Burmese For Beginners PDF

н и м
Burmese for
Beginners
by
Gene Mesher
q fc i ü o 8 (jp
PAIBOON
PUBLISHING
ÜOOOOOS
Burmese for Beginners
Copyright ©2006 by Gene Mesher
Printed in Thailand
All rights reserved
Paiboon Poomsan Publishing Paiboon Publishing

582 Amarinniwate Village 2 PMB 256, 1442A Walnut Street
Nawamin 90 (Sukha 1), Bungkum Berkeley, California USA 94709
Bangkok 10230 Tel. 1-510-848-7086
THAILAND Fax 1-510-848-4521
Tel 662-509-8632
Fax 662-519-5437
info@paiboonpublishing.com
www.paiboonpublishing.com
Cover and graphic design by Randy Kincaid

Editorial review by: Nance Cunningham
Transliteration System: Gene Mesher and Benjawan Poomsan
All photos by the author
CD Voices: Gene Mesher, Pyu That Htar, Shwe Thway Maung, Pyu
Wey Maung and Min Soe Htwe
ISBN 1-887521-51-8
Printed by Chulalongkom University Printing House

December 2005 [4902-150/1,000(2)]
http://www.cuprint.chula.ac.th
Table of Contents
» i '*
Guide to Pronunciation . ? 7
Lesson 1 t* 21
greetings; polite particles; negative sentences; final question
particles; numbers; consonants I; simple vowels
Lesson 2 47
(p (at); ^ (to have); Myanmar cities; conjunctions; present
tense; negating a verb; present progressive; consonants II;
and vowels; final consonant sounds
Lesson 3 75
going places; common verbs; lo-jin (to want);
thwa: o0o; (to g o );; verb modes (future, past perfect);
descriptive verbs; phrases for yes and no; complex vowels;
unmarked high tones; common consonants III
Lesson 4 101
question words; colors; possessive form; compound
verbs; 33 prefix and ooo suffix; medial consonants;
common consonants IV
Lesson 5 131
telling time; day structure; time terms; days o f the
week; writing Burmese numbers; aspiration; final
consonant symbols
Lesson 6 155
calendar time; weeks, months and years; Burmese
calendar and holidays; voicing; unwritten tones;
talking on the telephone; buying a bus ticket
Lesson 7 179
foods; forms o f address; informal pronouns; talking to
monks; have ever; eating in a restaurant; eating at a
teashop; weakening
Lesson 8 207
body parts and health issues; commands; gender and
plural forms; ordinal numbers; stacked consonants
Lesson 9 231
classifiers; comparisons; traveller’s needs; rarely used
consonants and symbols; shopping for clothes
Lesson 10 255
vocabulary for feelings, family, occupations, animals;
subordinate clauses; irregular negative forms;
the 33 prefix and ooo suffix; literary form
Appendix 1 285
A B rief Overview o f Burmese Grammar
Appendix 2 289
Test and Writing Exercise Answers
Appendix 3 299
Useful Words and Phrases
Introduction
Welcome to the study o f the language o f Burma, officially known
as Myanmar. Although about 50 million people live there, few
books have been written to teach this -language. This book, along
with its accompanying CDs, atteAipts to fill that gap. It can be used
for self-study, study with a tutor or as a classroom text.
Burmese is the largest member of the Tibeto-Burman language

family o f over 250 languages whose speakers live in the
mountainous regions o f the Himalayas east to the mountainous
regions o f southern China and northern Southeast Asia. Burmese
has many features not found in Western languages such as the use
o f tones, including the verbs at the end o f the sentence and the use
of “bound” particles.
Burmese for Beginners teaches you four basic language skills:

speaking, listening (using CDs), reading, and writing. Each lesson
teaches new vocabulary, grammar and includes conversations and
sentences to illustrate the materials presented in the book.
Each lesson also includes a section on how to read and write

Burmese script. Learning the script is easier than it looks and will
facilitate your understanding o f Burmese. Although written
Burmese doesn’t use spaces between words, I have included them
ta_help you master the script more easily. You’ll also see that
learning the Burmese alphabet is worth the trouble since it will
help you better understand and pronounce the language.
The last section o f the book includes two appendicies. The first
appendix helps students plunge right into using the language: it
lists many common phrases that students can use to make
conversation or to use in their travels. The second gives the
answers to the drills and quizzes that are set forth in each lesson. In
order to facilitate review o f the material presented in the book, the
errd section also includes a glossary o f the words presented in the
book, plus an index o f grammar and reading/writing concepts
presented throughout the book.
Although this book is written, for beginners, it can also be used for
those who want to improve their basic skills in Burmese, build a
foundation for future studies or for those preparing to go on a trip
to Myanmar.
_Acknowledgements
First and foremost, thanks go to Paiboon’s President, Benjawan
Poomsan who has played a critical role in encouraging and
steadfastly supporting this project as well as lending her strong
background in Southeast Asian languages and publishing to ensure
its success.
Grateful thanks also go to the many native Burmese speakers in

Thailand and during my many trips to Myanmar especially Win
Win Htwe, Deborah Aaron, Thet Thet Aung, Sabaey Aung, Aung
Soe Min, Kay Maung La, Shwe Thway Maung, Pyu That Htar and
Pyu Thein.
Thanks also to Nance Cunningham for her many excellent

suggestions and reviews o f drafts o f the book. Her guidance and
critical feedback has raised my knowledge o f Burmese and this
book to a much higher level.
To all o f the above and others, I am truly thankful.
Gene Mesher
Bangkok,
November 2005
Burmese for Beginners 7
Guide to Pronunciation
;
Tones ■
Burmese has four tones listed below. ,*
1. Creaky ( .) : a short and falling'tone that ends with a weak
closure o f the glottis. Indicated by a subscript period. Often
unmarked. Example: la CO month
2. Low (no mark): a long and level that may fall or rise at the
end. Example: la c o o to come
3. High (:): a long tone that starts high, then falls slowly from
high to low pitch. Example: l a : coos question particle (is it?)
4. Stopped (’): a very short, high tone ending in a glottal stop.
Example: la’ c o o 8 middle
The Burmese tones can be shown schematically as follows:
Burmese Tones
DURATION
e Guide to Pronunciation
Vowels
Burmese vowels are best understood as a part o f a vowel-tone-final
consonant combination. Vowels can be thought o f as belonging to
one o f three groups: open vowels (with no final consonant), final
“n” vowels, and vowels with stopped finals. The vowels are listed
below, and include the different forms the vowel may take,
according to tone.
Open Vowels
/9/ 9 [33] likeainabout; asinhtg-min: coySs (cooked rice)

/a/ a03300 a 330 a: 3305likeainfather; asin: lacoo(come)
Id e 0
33
0
e 33oS e: 3^ likeeinbell; be000S (which)1
lil •i 38 i 38 i: 385 likeeeinsee; asin: mi: 05 (fire)
hi 0G30Q
• 0
00338 o:6330likeawinlaw: asin:pyo 6Cj>j5
(happy)1
/0/ 0 3^ 0: 3^5 like0inwrote; asin: hso: a^
>5
•0
(bad)
l\xl U3? us 1 u: 3^5 likeuinflute; tu0^(chopsticks)
/ei/ ei° 6330 ei 633 ei: 6335 likeei invein: asin: hnei:
(slow)
1 Note that the vowels e: and o are special cases in which there is a high tone,
but it is unmarked.
Final N Vowels
» s
/an/ an 32ô an 3 2 ^ an: 32^2 asfin: pan: 0^2 (flower)
»
/in/ in Gq 8 in □qS in: 33S; a short i, as in win 08 (enter)
/on/ on 3 g ^ on on: as in: yan-gon (Rangoon)
/un/ un 3g ^ un 3 g ^ un: og^S as in: zun: <g^t (spoon)
/ain/ ain 3^8 ain 3^8 ain: as in: hsain s ^ S (store)
/ein/ ein 38^ ein 38^ ein: o 8^ t as in: ein: g88 (house)
/aun/ aun• 6 3 3 0 8o aun G330 8 aun: G3 3 0 8t r\

as in: kaun: GOOOCS (good)
Stopped Final Vowels (stopped tone only)
/a ’/ 33081 338 as in hpa’ 008 (read)
/e’/ 3308 as in je ’ g c S (chicken)
/iV 338 as in hni’ <^S (year)
/o ’/ 3^081 3 g 8 as in sa-o’ © 03go (book)
/u 7 3 jcS as in lu’-la’ CgcScoS (indej
/aiV 3^>o8 as in lai’ 0^08 (follow)
/ei’/ o 8c 6 i 388 as in o-yei’ 3 3 ^ 8 (shadow)
/auV 6 3 3 0 cS as in nau’ 6 <Ôc8 (next)

10 Guide to Pronunciation
Weakening
When two words are combined, Burmese vowels sometimes
become ‘weakened’. That is, the original vowel sound is replaced
with a shwa (3), such as the sound in the English words about and
wpon. Some common example o f this in Burmese are:
ti’ oo8(one) ts-hse ooSsooS(ten) to-ya oo8cp(100)

hni’ <^8(two) hns-hse <^8sooS(twenty) hns-ya <^Sep(200)
A more detailed discussion o f weakening is given in Lesson 7.
Consonants
lb/ O 1 OO as in baby; be OOaS (left)
Id/ 3 1Q as in doll; da: QOS (knife)
/dh/ OO like the voiced th in this; pan:-dhi: o^soSs (apple)
/g/ O as in gold, gi-ta 800 (music)
/h/ OO as in honey; ho’-ke, cpcSob (yes)
similar to ch in chin, but with no aspiration and
formed using the flat o f the tongue (often

transliterated as ky or kj); ja: cr^ps (tiger)
/j/ 9 | 1 [§ as in English jaw , but formed using the flat o f the
tongue (often transliterated as gy or gj); ¿3-pan

(Japan)
Ik/ OO as in skate (i.e., unaspirated); ka: OOOS (car)

0
/ 1/ 03 as in law; lan: coos (road)
IS *
/m/ 0 as in money; ma o o (hard)
t
/n/ <^> as in need; ria-yi, <|0 ^ (h o u r)
/ng/ C as in ringing: ngaVcli (fish)
/ny/ 03 like n in pinata; nya 030 (right)
/p/ 0 as in pink; pai’-hsan y c S s o (money)
/r/ €| as in. red (used in loan w o rd ^ re-di-yo 6 C|§oij) (radio)
/s/ 0 as in soup; sa-o’ © 0300 (book)
/sh/ C^j as in shark; shi-de ÔOoS (to have)
N co same as the unaspirated t in standard; te’ OOcS
(be able to)

o
/th/ 00 like the unvoiced th in thin; thon: O0S (three)
/w/ 0 like w in woman; win-de 08000S (to enter)
/y/ 00 1 as in you; yei 6 G| (water)
Izl O' I <S^| as in English zebra; zei: 6 <^|t (market)
/7 081810818 glottal stop as in lock, but w/o the puff o f air at
the end (final consonant only); w e’ o o S (pig)

Aspirated Consonants
Aspiration means the speaker breathes out heavily while making a

consonant sound. Burmese has many aspirated consonants. Some
are listed as separate letters in the Burmese alphabet. Other
aspirated consonants are written using ha-hto: (_,).
ch same as English ch as in chew, but more aspirated

(paired with ocjj); cha:-na: |ÔS<ô; (different)
hk 9 like k in kill, but more aspirated (paired with 00);

like’ 9oS(difficult)
hi CO like 1but aspirated (no English equivalent); hla cvj)
(pretty)
hm O like m but aspirated; -hma <jO (at)
hn like n but aspirated, hna <^0 (nose)

f
hng like ng but aspirated; hnge’ <po8 (bird)
?
hny like ny but aspirated; hnya’ (cut)
B
hp (9 as in English pore (paired with o); hpo-na’ 8^.8 (shoe)
hs 90 same as s but aspirated (paired with ©); hsei: G90S

