Consonants (Pulmonic)
English consonants
Pali-Latin consonants
Pali-Myanmar consonants
Groups of Aksharas
{ka.} /
{sa.}
/ 
{hkya.} /
{Ta.} /
{ta.} /
{pa.} Approximants : (bilabial- , postalveolar- , palatal-)
conson.htm
by Narada Thera (Lanka)
Edited, with additions from other sources, 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 Computing and Language Center, Yangon, MYANMAR : http://www.tuninst.net , www.romabama.blogspot.com
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NaradaLanka-indx.htm
Consonants :
onset consonant & coda consonant
Consonants (Pulmonic)
English consonants
Pali-Latin consonants
Pali-Myanmar consonants
Groups of Aksharas
{ka.} /
{sa.}
/ {hkya.} /
{Ta.} /
{ta.} /
{pa.}
Approximants : (bilabial- , postalveolar- , palatal-)
UKT notes :
• dental
• fricative
• semivowel
• sibilant
• trill
Thirty-three letters of the consonants are
divided into two main divisions: the
{wag}-consonants or
{wag ak~hka.ra} 'definable' 5x5 = 25, and the
awag}-consonants or
{a.wag ak~hka.ra} 'not definable' 8.
By
{wag} 'definable' is meant that the
first 5 rows which can be defined by
the POA of the consonants: velar,
palatal, retroflex, dental, and
bi-labial. Pali-Lanka, and its derivative
the International Pali has the
However, there are no labio-dentals,
{fa.} and
{va.} in Bur-Myan. It is said that there
were no labio-dentals in Vedic. It is
only in Panini's Classical Sanskrit that
we find them.
No wonder, Pali-Lanka and its derivative the International Pali, and Pali-Myan are very different in pronunciation where phonemes are involved. However, in script form they are the same or almost the same. That is:
Speech divides, Script unites.
UKT 160829: It is my hope that through Asokan script (and its derivatives such as Pali-Myan & Pali-Lanka), and Pali (which has been invented to serve Theravada Buddhism), that we would be able to bring some sort of understanding between peoples who write in Abugida-Akshara system. But we cannot expect that from those who use the Alphabet-Letter system. However, International Pali, because of its use of English-Latin cannot be expected to bring such understanding. We will still be divided as the builders of the Tower of Babel were.
See Wikipedia: - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tower_of_Babel 160829
and, Tower of Babel in Genesis 11 (New International Version)
- https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis+11 160829
" 5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building.
" 6 The Lord said, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them.
" 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other. "
The
{awag}-consonants 'indefinable eight' are
known as approximants. The first four,
{ya.},
{ra.},
{la.},
{wa.} are semi-consonants, but are usually
called semivowels.
{þa.} 
{sha.} श , {Sa.} ष ,
{sa.} स for a single
{þa.} of Pal-Myan. The first two are the husher
{sha.} श, and the hisser
{Sa.} ष. The Skt-Dev स is
equivalent to our own Bur-Myan
{þa.}. See Antimoon forum in which I joined in Problem pronouncing TH
-
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t9795.htm 160906
I have written (and rewritten 160906): "First let me rewrite the digraph
<th> as 'thorn' character, which was present in Old English ... . Its symbol is
<þ>. It is an ASCII character ... whereas the Greek letter 'theta' is not.
Secondly, it's strange that you have the problem confusing <þ> with <f>. The
usual problem is the confusion between <þ> and <s> as is present in mis-pronunciation
of the Bur-Myan <þ> as <s> by the Indian and Western transcribers. All the three
characters, <f> <þ> and <s> are produced with friction (but without your vocal
cords vibrating) and are known as fricatives. If you look at the Places of
Articulation (POA) of the three characters, you will find that they are very
close: <f> is labio-dental, <þ> is dental, and <s> is alveolar. They are all
articulated very near the lips. <f> is articulated with lower lip touching the
upper teeth with the tongue in neutral position. <þ> is articulated with the
tongue-tip lightly held between the upper and lower teeth. Both are articulated
without any hissing sounds and are known as thibilants to be differentiated from
<s> which is pronounced with a hissing sound. Because of the hissing sound, <s>
"hisser" ... represented by digraph <sh> "husher", are known as sibilants.
Thirdly, since your confusion is between <f> and <þ>, it is more
understandable than the confusion between <þ> and <s>. Just concentrate on how
you articulate the sounds. For <f> the lower lip is very much involved, but for
<þ> the lips are quite apart and do not take part in producing the sound.
Fourthly, your name Matthew. You will see the consonant cluster made up of
two characters in the middle part of your name. (Remember, I have replaced the
second <t> and the following <h> with <þ>.
So
the consonant cluster is made up of two characters only. The clusters are found
in Myanmar and Indic languages and are called ligatures aka conjuncts. In
Myanmar script this particular ligature is written as a vertical conjunct, with the <t>
over <þ>. In Romabama, ... for the study of phonology of Bur-Myan (Burmese
is the spoken language, whereas Myanmar is the script), it is written as <t~þ>.
