Indra of the Hindus. In
his right hand, he is holding his staff, the capital of which itself is a rune.
Can you see the
{na.}
signifying the Nag-dragon that makes up the length of the staff?
I have come to know a rune master who had casted this rune 49 times
("seven times seven"), each time going through all the prescribed "austerities",
and each time burning the rune (not to destroy it but to come to the "essence")
and swallowing the "ash" (essence). Has he come to be protected by the
attributes of
{þi.kra:mïn:}? He's isn't telling! - note of 101107
• Remember the Indian th is
{hta.} /tʰ/ , and Myanmar
{tha.} is /θ/ . Bur-Myan
{tha.} is a thibilant equal to the Indian s /s/ a sibilant. -- note of
091117
• Because of my deepest respect for the Ancients - both Indians and Myanmars,
I compare the shapes of the graphemes in the two systems of aksharas and
have noticed some striking aspects which probably reflect the way how the
Ancients pronounced the phonemes bearing in mind the modern POAs (Points of
Articulation). Compare:
¤ Bur-Myan pair
-
{hta.}-{ya.} to Skt-Dev pair थ-य tha-ya
Observation: Why is the shape of
{hta.} so similar to
{ya.}? This intra-similarity is also observed in थ-य .
¤ Bur-Myan pair
-
{ba.}-{wa.} and
Skt-Dev ब-व ba-wa
¤ Myanmar triplet
--
{pa.}-{Sa.}-{þa.} to Skt-Dev triplet प-ष-स pa-ṣa-sa
Observation: Note the intra-similarity in
-
{pa.}-{Sa.} and in प-ष . Yet there is great intra-difference in
-
{Sa.}-{þa.} and ष-स . Remember the individuals of the triplet
--
{pa.}-{Sa.}-{þa.} have very close POAs . And keep in mind their IPA
transcriptions (which hopefully reflect the pronunciations): /p/-/s/-/θ/ for
Bur-Myan, and /p/-/ʂ/-/s/ for Skt-Dev according to IAST (International
Alphabet for Sanskrit Transcription - valid for Hindi) . I have come to a
tentative conclusion: the Myanmar phoneticians who developed the script
could clearly differentiate the difference in thibilant-sibilant whereas the
Indian phoneticians had failed to "hear" the difference. Please note I am
not paying attention to the present-day geo-political and national
boundaries. -- note of 091117
Go back thib-vs-sib-note-b
End of TIL file