(medicine)
ht OO as t in tense but more aspirated (paired w/ 00); hti: cSt

(umbrella)
hw
? like w but aspirated; hwe’ cpoS(hide)
Note that the “sh” sound is also a special case that also uses ha-hto:
and is represented by either ya-gau’ ha-hto: or la ya-pin ha-hto:
(c\gj) depending on the word. •
, *
Medial Consonants ' <t
Special symbols are used to indicate medial “y” and “w” sounds.
Two symbols are used for the ‘y ’ sound: ya-pin ( j ) and ya-yi’ (^¡).
The medial w sound uses the wa-hswe symbol Examples are
found in many words such as the verbs for want (gj8 chin), speak
(cjyo pyo:) and go (ogos thwa:), respectively.
Final Consonants
Burmese has only two “syllable ending” consonants, the glottal
stop and the nasal n. The glottal is similar to the beginning o f the
final k sound in the word lock but without the explosion that
follows. The Burmese nasal “n”, is like a shortened version o f the
English ‘n ’ sound at the beginning o f “un-hunh”.
Glottal stops and nasal n ’s are formed by adding a “killer” mark

(o-tha’, which looks like a superscript ‘c’) to one o f four possible
consonants. The glottal stops are: oo (ka-tha’), 8 (sa-tha’), 08 (ta-
tha’) and 8 (pa-tha’) and the nasal n’s are: 8 (nga-tha’), gS (nya-
tha’), ^ (na-tha’) and 8 (ma-tha’).
Voicing
As in English, some Burmese consonants may be “voiced”,
meaning that a humming sound is made in the voice box along
with forming the consonant in the mouth (The English ‘z ’ sound is
an example.) The “voiceable” Burmese consonants are:
Unvoiced consonant pronounced when voiced as:

j(OCfl), ch (Sfl) ¿(9 1)
k (co), hk (9) g (o )
P (o), bp (o) b (o o )
s (©), hs (so) z (e )
t (oo), ht (oo) d(3)
th (o o ) dh (oo )2
Note that initial consonants and those following a glottal stop are
usually not voiced, but there are sometimes exceptions that are.
Common examples o f voicing include the polite particle -pa (ol),

voiced as “-ba” . and the present/past verb suffix -te (OQoS), voiced
as “-de”. More than one syllable can be voiced at the same time.
The Burmese word for “thank you”, for example, includes the
voiced forms o f both “-pa” and “-te” : jei:-zu: tin-ba-de GO^|S<j^
QoSoloQoS.
' The ‘dh’ sound is like the voiced form o f th in the words ‘this’ and ‘that’,
while the unvoiced form (transliterated as ‘th’) is like the th sound in thing.
Similar Tone, Consonant and Vowel Sounds

i *
A major obstacle in language learning is being able to hear and

clearly say words with similar sounds. Some Burmese words have
the same sound but different tones. In other cases, the difference is
that one word has an aspirated copsonant while the other does not.
Some words also have different, but hard to distinguish
consonants. Here are just a few o f the many examples o f similar
sounding words.
Same sound, different tone

la CO month
la co o to come
la: coos question particle (is it?)
la’ coo8 middle
ka 00 to dance, from (part.)

ka coo shield
ka: coot car, automobile
ka’ 0008 card
sa © to start
sa ©0 writing
sa: ©OS eat
c
sa’ ©0 spicy
mei 6 ©0 forget
mei G© May
mei: G©5 to ask
mei’ 808 prickly heat
Unaspirated vs. aspirated consonants
sa: ©OS to eat hsa: OOOS salt

la CO month hla pretty
°?
ma to hard hma at (part.)
jo boil cho sweet
<4 k
nga: els five hnga: <pi lend
Different, but similar consonants

kaun: gooo8 s good gaun: GsISs head
na pain nga cl I (informal)
nei G<|> live, stay ne state (geog.)
ngo ? cry nyo E§l brown
be’ oooS side pei: GOS give
mei: G tíl ask myei: eg: grandchild
daun GOOOS comer
o
taun 60008 south
hse sooS ten hsei: G SOl medicine
The Burmese Alphabet

» \
00
ka-ji:
Q
hka-gwe:
0 /
oo c
nga
oo(cgs 9 GgS 'Q C C $' oo(m s C
©
sa-lon:
90 O'
za-gwe:
«a e
hsa-lein nya
©c^s aoc8 8
'm§is§ K
za-myin:-zwe:
& S
ta-ta-lin:-jei’ hta-win:-be:
q
da-yin-gau’
V GO
da-yei-hmo’ na-ji:
Qooâ^|8;^joS g o S id b qc|8G oooc8 OGCôS ciojc^:
00 00
ta-wun:-bu hta-hsin-du:
3
da-dwei:
Q
da-au’-chai’
f1
na-nge
0008:^ oosoS o^ s 3 G0 gS 0 6 3 3 0 o8[^c8 <^coS
o o
hpa-u:-hto’
O
ba-do-chai’
00
ba-gon:
G
pa-zau’ ma
OGOOoS Oj§:ocj>8 00008^08 ooo^s G
00 «1 CO o 00
ya-pe’-le’
ooooScooS
ya-gau’
CjGOOOoS C
O la wa
O
tha
00
oo Q 30
ha la-ii: a
ÜO clcns 30
Vowel Symbols
o 1 /a/ yei:-cha (short & long form) GCjS^j

O
III lon:-ji:-tin o^jc^tooS
0
III lon:-ji:-tin hsan-hka’ C\^;|(^SOo8 so^QoS
/u/ to-chaun:-ngin ooB c^ pB icB
i l
lui hna-chaun:-ngin (short & long form) ^B g ^ o BscS
.1 1
6 leil tho-wei-hto: OûGodj);
/e:/3 nau’-pyi’ G<|>Oo8u8

GO /d :/4 tho-wei-hto: yei:-cha OOGOO^S 6C|S^j
G8 hi tho-wei-hto: yei:-cha shej-hto: OûGodjk GC|l^| 6^
/au7 ths-wei-hto: yei:-cha shei-hto: ka-tha’...

(9
o
OûGOO^S GC|Î^J G^ OQOOoS
G oS /aun/ tho-wei-hto: yei:-cha shei-hto: nga-tha’ ...
GOGOLS GCjt^J G^ CXj>S COGoS

o
/0/ lon:-ji:-tin te-chaun:-ngin ap;[c^;oo8 ooSg^ oBscS
L *
/ai/ lon:-ji:-tin te-chaun:-ngin ka-tha’ ...
o^sjcyôoS ooBg^joBscS oooooS

°8 /ain/ Ion:-ji:-tin te-chaun:-ngin nga-tha’ ...
cy;[c^j;aoS ooS g ^joBscB cooc S
’ These two vowels include unmarked high tones.

Special and Clustered Consonant Symbols .
ya-pin 0008 medial, ‘y ’ sound

d
ya-yi’ G|G|S' jmedial sound
C /C
wa-hswe: 0 9 ^ ^medial ‘w ’ sound
O
ha-hto: oodjfe indicates aspiration
J
ya-pin wa-hswe: 0008 o s ^ combined symbol
oJ
ya-pin ha-hto: 0008 o o a jk combined symbol
J
wa-hswe: ha-hto: o s ^ o o o ^ i combined symbol
jO
ha-hto: te-chaun:-ngin ooo^S oo S g ^ o S scS
JL
combined symbol
ha-hto: hn 9-chaun:-ngin OOO^s ^ 8 g ^ o 8sc8

JIL
combined symbol
Tone Marks and Final Consonant Symbols
Z wo-sa-hno-lon:-bau’ og<^£c\^GoloS high tone mark

au’-ka-myi’ G3000800Q S indicates creaky tone
(subscript period)
’ o-tha’ (“killer” stroke) 300008 indicates final ‘n ’
consonant if above C, £Q, <^>or « indicates final
glottal stop if placed above oo, ©, oo or o

c
shei-hto: G ô^s same as o-tha’ when used with yei:-
cha (o). Does not indicate closed syllable
n thei:-dhei:-tin GCOSGOOSO08 indicates a final “n”

sound (marked with a superscript period)
Punctuation
Burmese uses just two punctuation marks, a short, vertical line: 1

whose function is similar to a comma, and two short vertical lines:
1 used as an end o f sentence marker:
II po-ma (j)Sw (end o f sentence marker)

I po-hti: Cj)5o8s (comma)
Lesson 1
greetings; polite particles; negative sentences; final
question particles; numbers; consonants I;
simple vowels
OO
OO
thin-gan:-za ti’ ©0 * 0 Lesson 1
8
0
w o:-ha-ra GolcpoC| Vocabulary
Nouns. J
jo-ma OgjSü I (female speaker)

jon-do, jo-no Ogj^GOoS I (male speaker)
hka-mya: z& pt you (male speaker)
hko-mya:-do Q « 3 p jc £ you (male speaker, plural)
shin you (female speaker)
o
shin-do you (female speaker, plural)
thu °2 he, she or it
da, di o T i§ this
e:-da, e:-di 1 □£§ that
ho-ha 0^)000 that one over there
na-me name
ho’-ke K | yes (lit., “that’s right”)
myei-bon map
GB vc
sa-o’ © 03^0 book
tha-din:-za ooooSsoo newspaper
na-yi watch, clock, hour
bo:-pin GOOOoS pen
hke:-dan ^00 pencil
ci’ o 8c 8 bag
ba ooo what?
da-ba-le: 310000Ö “What is this?”
ma-ho’-hpu: «aj>o 8ojj>: not so/ no,
(“that’s not right”)
ho’-ke-ba oôSobulii “Yes, Sir!”
24 Lesson 1
Verbs
na:-le-de <ôsco gSoooS to understand, “ [I] understand.”

na:-le-ye-la: ^ o sc o g c jc o o sii “Do you understand?”
na:-mo-le-bu: ôtycogScrjj>;ii “[I] don’t understand.”
hko-de g s Ioog S to be called
ya-de cjoooS to get, obtain, have
ya-ba-de C|6loooS “That’s all right.”
ya-mo-la:? C|«coo; “May I... (do something)?”
zei:-cho-de 6 G^Jt^j|OOoS to be cheap, inexpensive
Particles
-pa/ba ol polite particle

-te/de 00oS present/past verb particle
-la:? coot ‘Yes/No question’ particle
-le:? ‘open question’ particle
-no? G^S informal final part, (“...right?”)
-le: too, also
3
oe
-go: GOOO noun part, emphasizes person

being spoken to (“and you?”)
-lau’ GCOOcS noun particle for about
(as in “about how much?”)
Other Useful Phrases
nei-kaun:-ye-la: G^GOOoSscjCOO? “H ow are you doing?”

nei-kaun:-ba-de ^GOQoSsolcooS “ [I’m] Fine.”
Iwei-ya-da wun:-tha-ba-de GOgfcpOQ 'oSsooooloooSii
“Nice to meet you.”
Iisoi-rir-no? GSOO&G^Sll “I ’m sorry.”
kei’-sa-mo-shi-bu: o 8g « 8o^?n “It doesn’t matter.”
“No problem.”
jei:-zu:-tin-ba-de G(7^js(îoo8 o1oooSii “Thank you.”
jci:-zu:-be: GO^pc^SOii “Thanks.”
da be-lo hko-dho-le: ¿1 OOoSc^ Gsloocvbii
“What is this called?”
na-me be-lo hko-dho-le: ^>OwgS OOoScvj) Gslooabii
“W hat’s your name?”
bc-lau’-le: oocSGODOoSabn “How much [is that]?”
yu-me o^yoSii “[I’ll] take it” (said when
buying something).
di-hma pai’-hsan §tpo cj)o8son “H ere’s the money”
(said when paying a bill).
26 Lesson
tha-da oogl Grammar