So your name is a disyllabic word, and I will pronounce it in careful speech as:
/mæt.þu:/. ... DJPD16-334 gives /'mæθ.juː/. It is quite rare to find the
<þ> in world languages. It is certainly not present in Germanic languages and
many Indic languages. I am of the opinion that <þ> in English is the left over
of pre-Viking Brittanic languages (I am on very thin ice over this opinion.).
..."
Note how Romabama differentiates
{sa.}/
{c} from
{S}.
The husher
Which is more important in the study of
languages: spoken form (speech) or written
form (script)? It seems that in the West
the spoken form is more important than
the written form. In Myanmar, we have a
saying that "what we write is correct
and how we say is just sound".
/
.
With this motto in mind I will make a
comparison between Bur-Myan (Abugida-Akshara)
system of writing and the Eng-Latin
(Alphabet-Letter) system.
I hope by placing
emphasis on the script, we will escape the
curse inflicted on the builders of the
Tower of Babel. It is what Emperor Asoka
has done. It is my hope that including Pali language, we can bring some
sort of understanding between peoples of many nations, including those in
Myanmarpré: Bama, Karen, Mon, Shan, etc. You can get an idea of how many from:
Pali in Various Scripts. See downloaded file in TIL SD-Library
- Pali-vari-script<Ô> /
bkp <Ô> (link chk 160906)
Read A Short History of the World
by H.G. Wells (1866-1946), in Chapter
xxix, King Asoka
"he was so disgusted by the cruelty
and horror of war that he renounced it.
He would have no more of it. He adopted
the peaceful doctrines of Buddhism
and declared that henceforth his conquests
should be the conquests of religion."
-
http://www.bartleby.com/86/29.html
160901
Yet, it is the cruelty of history of
mankind that we read about King
Dutthagamani aka Dutugamunu,
who reigned Sri Lanka from 161 BC to 137 BC,
that in times of certain defeat, one has no
choice but resort to force to defend his
kingdom and his Theravada Buddhist religion.
He was responsible for overthrowing Elara
(Shaivite Hindu), the Tamil prince from the
Chola Kingdom, and slaying many Tamils in
battle.
See Wikipedia to check my note:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutugamunu
160901 .
You should also read how the Shaivite Hindus, wiped out Buddhism in India and Nepal. "However, this was the period when Hindus, especially Shaivites, took aggressive action against Buddhism. At least two kings, the Hephthalite king Miharakula in the early 6th century and the Bengal king Sasanka in the early 7th century reportedly have persecuted Buddhism. " - https://www.zum.de/whkmla/sp/1112/sbk/sbk2.html 160901
UKT personal note 160901: I was advised by one of Tamil (Hindu) friends in Deep River, On., Canada, not to mention in praise the name Dutthagamani to a Hindu from Sri Lanka. Dutthagamani is viewed by the Hindu Tamils as a villain.
IPA (revised to 1993, corrected 1996). See
table given by IPA and
Pulmonic consonants .
Note: the characters in the following
table are phonetic characters, and are
represented in text within / /, e.g. /p/.
UKT: An interesting observation at this
point is the way IPA look at the order of
POA -- exactly the opposite way Bur-Myan
looks. Bur-Myan starts from the glottis
and moves out towards the lips
(
{ka.} to
{pa.}), whereas, IPA starts from the lips
and moves in towards the glottis (/p/ to /k/).
I am using the POA order in comparing Bur-Myan
consonants to the English-Latin consonants
which is fundamentally important in
formulating Romabama.
See Occlusive consonants in my
Phonetics for Myanmar
-
UNIL-indx.htm > and proceed to
section 03.01.
Occlusives (link chk 160901)
UKT 160901 : My Phonetics for Myanmar
is a very old folder - probably 20 years
or so - when I first started learning
Phonetics with Daw Than Than (1930-2004) at
my side. Some parts are still in TIL old
format, and the whole folder needs thorough
cleaning.
The “occlusives” require a complete closure of the speech canal, not just a restriction. This distinguishes them from the continuants.
continuant n. Linguistics ¹. A consonant, such as s, z, m, or l, that can be prolonged as long as the breath lasts without a change in quality. -- AHTD
occlusive adj. ¹. Occluding or tending to occlude. n. Linguistics ¹. An oral or a nasal stop. -- AHTD
plosive Linguistics adj. ¹. Of, relating to, or being a speech sound produced by complete closure of the oral passage and subsequent release accompanied by a burst of air, as in the sound (p) in pit or (d) in dog. n. ¹. A plosive speech sound. Also Called stop . [From explosive ] -- AHTDThe occlusives may be divided into:
• 13 characters for oral plosives or oral stops -/p b/,
/t d/,
/ʈ ɖ/,
/c ɟ/,
/k g/, /q ɢ/ /ʔ/
• 7 characters for nasals - /m/, /ɱ/, /
n/, /
ɳ/, /
ɲ/, /
ŋ/, /ɴ/
The above are 3 nasals not present in English-Latin, but are present in Bur-Myan.
In Pali-Bama-Myanmar, the consonants of
{wag}- aksharas are Palatal
"plosives" or "occlusives" of IPA. However, in
Pali-Lanka, though Palatal, they are affricates.