Greetings
Min-ga-la-ba w^coool, meaning “auspiciousness”, is used as a

greeting used between teachers and students, it is also used by
Burmese to greet foreigners, but not in every day conversation
between Burmese speakers. Instead, a variety o f phrases are used
under different circumstances. The most common are:
nei-kaun-ye-la? gooo 8sC

' jCOOSII How are you?
sa:-pi:-bi-la:? coo; Have you eaten yet?
be thwa:-ms-le: ogotoobii Where are you going?
be-ga pyan-la-le:? 000S00 (y^cooabu Where did you go?
Instead o f “goodbye”, Burmese use the phrase:

thwa:-bi ogosj^H I am going.
Being Polite: shin/hks-mya.
A special word is used to politely address the person one is

speaking to. The word for males is hko-mya: (o S cjp :) while
female speakers use the word shin (^|6 ). The conversations and
sentences include many examples o f this.
Being Polite: the ‘pa/ba’ particle

i <*
The other way to make a statement more polite is to use the
"pa/ba” particle (written “pa”,but voiced as “ba”), which is usually
placed after the verb. For example: y
I don’t understand. na:-mo-le-bu: ^»OSWCOgSo^SII
Can also be written: na-mo-le-ba-bu: <ôsyco
The -pa/ba particle is used when the speaker wishes to be polite

and is often used when speaking to someone respectfully, such as
with the elderly, monks and teachers.
Final question particles: la: coos and le: CO
Questions in Burmese usually include a special question particle at

the end o f the sentence. There are two in Burmese: la: (COOS), used
in ‘yes/no’ questions, and le: (CC>), used for all other questions.
sa:-pi:-bi-la:? © o s jy s jy c o o s ii Have you eaten yet?

na-me be-lo hko-dho-le:? < p y g O Q o S a j) Gslooabii
W hat’s your name?
The second example also shows a case o f weakening, commonly

found in questions. In such cases, -te/de (oooS) is no longer the
linal particle and so is substituted with the related particle, “dho”
(oo) particle which is then followed by the question particle in the
linal position.
28 Lesson 1
Conversation 1
Bill nei-kaun:-ye-la: hko-mya:?
08OS G ^G O o o S scjcu o s sScÔJII
How are you?.
Thi-da nei-kaun:-ba-de. shin-go:4 nei-kaun:-ye-la:?
08000 6<|.600o8;oloooSii ^|8gooo g <^g o to S sc|c\oos
I’m fine. And how are you?

Bill nei-kaun:-ba-de. hko-mya: na-me be-lo hko-dho-le:?
080S g ^ gooo S soIoooS ii s 8c p ; oooSo^ Goloooöll
I’m fine. What is your name?
Thi-da jo-ma 5 na-me thi-da-ba. twej-ya-da wun:-tha-ba-de.
shin-go: na-me be-lo hko-dho-le:?
08000 ogjô |oopS 080000I11 Gogcpoo oosoooolcooSn
^|8g o o o ôwpS cooScvj) g o 1
ooo 8ii
My name is Thida. Glad to meet you.

And what is your name?
Bill jo-no na-me Bill-ba. jo-no-le:
twei-ya-da wun:-tha-ba-de.
080S ogj^Gooo ôo^S 080S6I11 ogj^GOoScojDS;
60g€|ooo oSsooooloooSii
My name is Bill. I’m also glad to meet you.
1 The particle -ko:/go:, translated as “as for you” , or “and you” shows emphasis.
Adding a creaky tone to the end o f jo-no converts it to the possessive form.
Conversation 2 .
i
Dan da be-lo hko-dhs-le:?
¿1 OOoSaJ) Gslooojll
4
What is this cdlled?
Nyi-ma-lei:6 e:-da na-yi hko-de.

3^31 <^0^ GoioOoSlI
It’s called a watch.
Dan di na-yi be-lau’-le:?

4 § coo S g c o o 080811
How much is this watch?
Nyi-ma-lei: hno-htaun ja’-pa.

0§y6COS ^ 8 g OO o 8 0 ^ j 8 6 1 ll
two thousand kyats.
Dan 0 , zei:-cho-de. da yu-me. di-hma pai’-hsan.

i& n
CD
3 ^ G ^ s ^ j o o o S i i 3I o ^ g g S ii (¡>o 8 so ii
Oh, that’s a good price. I’ll take it. Here’s

the money.
Nyi-ma-lei: jei:-zu:-tin-ba-de.
gSwGCOS g o ^ sc^s o o S o Io o o S ii
Thank you.
f' Nyi-ma-lei: literally means “younger sister” and is used to address waitresses,
dorks and other female workers younger than the (male) speaker. See the
grammar section o f Lesson 7 for more details.
30 Lesson 1
w a -ja -m y a : c5locj|<=jps S e n te n c e s
1. A: da sa-o’-la:?
3I oo 3 ^8 coojii
Is this a book?
B: ho’-ke, da sa-o’-ba.
oôSobi 3I ©O3^8olii
Yes, this is a book.
2. A: da na-yi-la:?
3) ôf^COOSI
Is this a watch?
B: ma-ho’-hpu:7, da na-yi mo-ho’-hpu:.
yoôSo^ti ¿1 ^0^ oaj>o8ojj>tn
No, this is not a watch.
3. A: e:-da ba-le:?
oooo^ll
W hat is that?
B: e:-da ei’-ba.
3$d>l 38080I11
That is a bag.
4. A: da hke:-dan-la:, bo:-pin-la:?
3I ^06coo si gooooS coosii
Is this a pencil (or) a pen?
B: da bo:-pin-ba.
3l GOOOoSollI
This is a pen.
7 The negative -hpu:/bu: (O^S) particle, although written using a “b” sound, is an
cxumplc o f an older spelling form that is pronounced as an aspirated “p” sound
when not voiced.
5. A: da be-lo hko-dho-le:?
3] OOcSc^ G^loOoSlI f H*
What is that called? 1
B: myei-bon-ba.
G ^ 6 lll -r
[It’s a] map, sir.
ft. A: na:-le-ye-la:?
ÔSCO^CjCOOSII
Do you understand?
B: na:-le-de.
ôscogSoooSii
I understand.
C: na:-mo-le-bu:.
ÔSyCOjDSojjO
I don’t understand.
7. A: jei:-zu:-tin-ba-de.
G<7^S(>SOoSoloOoSll
Thank you.
B: jei:-zu:-be:.
GO^jSCj^SCJll
Thanks.
C: ya-ba-de8.
C|o1oooSii
That’s all right.
Mya-ba-de, can be used to mean both “that’s all right” and “no thanks.” Since it
ran be ambiguous, it is often accompanied by a head nod or shake to indicate an
affirmative or negative answer, respectively.
32 Lesson
Numbers in Burmese
Although Arabic numerals (1, 2, 3...) are often used in Myanmar,

the Burmese numbers also in common use, so you’ll need to know
them for signs and written materials. The numbers will be
presented again in the writing section o f Lesson 5.
0 thon-nya o
1 ti’ 0 008
2 h n i’ $8
J
3 thon:
9
4 lei: GCOS
9
5 nga: els
6 chau’ § g (ô o 8
7 hkun-hni’ -or- hkun 9

T
8 shi’ o
Sl£
9 ko:
e
10 te-hse 10 DO ooSaooS
11 hse-ti’ OO aooSooS
12 hse-hni’ sooS ^S
°J
16 hse-chau’ oG s o o S g (q o o 8
20 no-hse ^S sooS
J°
21 hno-hse-ti’ «^S sooS ooS
J°
22 hno-hse-hni’ ^S aooS ^S
JJ
26 hno-hse-chau’ JS ^ S goo S g ^ ogS
v The word hkun is used when giving a series o f numbers, such as a phone
number.
10When combined with another word, ti’ (one), hni’ (two) and hkun-ni’ (seven)
are "weakened” and instead pronounced as: to, hno, and hkun-hna, respectively.
.10 thon:-ze ^,-OpSSOoS

R° ,
11 thon:-ze-ti’ pO f opssooS ooS
.12 thon:-ze-hni’ o p sso o S ^S
40 lei:-ze GCOSQOoS
50 nga:-ze cfesooS
3°
00 chau’-hse Go GÔoSsOoS
70 hkun-hna-hse p^S aooS
T
X0 shi’-hse oo ^S aooS
00 ko:-ze 0° o^ssooS
100 te-ya ooo ooScp
200 hna-ya JOO ^S cp
.100 thon:-ya poo OpSGp
400 lei:-ya poo GCOSCp
500 nga:-ya 3°° clscp
000 chau’-ya G oo Gf^QoScp
700 hkun-hna-ya
T °
K00 shi’-ya ooo 5 |£ « p
000 ko:-ya 0OO o ^scp
1000 ta-htaun OOOO oo S gooo 8
2000 hns-htaun JOOO ^ S gooo S

10,000 te-thaun: OOOOO oo S gooo S s
100,000 te-thein: OOOOOO ooSoS ^s

34 Lesson
Test 1
Match the English words with the Burmese words.
1. watch a. le: CO^S;

2. book b. bo:-pin G o o o u c
3. pen c. na-me ÔüjDS
4. this d. hke:-dan S>00
5. I (male speaker) e. na-yi <£>OQ
6. also f. da 3 I
7. pencil g. jo-no Og|^GOo5
8. name h. di §
9. what i. ei’ 3808
10. bag j. sa-o’ © 03^8
k. ba OOO
Translate sentences 1-3 into English. Transliterate sentences

4-5 into Burmese.
1. 3] OOOOÔII 3) Ô^ülll
2. G^GOOoSs^jcooai
3. Gogcjooo oSsooooloocSii
4. I’m sorry.
5. This is a newspaper, right?

Drills
1. Write and say the following sentences in Burmese.
<4
How are you doing? <{ i
My name i s ______ .
This is a map.
This is not a pen.
2. Use the following words to help form complete sentences,
jo-ma Ogj^y e:-da 3^31 ba ooo
.1. Practice saying each word in the vocabulary list in conjunction

with the audio recordings. Say the word first, then wait and listen
lo the recording. This will tell you how accurately you are
pronouncing the words. It will also help you leam the
Iransliteration system.
36 Lesson 1
Reading & Writing

The Burmese Writing System
The modem Burmese writing system, called myan-ma-za

(jfcj^yooo), is based on the written forms o f the Mon and Pyu
languages which predate the arrival Bamar peoples to what is now
Myanmar in the tenth century and were, in turn, based on writing
systems brought, along with Buddhism, from India. Modem
Burmese script includes 33 consonants, about 14 vowels, two tone
marks and a number o f additional specialized characters.
Burmese is a phonetic language that is usually pronounced as it is

written, though there are many exceptions and variations that must
also be learned as well. This book covers the most important
variations o f how the written language is pronounced, but it should
be kept in mind that some o f the complexities o f written Burmese
go well beyond the scope o f this book.
The reading and writing sections in Lessons 1-5 cover the basics o f
how colloquial Burmese is written. Lessons 6-9, then discuss the
most important cases o f writing and pronunciation variations
including voicing, weakening and stacked consonants. The last
lesson o f the book, Lesson 10, discusses the literary form o f
Burmese. Literary form in Burmese varies from the spoken form in
the different particles it uses, and has many common uses, such as
in signs, dictionaries and formal correspondence, so a brief
introduction may prove helpful for a beginning student.
Although there are 33 consonants in Burmese, 8 o f these are rarely

used and so will be presented in Lesson 9 along with the
uncommon vowel symbols. Also, because the last letter in the
alphabet, a (33) is so common and begins many words, it will be
included in this first writing section which presents seven
consonants, six vowels and the two tone marks.
Practice Writing Consonants

»
Practice writing the following consonants. Remember to use
Ilie proper stroke order as shown below;.
\f^ \
U j ( J
UL2 ) (llii_.ili_
/ \ / X /-X
■f’y C.y o ) cy cV Cy c y
/■“X /"“•x
/hk/hka-gwe c y _O L _jcl_ _jo L_jOL
o n o o n
r lw\ \
Igl ga-nge \ J ./
. ^ • h\ / ’ •* N
f
i I
1 S .1
v _ / X u * ...« / U V , . * /
/ - - N S ”* \ / “ X f \ f'- '- 'X
/ng/nga " W r - ____ V - / x ™ /

V .,f
38 Lesson
Simple Vowels^
!
Six simple vowels are shown below*i. Some vowels have two forms
depending on the letter it is attached to .Jh e long form o f yei:-cha
In used in order to avoid writing Something that will look like a
different consonant. For example, the -pa/ba (61) particle uses the
long yei:-cha to avoid looking like ha ( 00). Also, remember that
complex vowels are written using multiple symbols that must be
viewed as a unit to be pronounced correctly.
Vowel Sound Name
1. - O /a/ yei:-cha GCjS^j
-1 yei:-cha (long form)

o
2. /i/ lon:-ji:-tin (uses creaky tone )11
a ^ jc ^ so o S
0
y l\l lon:-ji:-tin hsan-hka’ ~
C^sj^SOoB SO^QoS
4. /u/ te-chaun:-ngin (uses creaky tone )11

L
oo S g ^ o S scS
- 1 9
/u/ te-chaun:-ngin (long form)
I
5. /u/ hno-chaum-ngin ^ 8g ^ o 8sc8
IL
19
111/ hno-chaun:-ngin (long form)
'I
6. G " iQll tho-wei-hto: OOGOO^S
11 Sec note on page 34 regarding unmarked creaky tones.

l; The long forms o f te-chaun:-ngin and hno-chaum-ngin are used if there isn’t
loom to place the symbol in its normal position beneath a consonant.
40 Lesson
Practice Writing the Following Vowels

Practicing writing the following vowels using OQ. Remember to
always start writing a character with the small circle if there is on<
3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0 3 0 0
3 8 3 8 3 8 C£
3 l & 3 8 ¡ 3
3 ? 3 ? 3 ?
3 ?
6 3 0 6 3 0 6 3 0 6 3 0
Read the Following /Vlqijd

i
Note that all o f these sounds below are low tones.
t*.
1. COO £ °9'* *" GOO
2. ¿1 s 9 G3
3. ol 8 9 GO
4. cl 8 9 GC
5. ©o 8 9 GO
6. 3 0 0 3§
®9 GSO
7. 3 0 0 £ =9 G30
42 Lesson 1
Burmese Tone Marks

Burmese has four tones which are usually, but not always, marked
with special characters. The low tone is unmarked, however, and
there are cases where other tones are unmarked as well. This
section presents the tone marks for the high and creaky tones. The
fourth, “stopped” tone is a bit more complicated, so w e’ll discuss il
in Lesson 2.
Creaky Tone Mark (First Tone)

” /creaky tone mark/ au’-ka-myi’ G3SO o8oojy£ |
Like the high tone, the creaky tone, falls from high to low, but it is
shorter and falls more quickly than the high tone and also has the !
important characteristic o f ending with a weak or gentle closure o f
the glottis, a bit like a gargling sound, but is quieter, very short and
deeper in the throat. !
Low Tone (No Mark, Second Tone)
A syllable with no tone mark is generally pronounced with a low

tone. The Myanmar low tone is only relatively low compared to
the other three tones, but is actually pronounced as a long, flat mid
level tone that may rise or fall slightly at the end.
High Tone Mark (Third Tone)
“ o /high tone mark/ wo-sa-hno-Ion:-bau ’ O g^SoîG olcS

The high tone is a long tone that starts high and then slowly falls to
the level o f the low tone. It is usually indicated by placing the
above colon-like mark at the end o f a syllable. Two other vowels
(sec Lesson 3) are also pronounced using an unmarked high tone.
11itmarked Creaky Tones ,

i
Nol all tones are marked in Burmese; A syllable with no tone mark
Мшу indicate a creaky tone under some circumstances. In this
lesson, you’ve seen two important pases^'of unmarked “creaky”
vowels: lon:-ji:-tin ( ° pronounced as “i”), and ta-chaun:-ngin (
pronounced as “o” ). The third common case o f an unmarked
rrcaky tone is when no vowel is indicated at all. For example, the
verbs sa-de ©000S (start) and ka-de, oooooS (dance) both begin
willi creaky tones.
Read the Following Aloud

fnch row follow s the same tone order: Creaky, Low , High.
1. OO ООО OOOI
f,)1 08 08?
00
\.
°? °2
GOO
« GOO GODS
v О ¿1 sis
(». 8 8 X°
O'о
/.
OO
? ?
H. G9о GS G9S
0. О ol ol;
10. 8 8 8;
44
11. ? 9 9s
12. GO о
GO GOS
13. С cl cl;
14. 8 8 8:
15.
? î ?
16. GC о
GC gc;
17. О ©О ©o;
18. 8 8 8:
19. ? î
20. GO о
G© e©:
21. 00 300 эоо:
22. s8 s8 э8;
23.
4
24. GOO о
GSO gso:
25. 30 300 300
26. зЗ зЗ з§;
27. 4
28. G30 630 G30:
Writing Exercise; 1 ^
f
Write the following words and sounds in Burmese script.
1, ka: (car) ' <* ^ _______________
2, ku: ( cross (v)) _______________
3, hka: (bitter or waist) _______________
4 , gu (cave) _______________
3, nga: (five or fish) _______________
ft. sa: (eat (v) ) ______________ _
7. si: (ride (v)) _______________
8. zo-ga: (language) _______________
9. hsa: (salt) _______________
10. hsi (oil) _______________
11. hsei: (medicine or wash (v)) _______________
12. a: (free, not busy (v)) _______________

Lesson 2
yo (at); <^(to have); Myanmar cities; conjunctions;
present tense; negating a verb; present progressive;
consonants II; and vowels; final consonant sounds
thin-gan: -za hni’ Oo 8 q £ ;SOO Lesson

wr>:-ha-ra goIoooc| 5 Vocabulary
Noups 1
Ic-li-hpon: OOoSc8(^S telephone

myc’-hman eyeglasses
pui’-hsan yoSao money
(b-la GcSIcVDO dollar
i»’ e
kyat (Myanmar currency)
pon picture
V
du’-pon ©ooS photograph
kin-ma-ra ooSocp camera
a-bi-dan 3Qo8©0^ dictionary
Hc’-ku paper
®rai
/»-bwe: ©os£ table
ci’-ya □88c p bed
ko-b-htain OjJODOSCXjjS chair
a-hkan: room
ci’-hkan: 3880^1 bedroom
cin-dha 388000 bathroom, toilet
cin 388 house, home
lun: c o 8s way, road, path, street
di-hma §ô here
c:-di-hma 3r^§(^0 there
lu)-hma over there (farther away)
be oooS which or left
be-hma OOqS(jO where
50 Lesson
nya ¡XO right

be’ 0008 side
a-yan: 33C[8; very, much
a-mya:, a-mya:-ji: OOfc^psi OQüps(< ; many, a lot
jan-do-do c g |£ c o > S o ^ we (male speaker)
ja-ma-do we (female speaker)
° a f a o ?.
thu-do they
2$ .
pye, nain-gan gSc country
myan-ma-nain-gan y ^ 00^86 Myanmar
ba-ma-ye oyof Burma
ta-yo’-pye China
in-ga-lan England
htain:-nain-gan Thailand
ein-dj-ya India
a-mei-ri-ka America
ka-li-hpo:-ni:-ya: California
¿9-pan Japan/Japanese
ba-dha-za-ga: language
myan-ma-za-ga: Myanmar language 13
myan-ma-lo in Myanmar
ba-ma-za-ga: ÜÜOOOOOSI Burmese language
ba- ma-za-lo OOOO^ in Burmese
ta-yo’-sa-ga: ooqoSoooot Chinese language
in:-ga-lei’-sa-ga: 320c88© 000S English language
1' bo-ma-zo-ga: and myan-ma-ze-ga: are used more or less interchangeably in

common speech. The -sa/za ©O particle is used for the written form o f a
language (see Lesson 3).
Murmese for Beginners 51
pyin-thi’-so-ga: lyS ooS oooos French language

ja-man-zo-ga: cpoôooos (Germán language
-In person
°¡t !
-lu-dwei people
^ G08 .
-myo: kind, type, category
-lu-myo: nationality, ethnicity
V erbs
yai’-te ôS oooS to take [a photo]
ln-de coooooS to come
ln-ge coos) o
Come here!
nci-de GÔOüS , to live or stay somewhere
shj-de ôooS to have
Ihin-de oo£oooS to study, learn
pyo:-de © (yooocS to speak
hkc’-te QCOOOcS to be difficult
lwc-de côS oooS to be easy
Particles
-lima in, at
7°
-no and, with
-ka/ga CO from
-sliei G% front
nau’- G pcS back
.i-po 33GoT on
-an’ G33O0 8 under
between
oo
ja:
-/.o-ga: ©OOOS language (suffix)
-lo in a lang., “in Burmese”
52 Lesson
-ye possessive particle

mo-...-hpu:/bu: o[verb]Ojj>; negative particles (used in
negating a sentence)
Myanmar Cities
Myanmar made up o f fourteen parts; seven divisions (tain:, 0^ 8;)
and seven states (ne, <ôS). The divisions are regions where the
main population is ethnic Burmese; such as Mandalay Division.
The states are named after a local ethnic group that usually forms
the main population in that area, such as northern Kachin State.
Below is a list o f M yanmar’s larger cities.
bo-gan Bagan
bo-go: Bago/Pegu
bo-mo Bhamo
jain:-ton Kyaingtong//Kengtung
la:-sho: coo; Lashio
man:-do-lei: Mandalay
mo-lo-myain Moulmein
bei’ Myeik/Mergui
m yi’-ji:-na: Myitkyina
nyaun-u: Nyaung-U
nyaun-shwei Nyaungshwe
hpa:-an Pa-an
so-gain: Sagaing
si’-twei Sittwe
taun-ji: GOOOC Taunggyi
do-we ooo;oc Tavoy/Dawei
yan-gon Y angon/Rangoon
tha-da oogl Grammar

Murmcse has three main categories of words: noims, verbs and
particles. Particles exist only as “bound” forms and must be added as
prefixes, suffixes or infixes to the words (hey modify. Particles play
типу roles, such as to indicate politeness (Lesson 1), conjunctions
(нее below) and verb forms (Lesson 3).
Noun Particles: -ne ^ (and), -le: cogSs (also), -hma (jo (at)
So lar, I’ve introduced a few o f the more common conjunctions.
Most Burmese conjunctions are particles, attached to a noun as
miI'llxes. For example:
If the word for which: be oooS
along with the particle for at: -hma i°

forms “which + at” or where: be-hma oooSyo
Other conjunctions introduced so far include:
-ne and, w ith, between

-le: cogS: also, and (when used with two verbs)
-hma <<p at, in, from 14
Verb Particle: -te/de OOoS (Present/Past)

The most common verb form is the present/past. It is formed by
adding the particle -te oooS, usually voiced as “-de” to the verb
root. For example,
the verb for understand is: na:-le <ôsco
location words also use -hma. E.g.„ here: di 3 + -hma <jO (at) = di-hma § y O
54 Lesson i
Then: [I/you/he/she] understand(s) is: na:-le-de <ô;coôooS
Some other common verbs are:
[I/you/he/she] go(es) thwa:-de ogosoooS