Note IPA has placed /s/ and /z/ in the
same row as /θ/ and /ð/ as
"fricatives". However, the
Bur-Myan
{sa.} is a Palatal plosive-stop, showing
that what Bur-Myan needs is a Dental
fricative. My solution is to introduce a
new glyph and corresponding phoneme into
Bur-Myan. However, to be compatible to
what the people in Myanmarpré are doing
I have to use the same glyph for the Dental
fricative, only differentiating them in
killed forms and in Romabama.
The husher
Refer to DJPD16 (Daniel Jones English Pronouncing
Dictionary, 16th ed.)
UKT 160903: Remember the common day-to-day English belongs to Alphabet-Letter system. Try to pronounce an English word as it is spelled, and you are in trouble. English is notoriously non-phonetic.
English is very accommodating language, and with the global expansion of the British Empire in the 17th to 20 centuries, the Christian missionaries and British colonial administrators had to cope with the native pronunciations place-names and personal-names. Many native terms such as "avatar", "bangle", "bungalow", "cheetah", "cot", "guru", "juggernaut", "jungle", "loot", "pajamas", "shampoo", "thug", "varanda", "yoga" (from: http://www.dailywritingtips.com/15-english-words-of-indian-origin/ 160904.
"Juggernaut" is the perhaps the most famous. It was used by Charles Dickens in his The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit published in 1844,: See Wikipedia:
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juggernaut 160904Without the help of Phonetics which is still being developed, these able men and women, transcribed the native spoken words to common day-to-day English. And whenever necessary, they dropped many native phonemes. Flushed with military victory, they ignored even the highly developed Asian Phonetics of India which preceded theirs IPA by hundred of years if not by thousands.
Of the BEPS languages, English is the only non-phonetic language, and for comparison to others, I have to use IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet). Yet, for communicating with other peoples throughout the world I have to use the common day-to-day English.
The characters in the table IPA phonetic
characters, and are represented in text
within
To complete the comparison of Bur-Myan &
Pali-Myan to English-Latin, I have added
/ɲ/ (in blue) to stand for
{ña.}.
UKT 160903: Before I realized that Bur-Myan
{Ña.} is not a nasal, I would have equated it to IPA /ɲ/. Bur-Myan
in its place. can be placed under virama without being broken up because it is not a conjunct. In Pal-Myan, Pal-Myan:
{Ñ} -->
{ñ} +
Bur-Myan allows only 4 conjuncts which are
monosyllabic medials : with
{ya.} forming 
{ya.pín.};
{ra.}
forming 
{ra.ric} ;
{wa.}
forming 
{wa.hswè:}
{ha.}
forming 
{ha.hto:}. Leaving the {ha.hto:} aside,
we notice that these correspond to the
English approximants, /j/ (standing for
English "y"), /r/, and /w/.
-- based on Ven. Narada Thera
http://www.vipassana.info/pali%20contents.htm
Shin Narada mentions only in just a few lines about the origin of Pali.
He mentions that the Buddha preached in Suddha Māgadhi, the pure form of the provincial dialect, from which Pāḷi "The Text" was developed. He mentions that there 8 vowels (glyphs) and 33 consonants (glyphs). His table of consonants is given here on the right.
Niggahita implies a true nasal without any colouring of {ma.},
.
• niggahīta{naig-ga.hi-ta.} -- PTS 354
Symbols:-
{thé:thé:tín} 'dot above'
UKT 160905: Niggahita is employed whenever the transcribing language does not have the required nasal.
Similar to Ashin Narada, the authors of other works, such as Practical Grammar of the Pali Language (in English), by
Charles Duroiselle, 1906, 3rd ed 1915. Latest ed in 1997 by
U Dhamminda, Buddha Dharma Edu. Asc. Inc.
- online
www.buddhanet.net .
- downloaded 182pdf-pp file in TIL SD-Library
-
Duroiselle-PaliGramm<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 160905)
does not mention much about the Pali language. Mr. James Gray' grammar
(photocopy) mentioned by Duroiselle is in TIL library. I intend to copy it in
pdf.
However
in A Simplified Grammar of the
Pali Language, by E. Müller,
1884: downloaded pdf file in TIL SD-Library
-
EMuller-PaliGramm<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk 160903),
you can read in his Preface (p.roman03) Dr. Muller
on the origin of Pali referring to Oldenberg (1863-1934): "Pali to be the
original language of Kâlinga country
(Vinayapiṭaka, Introduction, p. liv).
He [Oldenberg] compares the language of the large
inscription at Khandagiri (Cunningham,
Corpus Inscriptionum, i. 98), and finds only
very little difference between this and the
Pâli. ...". See Cunningham, Corpus
Inscriptionum:
see the downloaded pdf
-
Cunningham-Asoka-inscrip«Ô»
(link chk 160804)
UKT 160903: My only concern is that when A Simplified Grammar of the Pali Language, by E. Müller, 1884, was published, Oldenberg must have been very young in age (1884-1863 = 21 yr), to form such a sweeping opinion.