[I/you/he/she] conie(s) la-de coooooS
[I/you/he/she] eat(s) sa:-de oosoooS
-te is usually voiced (pronounced as -de), except when it follows a

glottal stop, as in:
[I/you/he/she] like(s) ja i’-te g c& n o S
Note that when the present/past particle is not in the final position
in the verb phrase, it changes form to tho/dho ( 00) :
[Do you] like [it]? ja i’-te-la:? (ôSoocoos

D escriptive V erbs
Burmese uses “descriptive verbs” in place o f adjectives. For
example, the adjective “easy” needs to be thought o f as the verb
“to be easy”. Such verbs use verb particles just like any other verb.
So, to say something is good, easy or difficult, you say:
[It] is good. kaun:-de gooo S soooS ii
[It] is easy. lwe-de. c^ o S ooo S ii
[It] is difficult. hke’-te. ooScooSn

Verb Particles: ni9-...-hpu:/bu: o.-.o^ (legating a verb)

f
A sentence can be negated by adding the particles ma («) and -
hpu:/bu: (ojj>?) before and after the verb^rather like “ne...pas” in
French. For example: '>
,. . '
111 have [something]. shi-de

becomes:
111 don’t have [something], mo-shi-bu:
In some cases, the ma particle is prefixed to the second syllable o f

ii verb. For example, na-le:, which is actually a compound verb, is
negated as:
| IJ don’t understand. na:-mo-le-bu: ôswco^Sajsii
Similarly, the phrase for saying, “I am not well” is:
11] am not well. nei-mo-kaun:-bu: G<^GGOOo8ofjj>?ll
Irregularly formed negatives are discussed in more detail in Lesson 10.
liming the Verb nei G<^>to form the present progressive

The present progressive (describing an action that is “in progress”,
much as: “he is going”, “I am eating”, etc.) is formed by adding
"nci” (G<^) between the verb and present/past suffix. For example,
in:-g9-lei’-s9-ga: thin-de. 3380880000? 00S000S11

11] study English.
rewritten in the present progressive would be:
in:-g9-lei’-so-ga: thin-nei-de 3380880000? Oq S g ÔOoS ii

11 am] studying English.
56 Lesson
Conversation 1
MaNyun ba-lu-myo:-le:?
o o o c \j^ j|sa b ii
What country are you from?15
Tom o-mei-ri-kan-lu-myo:-ba. hko-myar-go: ba-

lu-myo:-le:?
GOOoS 3QGOÔO^C^^J(;olll sSqpSGGOO OOOOJ^|Sc5ll
I am American. Where are you from?
MaNyun jo-ma myan-ma-lu-myo:-ba. yan-gon-hma

nei-ba-de.
shin-go: be-hma nei-dho-le:?
Ogl^y ^«OCVJ^||s6ln GôloQoSlI
^Sgooo OOcSÔ G<ÔOOl5|I
I am a Myanmar. [I] live in Yangon.
And where do you live?
Tom jo-no ka-li-hpo:-ni:-ya:-hma nei-de.

GOOoS
I live in California.
ba lu-myo:-le: literally means “What nationality are you?1

Conversation 2
----------------------- r r.
Sein ba thin-nei-dho-le:?;
ooo ooSg ^ ooo^ ii
r*
What are [you] studying?
|,isa bo-ma-zo-ga: thin-nei-de.

i$© 0 OGOOGOOS Od Sg ÔOoSiI
[I am] studying Burmese.
Sein bo-ma-zo-ga hke’-tho-la:?

8 $ oyooooos OoSoDCOOSII
Is Burmese difficult [to learn]?
I.isa mo-hke’-hpu:. bo-ma-zo-ga: lwe-de.

shin-go: ba thin-nei-dho-le:?
(\8©0 GQoSo^SII OGOOOOOS CôSoOoSlI
^|8gooo ooo oo8 g ^ ooc\5ii
No. Myanmar is easy. What are you studying?
to-yo’-so-ga: thin-nei-de. mo-lwe-bu:.

ooôSoooos ooSg^ oooSii ycôSo^sii
[I am] studying Chinese. [It’s] not easy [to
learn].
58 Lesson
wa-ja-mya o la ^ p o
o Sentences
1. A: bo:-pin be-hma-le:
g00008 oooSôobii
Where is the pen?
B: di-hma.
§<5)011
[The pen is] here.
2. A: o-bi-dan be-hma-le:?
300800^ o o o S ^ c ^ ii
Where is the dictionary?
B: o-bi-dan ko-b-htain-bo-hma shi-de.

300800^ o^ cooso^S go Iô ^ oooSii
The dictionary is on the chair.
C: da’-pon yai’-mo-la:?
oocSg ô8ocoo;ii
[Can I] take a photograph?
D: yai’-me.
(jjc8>ooSii
[Yes,] take [it].
3. A: ko-htun: be-hma-le:?
oôg^s oooS^ oooii
Where is Ko Tun?
B: ko-tun: in-go-lan-hma shi-de. ( ,

3 o8 c o ^ o ôooSii
Ko Tun is in England, i
4, A: mye’-hman be-hma-le j?
cooSyoo^n
Where are the eyeglasses?
B: mye’-hman ei’-ya-bo-hma.
3§8cpGoIyOII
The eyeglasses are on the bed.
S, A: ko-b-htain be-hma-le:?
ogcoo;o^8 oooSôoîi
Where is the chair?
B: ko-b-htain ei’-hkan:-hma shi-de.
The chair is in the bedroom.
ft, A: myan-ma-nain-ngan be-hma-le:?

(^ G O ^ S c OOoSÔCÎI
Where is Myanmar?
B: myan-ma-nain-ngan htain:-ne ein-di-ya-ja:-hma shi-de.

(y^GO^Sc 0^£s^ 38|co[ÔS(^0 ôooSn
Myanmar is between Thailand and India.
1 A: ein-dha be-hma-le:?
388000 oooSyoobii
Where is the bathroom?
60 Lessonj
B: ein-dha o-nau’-hma-la:?
388000 30Gôc8<jOcoo;ii
Is the bathroom in the back?
C: ho’-ke, ein-dha o-nau’-hma shi-de.

O^cSobl 388000 306^.008(^0 ôooSii
Yes, the bathroom is in the back.
D: mo-ho’-hpu:. ein-dha nya-be’-hma.

« o^ oS o^ sii 388000 goo o o S y o ii
No. The bathroom is on the right side.
9. A: thu-hma ba shi-le:?
000
What does she have?
B: thu-hma kin-mo-ra shi-de.

ojjKjn ooSocp ôooSn
She has a camera.
10. A: thuein-hm a ein-dha shi-dho-la:?

ojj>a 388^0 388000 ÔOCOOSII
Does his house have a bathroom?
B: ho’-ke, thu ein-hma ein-dha shi-de.

0^08081 O^ 388(5)0 388000 ^cooSn
Yes, his house has a bathroom.
11. A: ma-sein-ye ei’-hkan:-hma ba shi-le?

« 8^ 38 80^ 0 000
What does Sein have in her bedroom?
ie for Beginners 61
B: ma-sein-ye ei-hkan:-hma zo-b>ve:^ne, ko-lo-htain-ne

ei’-ya shi-de. i
JL (■
Sein’s bedroom has a table-and a chair and a bed.
A: thu in:-go-lei’-so-ga: thin-nei-la:?

ajj> 3360880000; oo8 g^ coo;ii
Is she studying English?
B: ho’-ke, in:-go-lei’-so-ga: thin-nei-de.

0^08081 3380880000; ooSgôooSii
Yes, she is learning English.
C: mo-ho’-hpu:. in:-go-lei’-so-ga: mo-thin-bu:.

ooô8oj;ii 3380880000; ooo8ojj>;ii
No. She is not learning English.
A: bo-ma-zo-ga: be-hma thin-le:?

000 ©000; oooSô 00S0811
Where did she learn Burmese?
B: thu ein-hma o-bi-dan-ga bo-ma-zo-ga: thin-de.

ojj> 388(^0 330800^.00 0000000; 008000S11
She learned Burmese at home from a dictionary.
A: ma-nan-da ba thin-nei-le:?
0 ^ 0 000
What is Nanda studying?
B: ma-nan-da pyin-thi’-so-ga: thin-nei-de.

0 ^ 0 [ySooSoooo; ooSgôooSii
Nanda is studying French.
62 Lessor
Drills
1. Write and say the following sentences in Burmese.
The map is under the table.
I speak French.
Are you studying Burmese?
Sein is in Yangon.
2. Using the transliteration system in this book, write a paragraph

in Burmese answering the following questions:
• Where are you from?

• Where do you live?
• W hat language are you studying?
• Is the language easy or difficult?
3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences.
jo-ma o g |^ y ein-dha 388000 ein □88

jo-no OgJ^GOoS nei-de e ^ o o o S -ka/ga 00
ba 000 be-hma oooSyo be 000S
hko-mya: s S q p s -po-hma G o ltp nya ¡900
hso:-ri:-no G900QS6<£ ¿a: g o t like’ QoS
te-li-hpon: ooo S cS c^ lan: C\o8s lwe côS
ei’-ya 3 8 8 c p thin-de 008000S yai’-te (jjoSoooS
ei'-hkan: 3 8 o s ^ s shi-de ôooS -hma <jO
ko-h-htain cq co o id ^S thu cq
in:-go-lei’-so-ga: 3080880009s
ftumiese for Beginners 63
Test 2 _>
j V'*
Mulch the English words with the Burmese words.
»
1. left a. be oooS
2. room ho-hma
3. paper c. lu-dwe CvjjJGOg
4. house d. thin-de 008000S
5. eyeglasses e. lan: cogs
6. easy f. la-de coooog S
7. bed g- ei’-ya 388cp
8. difficult h. ¿a: g o ;
9. study i. mye’-hman fc^joS^
10. between j- hke’ 9oS
11. come k. zo-bwe: ©o;y
12. money 1. nya jXp
13. street m. lwe-de côSoooS
14. table n. ein g88
15. dictionary 0 . se’-ku ©£g|
P- o-hkan: 399^;
q- 3-bi-dan 390000^
r. pai’-hsan yoSoo
64 Lesson
Translate sentences 1-3 into English and transliterate sentences 4-j

into Burmese. '
1. Ojj) 0000000S Oo S g ÔOoS h i
2. ojj> ooSg^ oooSii
3. ' C^jO^tpO <3<ÔOCOII
4. Where is the bathroom?
5. The eyeglasses are on the table.

Practice Writing Cpn^nants

Practice writing the following! consonants. Remember to
Ihe proper stroke order as shown below.
/ny/nya
W t$-wun:-bu
66 Lesson!

j
Practice writing the following consonants. Remember to usi
the proper stroke order as shown below. j
it'’’"“'! Cmtl r~*% C...'•

'% 'l "li ' , 1 * ;
3
/d/ da-dwe: > i : i ' i ; ; ,,f! ; X i i
A / ”*S / ’"S 1
Vzy « k::y k::y v o* k r J kry' i
r \ r \ 'r \ o T Ni 1
/d/ da-au'-chai' <d b ky u ty b 1 U |
lurm ese for Beginners 67
Read the Following Atyud
GO*
1 .0 0 § § ..
<?
2 .0 0
o
0 0 ' 002
.v g o
£ & £1 El
4¡030
t§OO
.
GOO
5 .0 0 0 0 8 0 8
°? °2
6 .0 0 0 0 0 0 0002
o
7 .0 0 0 0 8 0 8 GOO
°? °?
K.OOO 0 0 0 0002
o
M. 3l 8 8 6 3
10 . ¿ 1 ¿1 3I2
0
II.G O 8 8 GO
1 2 .0 0 0 0 0 0 2
o
68 Lesson
Final Consonants
c
9-tha’ /final consonant mark
Burmese has just two final consonants, the nasal n and the glottal
stop. Both are marked by using the o-tha’ or “killer stoke” which
looks like a superscript “c”. The glottal stop is the fourth tone in
Burmese, but the nasal n can be combined with any o f the other
three tones. Both final consonants have four instances as shown
below16.
Note that the vowels sounds shown below only apply to simple
vowels such as 3 3 c 8 (e’) and not to complex vowels such as
3^08 (ai’).
Final Nasal N
Consonant Name Pronunciation
OO
OO
80 l in/in/in:
0
n g a -th a ’
&0
e/e/e: (has no final n sound)

[0
n y a -th a ’
E§
Lffo-
Oc/3-
an/an/an:
00
n a -th a ’ O
C , C
801 y 1ys m a0- t h a ’ an/an/an: (same sound as
16The o-tha’ symbol is also used with other letters, esp. in words of Pali or
Sanskrit origin. In such cases, they don’t result in a closed syllable, such as wit
ya-tha’ oS, used in the present/past verb ending as in “he goes” Ojj) OgOSOOOL
or as in the Pali-derived word for captain or officer, bo-ji: CpoSjc^S, that
includes a silent la-tha’ oS.
The final nasal n is written by placing an o -th ^ a b o v e the

characters C, ^ or «. The nasal n in Burmese is pronounced rather
like the the first n in “un-hunh”, butivery short, ending almost at
the beginning o f the sound, so no resonance can be heard. Nga-
lh»\ na-tha’ and ma-tha’ are all prtonouhced in this way. Nya-tha’
joS, although listed as a final n, is pronounced as an ‘e ’ sound,
without voicing the final nasal n.
Klnal Stopped Tone

08 ka-tha’ e’
8 sa-tha’ i’
08 ta-tha’ a’
8 pa-tha’ a’ (same sound as c8)
An o-tha’ is placed above the characters oo, ©, do or d, to indicate

n glottal stop. This is both a vowel and the fourth, or stopped, tone.
The stopped tone is also the shortest tone. It starts high, falls
briefly and ends with a glottal stop.
70 Lessor
Practice Writing the Following Vowel

Tone and Final Consonants Groups
nga-tha’ (in-in-in:)
c c
33 SO 33Co 33 S0 33C
0
c c
338 33C 338 33C
c
00
ooo
oo
o
00
oo
33CS
3
nya-tha’ (e-e-e 0
c
33joS 33 pS 33 pS 33 ¡30
33 pS 33 pS 33 pS 33 pS
°aj
8
33 pS 33pSs 33 pS
OO
lu rm ta e for Beginners 71
Itf-lha' (an-an-an.)
oo
33
nUf-tha’ (an-an-an:)
c c c c
3 3 « 3 3 « 3 3 « 3 3 «
O O 0 0
c C C c
3 3 « 3 3 0 3 3 0 3 3 0
c
oo
3 3 8 s 3 3 8 ? 3 3 8 s 3 3 0
72 Lesso
ka-tha’/sa-thaVta-thaVpa-tha’ (e’/iVaVa’)
зэоо зэо 8 зэо 8 зэо 8
зэ 8 39© 39©
3 9 о8 3 9 о8 3 9 о8 3 9 СО
С С С С
390 390 390 390
Hum mse for Beginners 73
Writing Exercise 2
t
Write the following words and sounds ip Burmese script.
|, ko: (nine) 5 ___________
2, kaun: (good) ' < :J___________
3, hkaun: (head, pron. gaun:) ___________
4, gi-ta (music) ___________
I, sa-dai’ (post office) ___________
4, saun: (harp) ____________
7, so-ka’ (skirt) ___________
|, hsain (store/shop) ____________
hso: (bad) ____________
|0. ze’ (ferry) ____________
II. zi’ (zipper) ____________
12. nya (right) ____________
13 . nyi (younger brother) ____________
| 4 . ti’ (one) ____________
15. tu (chopsticks) ____________
16. htu (thick) ____________
17. htain(sit) ____________
IH. htain: (Thai) ____________
|0. da: (knife) ____________
20. o-tu-du (same) ____________
Lesson 3
going places; common verbs; lo-jin cv^S (to want),
thwa: ogos (to g o);; verb modes (future, past
perfect); descriptive verbs; phrases for yes and no;
complex vowels; unmarked high tones;
common consonants III
thln-gan:-za thon: Oo 8 q ^S<DO Lesson 3

Wrtl-ha-ra 6o)oOOfc| Vocabulary
Nouns
Ml: ■market
Ho*lc hotel
Hpo-ya: pagoda, (buddhist)temple17
|mn: school
hpon:-ji:-jaun: oy§;|c^|;GcqpS; monastery
l• ,•ka-tho oôScS university
•«»Ihin-gan: ©oooSs^s classroom
|Wli:-,jan o$s|si park
(ini' brickbuilding
M'll-dai’ ©Of library
w-dai’ ooc post office
N n-dai’ QOoSoôS bank
••«a:, i»-sa:-9-sa 33001 I3300S3300 food
Hle-min: OOoSs cookedrice
linalii 3(j>8 store
llUvmin:-zain cowSssc^S restaurant
Mi-lhau’-hsain oojgooooSsi^crestaurant
ln'-hpc’-ye-zain cooSooSqpSs^S teashop
llkau’-swe:-zain GsloSs^s^S noodleshop
Mioij-zain bakery
M-o’-hsain 003^8a^8 bookstore
MThis Pali-derived word ispronouncedwith an aspirated ‘p’ sound (hp) instead
ul rt '!>’ sound.
78 L<
hsei:-yon hospital
yo’-shin movie
yo’-shin-yon movie theater, cinema
yon: office
than-yon: embassy
di-lo-hso “in that case”
e:-di-lo-hso “in that case”
ti-bi, ti-bwi o8§i ¿8« television
a:-go-za: 39050000° sports, athletics
gi-ta 80O music
tho-chin: 08^85 song(s)
e ’-hko-ya 3 9 0 QCp alphabet, script
myan-ma e ’-hko-ya [fcj^yo 3 9 0 gcp Myanmar alphabet
sa ©o written language, writing,
letters, lessons
myan-ma-za (fcj^wooo written Myanmar
in:-go-lei’ e ’-hko-ya 398088 3 9 Q^Cp English alphabet
htain: e ’-hko-ya 0885 3 9 0 gcp Thai alphabet
htain:-za 008500 written Thai
to-cho some
none: a little bit, small amount
f e § !f t § !
V erbs
thwa:-de ogosoooS to go
pyan-de (yÔQoS to go back, return
na:-htaun-de ^ osgooo S oooS to listen
lo-jin-de cv^SoooS to want
iurmnae for Beginners
W#»do ooS oooS to buy t f♦

ill-do ©osoooS to eht
lo'-ie c y 8 oooS to do, make
3Q C o8a^SoooS to wtfrk
jul'-tc a^COOOoS to like, prefer
ji-dc to watch, look at
hmln-dc to sit
li'-lc to sleep, lie down
tal'-ie to follow, go with
filtln-de, ta’-te ^ S o o o S I OQoSoocS can, be able to, know
how to do
ll'-hkan-de c o o S so o o S to receive
|p»/.ii:-de OCNDOSOOcS to play
hp«'-lc 008000S to read
JWl:-dc GCjSOOoS to write
|lNlin:-dc GOOoStOQoS to be good
h«»:-dc g8;oooS to be bad, naughty
Ihci* )8 very (adverb)
80 Lesso
tha-da oo ¿1 Gramm;
Verb Particle: -m e QoS (Future)
Future action is indicated by adding -me ( qo S) to a verb. Thus, “

will go” is written:
[I] will go/[Fm going to go] thwa:-me OgOtooSii
When the “-me” particle is not at the end o f the verb phrase, it
changes to “mo” (o):
Will [you] follow? lai’-mo-la:? cvj>o8ocoosn
Verb Particle: -bi Q (Past Perfect)

The past perfect is the verb form that describes a completed actic
In Burmese, this is formed by adding -pi/-bi to the verb. For
example:
[I] have eaten. sa:-bi ©o:<
Frequently the verb pi: (|ys), meaning “finished”, is added to the

end o f a verb, which is used in the same way that the adverbs “y<
and “already” are used in English:
Have [you] eaten yet (already)? sa:-pi:-bi-la:? ©o:|ys(ycoo:ii j

Yes, [I’ve] already eaten.
ho’-ke, sa:-pi:-bi oôSdbi ©os|ys|îi i
This form is also used to indicate a complete action:
[I] went to the store (& came back).

hsain-ko thwa:-pi:-bi s£j>Soôgosjysj<îi
lurmese for Beginners 81
Vvn Mid No
\ v*
A number o f expressions are used to copvey meanings similar to
"yeeT and “no” . The examples listed below can all be heard in
tftnnmon speech.
r*
ho’-ke opoS db Yes (lit., “that’s correct”).
ho’-tc o ^cS oooS Yes (informal).
In: 3o£; Yes (very informal).
yij-ba-de c|oloooS That’s all right .18
kmin:-bi GOQoSsj^ That’s fine.
tb-gc-ba OQOOoSol Certainly, really.
liman-de ôooS That’s correct.
llio-bo-tu-de oogoqoo ^ ooo S [I] agree.
mo-ho’-hpu:. üüôSo^t No/Not so.
hin in: 008338;

0
No (very informal).
mo-ya-bu: That’s not all right.

<3
luna:-de That’s wrong.

&
8
00
llio-bo-mo-tu-bu: OOGOOOOOjj>Orj>; [I] disagree.
" ( mi be used to mean either, “yes, that’s all right” or “no, thanks.” . Make sure
In iiihI or
shake your head to make your intention clear if you use this phrase.
82 Lessor
Conversation 1
Zaw be-thwa: -jin-dho-le:?

GO’S oooSogos 0001)11
Where do [you] want to go?
John yo’-shin thwa:-ji-jin-de.

^8^8 cô g|aqpS^|SoooSn
81?
[I] want to go and watch a movie.
Zaw jo-no yo’-shin mo-ji-jin-bu:.

GO'S 0gJ^60C)8 (flS^S 0^ g S ^ j 8ajj>SII
[I] don’t want to watch a movie.
John di-lo-hso, be-thwar-jin-dho-le:?

Soôcj) o o o S o 0o s ^ | 8 o o c 8 ii
81?
In that case, where would [you] like to go?
Zaw: la’-hpe’-ye-zain thwa:-jin-de. lai’-mo-la:?

G oS s^jSoooSii
[I] want to go to a teashop. Like to come
along?19
John kaun:-bi. lai’-me.

GOOoSsjyil c\j>oSwoSii
81?
That’s fine. [I] will follow [you].
V) Literally, “ Will [you] follow?”

Conversation 2 r»
i
Thci b9-ma-z9-ga: pyo:-da’-th9-la:?

ax8 00000002 6^000809000211
Can [you] speak Burmese?
ho’-ke, b9-ma-z9-ga: ne:-ne: pyo:-da’-te.

0^08081 00000002 ejcjo 0008000811
Yes, [I] can speak a little Burmese.
Thct thei’ kaun:-de.

0oo8 088 6000 82000S11
[That’s] very good.
4
Thct b9-ma-z9-ga: be-hma thin-dh9-le:?
OOoS o o o o o o o s oooSyo 008000811
Where did [you] study Burmese?
myan-ma-lu-myo:-ne htain:-hma thin-de.

^ O O C^(^|2ô 0^82^0 008000S«
I studied with Myanmar people in Thailand.
Thct myan-ma-za-le: yei:-da’-th9-la:?

:v)c 8 00 00 CO cot 6 C|S:ooo8oocoos
Can [you] also write in Myanmar?
ho’-ke, myan-ma-za ne:-ne: yei:-da’-te.