My second point is on the failure of the early Indologists to differentiate Old Magadhi speech written in Asokan script, Magadhi-Asokan, from the Pali speech written in the script of Lanka, Pali-Lanka.
Pali language written in Myanmar script, Pali-Myan, and Pali speech in all the countries written in local scripts are all based on the ancient Asokan script (inappropriately dubbed Brahmi). These scripts are phonetic, because Asokan script is a phonemic script and are all Abugida-Akshara scripts, and not Alphabet-Letter scripts. They are presented in a matrix of rows and columns to bring out their phonetic nature.
Thus, Pali-Myan script is made up of 7 rows and 5 columns. The first row or ka-group is made up of consonants with sounds close to /k/, /g/ and /ŋ/. This row is known as the "Gutturals", a phonetic term, frowned on by Western linguists. Ka-group is followed by "Palatals", "Cerebrals", "Dentals", and "Labials". The rest are presented as a mixed group.
Note that the characters (glyphs) in the matrix are Aksharas which can be
pronounced because of the presence of an inherent vowel. Thus
{ta.} is
pronounceable, whereas <t> in the table of 33 consonants given by
Shin Narada is mute. We will exemplify the relation of Letter of
Alphabet-Letter system, and Akshara of Abugida-Akshara by comparing
Georgian to Bur-Myan:
თ (U10D7) + ა (U10D0) =
თ (U10D7) + ი (U10D8) ={ti.}
Georgian t თ (U10D7) is a Letter, and cannot be pronounced. It needs a vowel such as a ა (U10D0) or ი (U10D8) to become pronounceable similar to Bur-Myan
"There is no difference between the pronunciations of "ṅ" and "ṃ". The former,
"ṅ", never stands at the end,
but is always followed by a consonant of its group." - Narada 012
- by UKT
Table based on Yangon Univ. of Distant Education. First year, 2003. Traditionally, the groupings are named in Pali, or after the first akshara of the group.
{ka.}-group
Based on the POA (Point of Articulation), the first row is traditionally named Gutteral.
It is now described as Velar. In Pal-Myan & Bur-Myan, it is
{kûN~HTa.}
and
{læÑ-hkyaung:} 'throat' respectively.
The POA of r1c2 akshara
{hka.} is between that of
{ka.} and
{ga.}. To me,
{hka.} is a consonant in its own right, not just an aspirate of
{ka.}.
The Bur-Myan akshara of r1c4
{Ga.} sounds exactly like
{ga.}, though U Kawwida of Toronto
Myanmar-Buddhist monastery insisted
(in 2004) that there is an h
sound involved. It is not an aspirate. Caveat: In Mon-Myan, belonging to
AusAsi (AustroAsiatic) language group,
{ga.}
{Ga.}, {nga.} are pronounced differently as
{gé.},
{Gé.},
{ngé.}.
Listen to r1
Velar sounds -
bk-cndl-Mon-row1<)) (link chk 160905)
There is no h sound in
{Gé.}, and I hear it similar to Bur-Myan
{hké}.
When we look at the shape of r1c5 in Skt-Dev, it looks as if it had been borrowed from another akshara - the r3c3. Similarly, I have a similar feeling with Mon-Myan r1c5.
Skt-Dev: ड + dot added --> ङ
Mon-Myan:
The pronunciation of velar nasal r1c5 is /ŋ/: it is present in English syllables
and is written as a digraph ng .
See English pronouncing dictionary DJPD16
-
DJPD16-indx.htm >
let-l-m-n.htm
under NG
Or see below in my notes on Pronouncing the
digraph NG . The English
digraphs such as hk , ng and th commonly used for
transliteration of aksharas are very misleading in BEPS. I have been trying to
get replacements for them. However, I have to leave the column 2 as it is:
Bur-Myan {hka.}, {hsa.}, {HTa.}, {hta.}, {hpa.}. For others I have found
replacements except in the case of r1c5
{nga.}.
For coda {ng}, I use another trick - changing the nuclear vowel of the syllable.
See below:
<sing> /sɪŋ/ -- the nearest in Bur-Myan is
{hsín:} NOT
{hsín:g}. See DJPD16 490
<ringing> /ˈrɪŋ.ɪŋ/
Phoneme /ŋ/ is only present in the coda and not in the onset of the English
syllables. See DJPD16 for explanations of the terms "coda" and "onset". The
phoneme /ŋ/ in the onset is only found in Bur-Myan, and in Néwari spoken by
the extant relatives of Gautama Buddha in Nepal. See: English to Nepal Bhasa Dictionary
by Sabin Bhuju सबिन भुजु , 2005
in TIL SD-Library
- SBhuju-NewarDict<Ô> /
bkp<Ô> (link chk
160905)
Being both Tib-Bur languages Bur-Myan and
Newa-Dev have words beginning with
{nga.} ङ,
e.g. for <fish> न्या ; ङा
{sa.}-group : the Palatal Plosive-stops
By virtue of position this group corresponds
to the Palatals leaning towards
Alveolar. This is the most confusing
group, because it is similar to the Fricatives
- those with friction sounds. In Fricatives,
we find a similar sound which in Romabama has
the same shape as
{sa.} च . In view of a smooth transcription between
Burmese and English, Romabama has to write
{Sa.}
Palatal plosive-stop च «ca» : --
Dental fricative hisser ष «ṣa»:
• The Western phonetic term "palatal" can be applied only to one English phoneme /j/ which is the English letter y. The E-Pali letter j is not the phoneme /j/. See pronouncing the "letter J" and "letter Y" in DJPD16.
• However, I contend in two discussions in 2008 on Antimoon forum that there is Palatal
c is present in English. It is
present in disyllabic words: <soccer> /'sɒk.əʳ/ (US) /'sɑː.kɚ/
(DJPD16-495) 160906
-
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t9649.htm 160906
and, <accident> /ˈæk.sɪ.dənt/ & <flaccid> /ˈflæk.sɪd/
(DJPD16-088)
-
http://www.antimoon.com/forum/t9999.htm 160906
I have observed that:
¹. <cc> always occur in the middle of word. ² the first <c>, is
the coda of the first syllable and given as velar /k/ which can be really
palatal /c/: velar and palatal are very close and can get mixed up. The second <c> is the onset of the second
syllable and is given as /s/.
• The English consonant letter c has four pronunciations: /s, k, ʃ/ and /ʧ/. See pronouncing the "letter C". The IPA phoneme /ʧ/ is represented by some American authors as /č/.
• Before the vowel letters [ i ], [e] or [y] (when functioning as vowel letter), c is pronounced as /s/, e.g.: <specific> /spəˈsɪf.ɪk/; <cell> /sel/; <cycle>/ˈsaɪ.kļ/.
<cell> is close to{hsè:l} .
• In suffixes -cial, -cious, -ciate, -cient and their derivatives, c is realised as /ʃ/ , e.g.: <social> /ˈsəʊ.ʃ əl (US) ˈsoʊ-/; <vicious>/ˈvɪʃ.əs/.
<social> is close to{hso-rhè:l}
-- Bur-Myan orthography has adopted <socialist> as{hso-rhèý-lic}. Myan-ortho p080.
• In most other situations, c is pronounced as /k/ , e.g.: <cat>/kæt/; <critic> /ˈkrɪt.ɪk (US) ˈkrɪt̬-/
<cat> is close to-->
{kak}
• c can be silent. There are two occasions when this can occur: the combination ct in some words, and in British place names such as Leicester, e.g.: <Leicester> /ˈles.təʳ (US) -tɚ/; <indict> /ɪnˈdaɪt/
• An exceptional pronunciation for c is /ʧ/ in some words borrowed from Italian, e.g.: <cello>/ˈʧel.əʊ (US) -oʊ/; <Cinquecento> /ˌʧɪŋ.kweɪˈʧen.təʊ (US) -oʊ/.
<cello> is close to{hkèý-lo}
• A final exception: <Caesar> /ˈsɪː.zəʳ (US) -zɚ/
<Caesar> is close to{hsi-za}
In English words the letter c is Palatal Affricate, and never has the Burmese-Myanmar Palatal plosive-stop
• c is not present in English phonetics. See English consonants - DJPD16. However c is present in some other languages. See IPA table of Consonants (Pulmonic) - IPA .
• If you are a Bur-Myan speaker you will
notice that:
•
{pa.}-{ba.} pair is produced in the very
front part of the mouth ("bilabial"
refers to both lips or labia).
•
{ta.}-{da.} pair is produced just behind
the upper front teeth with the tip of
tongue touching the alveolar ridge (the
bony part with alveoli or teeth sockets).
•
{ka.}-{ga.} pair is produced in the interior in the area of the soft palate or velum.
Since the tongue-tip cannot reach this area, it is produced by the body of the
tongue.
The left member of each pair is voiceless and the right member is voiced
(i.e. with vibration of vocal cords.). However, in Pali of Mon-Myan r1c3, r1c4,
and r1c5 are all voiceless. The pronunciation of Mon-Myan Pali words can be
heard in
¤ Mon-Myan Language: Speech and Script
-
MonMyan-indx.htm >
spk-all-indx.htm (link chk 160907)
You might feel that the POA of voiceless member is in fore of the POA of the voiced member. Notice that palatal sound is produced in the palate (hard palate) region, velar sound in the soft palate region, and uvular sound in the uvular region.
Test for voicing: Voicing simply means vibration of vocal cords. Place your finger lightly on the area of Adam's apple. You can feel the vocal cords vibrating while you are saying the word aloud. Even if you are a woman, you can do this test. Remember that some consonant sounds seem voiceless to some observers but voiced to others.
• /c/ (U0063) is voiceless palatal
plosive (or stop) and it is produced with the
tongue tip directed down towards the lower
teeth, while the tongue body makes contact
with the hard palate.
• /ɟ/ (U025F) is voiced palatal plosive (or stop) and is the same as
/c/, but with vibration of the vocal cords.