Q ôS obl ^ O O O O < ^^ 2 < ^^2 6G|200o8oOoSll
Yes, [I] can write in Myanmar a little bit.
84 Lesson
wa-ja-mya c5 lo cj|tjp oo Sentences
1. A: be-thwa:-m 3-le:?
oooSogo;yc8ii
Where are you going?
B: zei: thwa:-me.
GCjJS OgOSGoSlI
I am going to the market.
C: sa-o’-hsain thwa:-me.
ogosooSn
I am going to the bookstore.
2. A: ba we-jin-dha-le:?
coo ooS^|8 ooc\$ii
What would you like to buy?
B: bs-gan myei-bon we-jin-de.

y 6 G ^ 0(jSc^j8oOoSll
I want to buy a map o f Bagan.
3. A: th u b a lo’-chin-dha-le:?
coo ap8^j8ooobii
What does she want to do?
B: thu ths-chin: na:-htaun-jin-de.

ajj> o8^j8; <ôsgooo8 ^ j8 oooSii
She wants to listen to music.
4. A: pan:-jan thwa:-jin-dho-la:? « fv
ogos^jSoocoosn ‘
Do you want to go to the park?
B: mo-thwa:-jin-bu:. sa-dai’ thwa:-jin-de.

oogo^jSoßSii 000^08 ogos^|SoooSii
No. I want to go to the post office.
5. A: be-hma sa:-jin-dho-le:?
o o o S ^ o ©os^jSooobii
Where would you like to eat?
B: hkau’-hswe:-zain-hma thwa: -sa: -jin-de.

ogoso o ;
I want to go eat at a noodle shop.
C:
I want to go back and eat at home.
0, A: ein-dha thwa:-jin-de
388000 ogo^jSoooSn
[I] want to go to the bathroom.
B: ya-ba-de. o-nau’-hma shi-de.

CpIoDoSlI 306^0 0 8 ^ 0 ôooSii
That’s okay. It’s in the back.
C: mo-ya-bu:.
OGpjj>SII
That’s not all right.
86 Lessor
hps-ya: thwa:-jin-de.
opeps ogo^|SoooSn
I want to go to the temple.
B: ya-ba-de.
cpIoooSii
That’s all right.
8. A: ba ba-dha-zo-ga: pyo:-da’-tho-le:?
coo oooooooooos ©[yococSoocoii
What languages can you speak?
B: in:-go-lei’-ne bo-ma-zo-ga: pyo:-da’-te.

338088^ 000 ©ooo; ©[yooooSoooSii
I can speak English and Burmese.
9. A: htain:-za yek-da’-tho-la:?
o^Ssoo gg| sooo8 oocoosii
Can you write in Thai?
B: htain:-za nei-ne: yei:-da’-te.

ccj>S;©o gg| sooo8ooo S ii
I can write a little Thai.
C: mo-yei:-da’-hpu:. htain:-za mo-yei:-da’-hpu:.

«gg|sooo8o^sii dj>Ss©o yGCjsoooSo^sii
No, I can’t. I can’t write in Thai.
lum iese for Beginners 87
Drills
I , Write and say the following sentences in (transliterated)
lilirmcse.
<
1
I’m going to a teashop. Wil-l{com£ you along?
Come to my house. It’sin front o f the school.
Have you eaten already? Yes, I ate a lot.
Ma Thet comes from Bago Division.
2, ( lioose four buildings or shops and write a (transliterated)

Burmese sentence about each one describing where it’s located, or
Whal you will do there.
,V Use the following words to help form ten sentences.

Jttun: GQ^pS; we-de QoSoooS yo’-shin-yon
88
Lesso
Test 3
1. sleep a. lo-jin-de Cvj^Scoo

2. some b. y o ’-shin-yon <j)8 fl 8
3. hospital c. gi-ta 800
4. market d. yei:-de GG|SOOoS
5. like e. hsei:-yon GQOS^j
6. buy f. a:-g 9-za: 30o;ooi>
7. park g. pan:-jan
8. movie theatre h. zei: G€jjs
9. school i. ga-za:-de GO©osoo<
10. write j. e i’-te 3880008
11 . music k. ja i’-te JajjoSoooS
12. sports l. nain-de ^ S o o o S
m. jaun: GOC^pS;
n. te-cho 00^
o. we-de 00S 000S
Translate sentences 1-3 into English. Transliterate sentences

4*5 into Burmese.
I, Ojj> (fcjÔOOO gc|Sooo8 cdqSii ’
'K . '
2, 3880000^ G|«abii
5, ajj> ©o3^8s^8 ogos^jSoooSii
4 . la m going to the noodle shop.
5, They are at the m ovie theater.

90 Lesson
Complex Vowels
Vowel Sound N am e
0
/0/ lon:-ji:-tin ts-chaun:-ngin cÿs|c8j:oaS
L
oo8e^p8:c8
98 /ain/ lon:-ji:-tin te-chaun:-ngin nga-tha’ op:[c^j:oo

0080^08:08 coooS
/a i’/20 lon:-ji:-tin te-chaun:-ngin ka-tha’

o^:(c^:co8 0080^08:08 000008
\
0 /e / n au ’-pyi’ au ’-ka-m yi’ 0^.00808 03000800^
-o 3 /e / y a-th a’ 000008
\
/e: / n au ’-pyi’ 0 ^ 0 0 8 0 8
6 -0 h/ tha-wei-hto: yei:-cha a u ’-ka-m yi’

0
ooooo^: oc|:^j 03000800^8
g -8 h /21 tha-wei-hto: yei:-cha she-hto:

ooGoocjk 6C|:^| g^ 0^:
G -O /0:/ tha-wei-hto: yei:-cha oogoo^: gc|:^j
Notice the last vowel uses a she-hto: to indicate a low tone. In this
case, no tone mark (shown below) indicates a high tone.
20 Be careful to note that the /ai/ sound, although very different from /0/, is
written the same way except that /ai/ has a ka-tha’ added afterwards.
21 the symbol used for she-hto: symbol is the same as the o-tha’ symbol, but is
called she-hto: when placed above the yei:-cha.
g-o 8 /aun/ tha-wei-hto: yek-cha'ng^tha

OOGOO^S 6C|S^J COO08
G -O o S /au’/ tha-wei-Hto: yei:-cha ka-tha

OOGOO^S 6C|t^J OQOOcS
U nm arked High Tone
Note that two o f the above vowels, nau’-pyi’ (^) and tha-wei-hto:
yci:-cha (G-O ) are special cases in which a high tone occurs
Without the w a’-sa-hna-lon:-bau’ (:) character which indicates a
high tone mark. Care must be taken to note these vowels and to
remember to pronounce their unmarked high tones.
92 Lesso
Practice Writing the Following Vowels

Use 3 3 as the consonant when practicing writing the
following vowels. Remember to always start writing a character
with the small circle if there is one.
33 o S 33 o S 33 o S 3 3 o S
3^ 3^ 3^ 3^
3 ^ 3 ^ 3^ 3 ^
o
4 4 4 4
48 48 48 4 s
3 ^ 0 8 3 ^ 0 8 4 <^s 4 < £
6330 6330 G33Q 6330
6330o 6330o 6330o 63300
63308 6330 8 63308 63308
G330cS G330C& 6330c8 6330 Cf

Read the Following Alojid
1. 0$
J. 8 £ o^Ss 0^08
}. o5 O
oooS cd
4. 6ooo o
GOoS GOOO
$, GOOoS gooo8 gooo8; GOOOS
6. 8 § X°
T °
[o
7, *
o
soS 9
1, 6 S>
o
I GOT Gol
9, go18
O
go!8 gqISs ô8
lo. 8L<> 8-
? Y°
OC-'
CO
li. 88 §8 §cS
0o
Lo
12 . bo ooS
13. Gol o
GO? Gol
14. goIS
o
goI8 go!8j
i.v $
? *
16 . ^8 ^8:
?s
94 Lesson
17. bo © oS b
18. 6 0 0o GOS GOO
19. g o o So GOO 8 goo 8;
20. s§# S!(j>S
21. 3^8 s§8 S<^8s sôS
22. s oo QOoS sib
23. GSOOo G SoS GSOO
24. gsoo8
o
GSOO 8 GSOO 8s SlôS
N
25. $
? $
27. &
o
ooS b
28. ggo
o
GO'S GOO
29. 6 © o 8o 6008 6 0 0 8s §cS

•urmese for Beginners
Practice Writing C onstants

i
Iho proper stroke order as shown below. t
' $* •
96 Lessorj

i
Practice writing the following consonants. Remember to usi
the proper stroke order as shown below.
)
co co co co Q . c m
a
Ibl ba-cte-chai' CO CO CO CO o o o
30 30 3Q -2D
SD
Ibl ba-gon:
«1 (z) (z ^ (2) (2) .

w
Iml ma (2) O (z) (z) t i —i j — :
4
Practice Writing the Fallowing

Words in Myanmar
i
1. hpan: (catch) 00s ,»
2. ei’ (bag) 3808
3 . hpo’ (bake) (^08
4. ei’-hkan: (bedroom) 3883^?
5. mei:-zi (chin) gosg©
6. o-tan: (class) 3 qoo^ s
7 . paun-mon (bread) goIS^^
8. hsau’ (build) gqoocS
9 . da-bei-me (but) 3)600
10. na:-htaun: (listen) ôsgoooS
11. pa: (cheek) ols
12. to (clever) 6008
13. pei’ (cloth) 808
14. ne’ (deep) <^08
15. kai’ (ache) 0^08

98 Lessors
16. po-pei: (deliver) (j)60S
17. bei:-zo: (disaster) gooss^ s
18. mu: (dizzy)
19. maun: (drive) gwo S s
20. di-nei (today) § g <^
21. do (aunt22) G3 p
22. a:-ne: (weak)
23 . si’ (war) ©8
24. hpo-na’ (shoe) 8<|>8
25. o-hsei’ (poison) 32388
22do is also used as a title for a woman senior to the speaker in age (rather like
ma’am in English).
Writing Exercise 3 f>*

;
1. nain(can) ______________
2. ti-bi (television) _________________
3. hpa’ (read) _________________
4. hte-min: (cooked rice) ____ ____________
5. hko (to be called) _________________
6. ein (house) _________________
7. o-hte: (inside) _________________
8. mei: (ask) _________________
9. nau’ (next) _________________
10. sa-dai’ (post office) _________________
11. kaun: (good, well) _________________
12. sa-o’ (book) _________________
13. nya-nei (evening) _________________
14. hke’ (difficult)

15. mi-ni’ (minute) _________________
16. pan:-jan (park) _________________
17. o-ni (red) _________________
IK. o-hti (until) _________ _______
Lesson 4
question words; colors; possessive form; compound
verbs; 3Q prefix and ooo suffix; medial consonants;
common consonants IV
thln-gan:-za lei: OOCo>Ss<DO vC Lesson 4

№:-ha-ra g o Ioo OG| Vocabulary
Nouns
r y,
s
lel'-sa o88oo address
Hpon: nan-ba’ (9^1 <|olo8 phone number
nici'-hswei SoSesg acquaintance, friend
lha-nge-jin: o^coS^jS: close friend
di-ha §000 this one
•:-di-ha 3^§OQO that one over there
kit: coot car
le'-ko-si 00£ q8 taxi
bu’-sa-ka: ooc££ooos bus
oc
ku:-gei’ bus station (lit. “car gate”)

00
Ici-yin GCOOOO^ airplane23

Ici-zei’ gcos88 airport
liii:-ys-hta: wsg|ooo; train
bu-da-yon ooooo^ train station
hsai’-ka: sooSooos pedicab (lit., “sidecar”)
Nc’-bein: ©0808s bicycle
ma-to-hsain-ke 'G oS GOoS S^S oQoS motorcycle
niyin: horse
£ c
niyin:-hle: fcjSsc^>pSs horse cart
a-yaun 30GCpC color
' ‘ I his word includes a special character, nya-le:-tha’ (^), an uncommon form o f
Hie letter nya (po)
104 Lesson
3-pya blue24
a-sein: green
9-wa yellow
9-ni red
9-nyo brown
3 -ne’, 9 -me: black
9-hpyu white
be-dhu who
da be-dhu ha-le: “Whose is this?”
be-ha... which one...
be-ha ma-sa’-hpu:-le:
oooSooo w©8ajj>sabii “Which one isn’t spicy?”
-si:/zi: & counter for vehicles
V erbs
thi-de oScooS to know

hm a’-mi-de ôSSoooS to recognize
yu-de OÔQoS to take
lan:-shau’-te CoSsGOjjp oSoOüS to walk
te’-te oogS ooo S to get in/climb up
si:-de 8soocS to ride
maun:-de GüoSsOOoS to drive
ni:-de |soooS to be near
wei:-de GOSOOoS to be far
a:-de 3 2 0 SOOoS to be free, unoccupied,
have free time
14 notethat colors canalsobe used asverbs, suchaso-pya-de = to be blue.