The corresponding
palatal nasal /ɲ/ (U0272) is usually voiced as well. (UNIL)
See
Consonants (Pulmonic) - IPA
• Bur-Myan speakers should remember /c/ would be very close to
{ka.} /k/. Similarly, /q/ is also very
near. The holy book of Muslims,
the Koran is now spelled with a q
instead of k -- Qu'ran.
The matrix-position occupied by Pali-Latin
(or English Pali) c is
occupied by Bur-Myan
{sa.}/
{c} resulting in different pronunciations:
Example:
• canda (meaning: Moon) =
{san~da}
If we were to go along
pronunciation of c (as ch
in <rich>), the problem becomes
worse, because the ch pronunciation
in Bur-Myan is given by the medial
{hkya.} or conjoined consonant which is
monosyllabic
The matrix-position occupied by ch
is occupied by Bur-Myan
{hsa.} resulting in different
pronunciations: Example:
• chanda (meaning: intention) =
{hsûn~da.}
The fifth consonant (r2c5) is a
"nasal"
{ña.}/
{ñ}. Traditionally, the akshara-matrixes
of Bur-Myan and Pali-Myan are given as
different and separate. In Bur-Myan r2c5
is occupied by Nya'gyi
{Ña.} /
{Ñ}, and in Pali-Myan by Nya'lé
{ña.}/
{ñ}. However, after I have moved
{Ña.} /
{Ñ} to the Palatal approximant position
as a neighbour of
{ya.} /
{y}, there is no need to differentiate
Bur-Myan from Pali-Myan. The nasal
{ña.}/
{ñ} is the sole occupier of cell r2c5. When
{Ña.} /
{Ñ} is used in Pali-Myan, it is a
horizontal-conjunct:
In Pali-Myan, Nya'gyi under virama breaks up into two Nya'le
For example the Pali-derived Bur-Myan word for "education" is a word of this type. It is written as
{pa.Ña} but pronounced as
{píñ~ña}.
{hkya.}-group :
the Palatal Affricates
Though there is no
{hkya.}-group in Burmese Pali-Myan (B-Pali)
and Bur-Myan. It is present in Pali-Latin
(E-Pali). Though not explicitly written it
is affricate in Mon Pali-Myan (M-Pali).
{Ta.}-group
By virtue of position this group
corresponds to the Cerebrals .
The modern term is Retroflex .
The Burmese pronunciation of this group is
the same as that of the dental - the
{ta.}-group. The fifth consonant (r3c5)
{Na.} is a "nasal". The
{Ta.}-group is interesting on three
accounts:
1. The perfect circle, which in esoteric term is the unblemished circle is in this group in the Asokan:
2. The Akshara of r3c4
{D³a.} is of the same shape as the mark or hair on Buddha's forehead. This point represents the Third Eye of Shiva. The Google Search defines:
¹. Hinduism - the locus of occult power and wisdom in the forehead of a deity, especially the god Shiva. The “eye of insight” located in the forehead, which can be activated through the practice of yoga.
². informal term for Pineal Eye .
See Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_eye 160908
3. The Mon-Myan pronunciations of this group is different from the pronunciations in other groups.
Retroflex - bk-cndl-Mon-row3<))
Dental - bk-cndl-Mon-row4<))
At this point these are the three observations I have made on this group. I hope to get more insight by the study of Skt-Dev (A Practical Sanskrit Dictionary by A A Macdonell - MC-indx.htm (link chki 160908)) in comparison with Pal-Myan (Pali Myanmar Dictionary by U Hoke Sein).
{ta.}-group By virtue of position this group corresponds to the Dentals of E-Pali.
The dentals "t" and "d" are pronounced with the tip of the tongue placed against the front upper teeth.
Unknown to me in 2007 is the fact the Bur-Myan
{ta.} is
present Georgian language as a Letter of its Alphabet. Being a Letter, it
is mute. To make it pronounceable, or
"come to life", a vowel must be
coupled with it. If we choose the vowel letter
"An" ა (U10D0) (the inverse
of the
{a.þût}-sign), the two თა can be
pronounced like
{ta.}. If the vowel letter "In"
ი (U10D8) is chosen, the two
{ti.}.
თ (U10D7) + ა (U10D0) =
თ (U10D7) + ი (U10D8) =
The fifth consonant r4c5
{na.} is a "nasal". The shape of
{na.}
{na.}
reminds me of a coiled Naga
{na.ga:}
'Dragon'. They are devout followers of
Gautama Buddha. See:
¤ Cult of Naga in Folk Elements in Buddhism
--
flk-ele-indx.htm > ch07-cult-naga.htm
(link chk 160908)
{pa.}-groupBy virtue of position this group corresponds to the Labials of E-Pali.
{ma.} is the nasal of this group. It is interesting that {ma.} is the
negative prefix in a language in Nepal.
See Wikipedia: -
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prefix 160908
"In the Sunwar language of Eastern Nepal, the prefix ma- म is used to
create negative verbs. It is the only verbal prefix in the language.
• Bad child! (scolding)
ma.rimʃo al
NEG.nice child
[6]
Cited by Wikipedia from:
Borchers, D. (2008). A Grammar of Sunwar:
Descriptive Grammar, Paradigms, Texts and Glossary. Brill Academic
Publishers. p. 169
Nasals and Aspirates
-- UKT
The discussion in these paragraphs involve the characters in rows 1 to 5. In Myanmar and Indic scripts the characters are arranged in a way to bring out the nasalities and aspirations of the consonants. Thus column 5 characters (rows 1 to 5) are nasals.
The column 2 and column 4 characters (rows 1
to 5) are described as "aspirates".
In E-Pali and Indic scripts an h is
added following an English letter. For
example in E-Pali, r4c2 is th and r4c4
is dh. In Romabama form of M-Pali, the
position after the first letter(s) is reserved
for {ya.pin.}, {ra.ris}, {wa.hswè:} and
{ha.hto:}. Thus, the (r4c2)
in Romabama is ht {hta.}. Instead of
writing (r4c4) with an h, Romabama uses
another symbol D {Da.}.
Bur-Myan speakers would notice that
when you pronounce
in sequence, the tongue is touching the alveolar ridge for
and then the position of contact moves
towards the interior of the mouth -- to
the alveolar and then velar regions. Thus,
I hesitate to call
as the aspirate form of
, and
the aspirate form of
.
and
are distinct consonants.
In the series
. However, there are some who maintain that
{Ga.} should be pronounced with an h
in M-Pali. -- personal communication with
U Kawwida of Toronto Burmese-Buddhist
monastery.
The following terms used for the members of this group (individually and collectively) are
to be checked:
• approximant (bilabial- , postalveolar- , palatal-)
• dental
• fricative
• semivowel
• sibilant
• trill
According to Dr. Ko Lay,
{ya.} and
{wa.} are the only semivowels, and
{þa.} which has both /θ/ (as in
English <thin>) /ð/ (as in English
<that>) is a dental fricative, but
represented by sa in Sri Lanka and Thailand.
(e-mail communication dated 2004Mar23).
• The position occupied by Bur-Myan
{wa.} is occupied by v
{va.} in E-Pali.
• The position occupied by Bur-Myan
{þa.} is occupied by s in E-Pali.
Though this results in different pronunciations, the meanings
remain the same. Example:
{wa sa} = «vācā» (meaning: word, voice)
{þa.ra.} = «sara» (meaning: sound, voice, intonation, accent)
Myanmar
{ha.} is best described as a glottal fricative. For the pronunciation of English
h see letter h.
The E-Pāḷi word Niggahita shows that a character
with vertical ligature is involved. Examples of words with vertical ligature
from PTS:
• niggahīta (meaning: restrained, checked, rebuked, reproved) =
{naig~ga.hi-ta.}
• nicca (meaning: permanent) =
{naic~sa.}
• magga (meaning: road) =
{mag~ga.}
There is no difference between the pronunciation of "ṅ" and "ṃ". The former never stands at the end, but is always followed by a consonant of its group.
DJPD16 p30. A phonetic term of comparatively recent origin, used to denote a consonant which makes very little obstruction to the airflow.
Examples for English
Traditionally approximants have been divided
into two groups. Sounds in the first group are known as 'semivowels'
such the /w/ and /j/, which are very similar to 'close vowels' such as
[u] and [i] but are produced as a rapid glide. e.g.:
<wet> /wet/
<yet> /jet/
Liquids are sounds which have an identifiable constriction of the airflow but not one that is sufficiently obstructive to produce fricative noise, compression or the diversion of the airflow through another part of the vocal tract as in nasals. This category includes laterals such as /l/ and non-fricative /r/ (phonetically [ɹ] in the British English and [ɻ] in US English), e.g.:
<lead> /liːd/
<read> /riːd/
Approximants therefore are never fricative and never contain interruptions to the airflow.
DJPD16 p144. A sound in which there is contact between the tongue and the front teeth.
Examples for English
In English, the dentals usually
referred to are the
FRICATIVES /θ/
and /ð/, of which /θ/is voiceless
and /ð/is voiced. In a careful production of
these sounds, the tongue tip may be protruded
between the upper and lower teeth; the sounds
are sometimes referred to as 'interdental'
for this this reason, e.g.:
<thigh> /θaɪ/ ------------------- <thy> /ðaɪ/
<ether> /ˈiː.θər/(US)/-θɚ/ --- <either> /ˈaɪ.ðəʳ/(US)/-iːðɚ/
<breath> /breθ/ ---------------- <breathe> /briːð/
Go back dental-note-b
DJPD16 p216. A type of consonant made by forcing air through a narrow gap so that a hissing noise is generated. This may be accompanied by VOICING, in which case the sound is a voiced fricative, such as [z], or it may be voiceless, such as [s].
Examples for English
British and US English have nine fricative
phonemes:/f θ s ʃ h/
(voiceless) and /v ð z ʒ/(voiced).
All except /h/ are permitted to occur in all positions in English, but/ʒ/ as in <measure> /ˈmeʒə/is of rather low frequency compared to the other eight sounds. /h/may not end a syllable.
The quality and intensity of fricative sounds varies greatly, but all are acoustically composed of energy at relatively high frequency -- an indication of this is that much of the fricative sound is too high to be transmitted over a phone (which usually cuts out the highest and lowest frequencies in order to reduce the cost), giving rise to confusion that often arise over sets of words like English <fin>, <thin>, <sin> and <shin>. In order for the sound quality to be produced accurately, the size and direction of the jet of air has to be very precisely controlled.
A distinction is sometimes made between 'sibilant' or 'strident' fricatives (such as
[s] and [ ʃ ]) which are strong and clearly a
udible and others which are weak and less
audible (such as [θ]and [f]).
Go back fricative-note-b
UKT 160907: The English word "letter" has many meanings. I have used it in Alphabet-Letter system of writing to differentiate the hyphenated term from another - the Abugida-Akshara system. Letter and Akshara are not the same. To get away from all these drawbacks, I am using here the term "digraph" instead of "letters".
DJPD16 p365. The main realisation for the consonant digraph [ng] is /ŋ/, e.g.:
<sing> /sɪŋ/
<ringing> /ˈrɪŋ.ɪŋ/
Other pronunciations are possible, one being /ŋg/, e.g.:
<finger> /ˈfɪŋ.gəʳ (US) -gɚ/
In addition
In many words spelt [nge], or where [ng] is followed by [i] or [y], the pronunciation is /nʤ/, e.g.:
<change> /ʧeɪnʤ/
<engine> /ˈen.ʤɪn/
Go back digraph-NG-note-b
DJPD16 p240. There are two main pronunciations for the consonant letter h: /h/ and silent.
<head> /hed/
h has a silent realisation at the end of a word, e.g.
<oh> ---- /əʊ/ (US) /oʊ/
<loofah> /ˈluːfə/
There is a group of words in which it is also silent initially: <heir>, <honour> and <hour>, and their derivatives, and <herb> for American English.
UKT 160908: the following table is my addition -- you are advised to check with the original.
<heir> ---- /eəʳ/ (US) /er/
<herb> --- /hɜːb/ (US) /ɝːb/ /hɝːb/ - 2 pronunciation in US
<honour> /ˈɒn.əʳ/ (US) /ˈɑː.nɚ/
<hour> -- /aʊəʳ/ (US) /aʊr , aʊɚ/Compare the pronunciations of <heir> and <our> with
• <air> /eəʳ/(us) /er/-- same pronunciation as <heir> (i.e., homophone)
• <our> /aʊəʳ , ɑːʳ/(us) /aʊr , aʊɚ , ɑːr/-- same pronunciation as <hour> (i.e., homophone)Whether [h] is "silent" or not depends on the native-English speakers themselves. From my personal experience, I was taught in Myanmarpré (at a time when it was part of the British Empire) to pronounce [h] in <herb>. But I was corrected in the US not to pronounce the [h]. After some time I went to Australia, and I was again asked to pronounce the [h]. I am citing this personal experience to show my fellow Myanmars not to pay too much attention to the idiosyncrasies of the English language.
After deciding how to pronounce a word with [h] as word-initial, then and then only can you decide what indefinite article to use before it. Normally, we pronounce [h] in <history>, however, I had come across a book titled "An History of ..."
Following an initial [r], [h] is silent, e.g.:
<rhythm> /ˈrɪð.əm/
In weak forms, [h] is often not pronounced, e.g.
<him> -- /ɪm/
<have> /əv/
Go back Pronouncing single letter H note-b
n. Linguistics 1. A sound that has the quality of one of the
high vowels, as ( ¶) or ( ›), and that functions as a consonant before vowels,
as the initial sounds of yell and well .Also Called glide .
-- AHTD
Go back Mixed-gr-b
sibilant
Linguistics adj. 1. Of, characterized by, or producing a hissing
sound like that of (s) or (sh): the sibilant consonants; a sibilant bird
call. n. 1. A sibilant speech sound, such as English (s), (sh), (z),
or (zh). [Latin sībilɑ̄ns sībilant- ,present participle of sībilāreto hiss] -- AHTD
Go back Mixed-gr-b
DJPD16 p548. A speech sound produced by the rapid vibration of one the vocal organs.
Examples
The parts of the body that are used in
speaking (the 'vocal apparatus') include some 'wobbly bits' that can be made to
vibrate. When this type of vibration is made as a speech sound, it is called a
trill. The possibilities include a
BILABIAL trill, where
the lips vibrate (used as a mild insult, this is sometimes called "blowing a
raspberry", or, in the US, a 'Bronx Cheer'), a tongue-tip trill which is
produced in many languages for a sound represented alphabetically as
<r>,
and a uvular trill, which is a rather dramatic way pronouncing a "uvular r" as
found in French, German and many European languages, most commonly used in
acting and singing.
In British English, the trill most
likely to occur is the
ALVEOLAR trill, which is (perhaps confusingly) represented by the symbol
[r]
, and is an allophone of the English phoneme
/r/.
However, it most frequently occurs in restricted contexts, such as singing.
Go back Mixed-gr-b
End of TIL file