Burmese for; Beginners 105
nin-de wooooS to be'haAJ*

pyo-de 6(^jOOOoS to be soft
lo-dc oôooS to be short (length)
«1
Nhe-de ^pSoooS • ? to be long (length)
In-de gooS oogS to be enough
b-bi gooS^ ii “that’s enough” (used as
“I ’m full”)
Ji:-de gtODcS to be big (also a noun
particle)
lhci:-de goojoogS to be small
|f,ei:-ji:-de gg^(c^ oooS to be expensive
?,ei:-cho-de 6<^^|OOoS to be cheap
ici:-m9-cho-bu: ««¡Hi??8 not cheap
myan-de ôooo to be fast
hnei:-de G^tOOcS to be slow
•he by as in “go by train”

•ka/ga GO from
•ko/go to
•yin
1
C|C if
106 Lesson
ths-da Grammar
Question Words: Be/Ba
Question words in Burmese are based on two nouns: be oooS

(which) and ba ooo (what). Other question words are formed by
adding a particle to one o f these. For example, where (be-hma,
oooSô) uses be oooS plus the particle -hma 90. A question
particle le: (oS) is then added to the end o f the sentence as well.
Where be-hma...
“Where do you live?” be-hma nei
/
If the question is about someone who is going to or coming from
somewhere, the particles -ko/go and -ka/ga are used for “where”:
“Where will you go to?” be-go thwa:-mo-le: OQoScyj) ogoswcvbl

“Where did you come from?”
be-ga la-dho-le: QOoSoo cooooci
Finally, the particle is sometimes left out completely as in the v er

informal greeting:
“Where [are you going]?”

be-le: oocSabn
Moiln Particles: -ko/go GO and - ka/ga 9
The two forms o f “where” are also examples o f two common noun
particles -ko/go go , refering to a place someone is going to and
I L t*
Rt)/ga go , usually translates as meaning from,
liecame from the library.

Ihn sa-ji-dai’-ka la-de. Ojj> GQ^pSo^cSoQ coooocSn
lein will go to the market.

flein /ei-go thwa:-me. 8^ G<^|SG^ ogosooSii
Resides showing destination, -ko/go is also used to indicate the

Object o f a sentence:
(I | met him at school.

Iliu-go jaun:-hma twej-de. Ojj>crj> GO^pSsyo GOgoooSn
|l| like this bicycle.

(II sc-bein-gojai’-te. § ©o8c8saj) jajjoSoooSii
III this lesson, we will also see ko G^ used in two other ways: as a
title, meaning older brother, used to refer to males somewhat older
Ilian the speaker, and to indicate that the noun phrase is the object
(if the sentence rather than the subject (see examples in sentences 1
Unci 2 in this lesson).
108 Lessofl
Noun Particle: -ye ^ (Possessive form) ^
Possession in Burmese can be shown in two ways. First, pronoun!

can be modified to show possession by adding a creaky tone ( J f
the end:
thu ein... 3 j># 3 8 8 his/her house... ,
More generally, possesion is shown by attaching the ye (Çj) suffh

to a noun: 1
ma sein-ye ei-hkan: 3880^1 Sein’s bedroom
Another way to show possession is to use the noun o ’-sa g g o

meaning property or possession. For example:
e:-di ka: jo-no o ’-sa 3 ^ 8 000s ogj^GOoS ggoii That car is min
Compound Verbs
Two or more verbs can sometimes be used to form a compound

verb. For example: !
[I] want to go would be thwa:-jin-de OgOS^|8oooSll
Verbs used in combination like this include those used to express

desire, intention or ability such as:
chin-de 0jSoooS to want

nain-de §Sœ oS can/able to
ya-me C|OoS must/ought to
Noun forming particle: a- 33 (forms nouns fjrem verbs)
Verbs can be modified to form nouns by adding the letter 3 3 to the

beginning o f the word. Here’s an example^with the verb for “to
have a fever” hpya: (c^jos, as in “ [IJ'have a fever”, c^psoooS):
33 + c^jos (verb, have a fever) = 3 3 (^ps (noun, fever)
Noun forming particle: -ta OOO (forms nouns from verbs)
A second way o f modifying verbs to form nouns is by adding the

lllflix -ta/da (coo) to the end o f the word. In this case, the meaning
In more like “the process o f ’. For example, the verb to speak pyo:
(e[yo) can be changed to a noun by adding coo:
c(yo (verb, speak) + ooo = c|yoooo (noun,

speaking or speech)
110 Lessoil
Conversation 1
Aung y o ’-shin thwa:-ji-chin-de. i

G3 0 o 8 ^8^8 oô;[aqpS^|8ooo$n 4
I want to go watch a movie.
Sarah thwa:-jin-de, da-bei-me y o ’ -shin-yon

di-hma ni:-la:? <
oocp O g O S ^jS o O cS l ¿ I g O ^ (£|8^8<fl § ( j O ^ sco o sii
I want to go, but is there a movie theater near i

here? \
Aung di-ian:-hma y o ’ -shin-yon-ji: shi-de.

G3008 § co 8 sô ^SqSq|c^; ^ oooS ii
This street has a big movie theater.
Sarah y o ’-shin-yon wei:-la:?

oo cp GOSCOOSII
Is the theater far?
Aung mo-wei:-bu:. thwa:-jin-dho-la:?

G30o 8 QGOSOjj)? 0 0 0 ^ 8 OOCOOSII
It’ s not far. Do [you] want to go?
Sarah ho’-ke, thwa:-jin-de.

C poS obl 0gOS^|8oOoSll
Yes, [I] want to go.
Conversation 2> H
nyi-lei: , nyi-lei: te’-ko-si a:-la:?

¡dBg COSI pSeODJ 320SCOOSII
Sir, sir is your taxi free?
Taxi Driver: be thwa:-mo-le:?

ooc^8 g « o 8 soooS oooS OgOt«<X$ll
Where are you going?
Joe aun-min-go-la ka:-gei’ thwa:-jin-de.

# g 32 8
o g £ coo ooo ;8 o 8 ogos^|8oooSn
I want to go to Aungmingalar bus station.
Taxi Driver: o, a-yan: wei:-de.

CuoSsoooS 3^1 33 8
C| s gosoooS ii
oh, that’ s so far.
Joe e:-di-go thwa:-yin be lau’-le:?

# |8
G^§OT> OgOSC oooS GCOOoScvbll
If [we] go there, how much?
Taxi Driver: nga:-daun nga:-ya-ba.

t;uo8soooS c Isgoooc clscpolii
Five thousand five hundred, sir.
Nyi-lei: literally means younger brother. U:-lei: (uncle, gsccos) is used to

«ddressan older man.
112 Lessoi
Joe nga:-daun nga:-ya-la:? zei:-ji:-de.

lei:-daun ya-me-la:?
oo
c ls c o o o S c k p c o o s i i gc ^ s ^ sooo S ii
,
GCOS6OO08 C|WCOOSII
Five thousand five hundred? That’ s a lo
W ill you take four thousand?
Taxi Driver: ya-de, te’-ba.

GWoSsOOoS C|OOoSl 00080I11
Okay, get in, please.
W a -ja - mya: o la ^ p ; , Sentences
1, A: thu-go thi-la:?
oS coosii
Do you know him?
B: thi-de.
oSoooSii
I know him.
C: thu-go mo-thi-bu:.
w oS oî
I don’t know him.
2. A: be-dhu-go thi-dho-le:.
oooSoô^ oSooabn
Who do you know?
B: ko-zo ko-win:-ne ko-min:-go thi-de.

Ghee'S o ^ o S t^ o^y S so ^ oS ooo S ii
I know Ko Zaw, Ko Win and Ko Min.
,V A: jo-no hpon:-nan-ba’ thi-la:?

og|êoo£ c^^sôloS oScoosii
Do you know my phone number?
B: ho’-ke, thi-de.
oôSobi oS oooS ii
Yes, [I] know [it].
4. A: be-ga la-dho-le:?
oooSoo COOCOOÎI
Where does she come from?
114 Lessoi^
B: ma-thi-bu:.
yoSo^SH
I don’t know.
C: yan-gon-ga la-de.
COOOOgS u
She comes from Yangon.
5. A: ka: be-hna-si: shi-dha-le:?

coot oooS^£8; ôoobii
How many cars do [you] have?
B: ka: hna-si: shi-de.

GOOS ^ £ 8 s ÔOoSlI
[I] have two cars.
6. A: be-hna-do-la shi-dha-le:?
ooo S<^8 g 31coo ôoociii
How many dollars do you have?
B: thon:-da-la shi-de.
O^SGolcOO ÔOoSlI
I have three dollars.
7. A: ba-ma-za-ga: thin-da be-hna-hni’ shi-bi-le:?

OGOOOOOS 008000 Q O o S ^S ^S § § o b ll
How many years have you been studying Burmese?
B: ba-ma-za-ga: thin-da ta-la shi-bi.

(fcj^yooooo; 008000 ooSco ^ ii
I’ve been studying Burmese for one month.
n, thu in:-g9-lei’-s9-ga: n o n e : pyo:-da’-te.

33&oS8©coo; c|yoooc8oooSii
He can speak a little English.
9, thu-hma pai’-hsan a-mya:-ji: shi-de.

o j ^ o cj)oSa6 ^cooSn
He has a lot o f money.
e:-di ein ji:-de.

3 ^ § 3 ^ 8 g o D o S lI
That is a big house!
II. thu bo-ma-lo o-myai-ji: thi-de.

o«oaj> 33fcjps[^s oSoooSn
She knows a lot o f Burmese!
12 . A: be-lau’ yu-mo-le:?
oooSgcoogS Ojj>Oo8ll
How much will you take?
B: ne:-ne:-ba-be.
^gSs^.gSscSlc5n
Just a little bit, please.
1.1. hsain-go thwa: -pi:-bi.

a^8o^> ogosjysjyii
I went to the store already.
14. thu-hma ka: we-pi:-bi.

OfflO coot ooSgtgi.
He already bought a car.
15. A: thu ein wei:-de.

0 ^ 3 8 8 GOSOOaSlI
His house is far.
116 Lessor
B: thu ein nii-de.

ajj)o 3 8 8 | : oooS ii
His house is near.
16. A: di ei’-va thei’ ma-de.

8 côcp 088 00000S11
This bed is very hard.
B: di ei’-ya thei’ pyo-de.

§ o S S e p 0 8 8 gc^|OOOoS ii
This bed is very soft.
17 . A: da o-yan: to-de.
3I 33C|8s o^cooSn
This one is too short.
B: da a-yan: ji:-de.
¿1 33C|8; (c^soooSn
This one is too big.
18 . di ka: thei’ myan-de. da-bei-me mo-we-jin-bu:.

§ GOOl 0 8 8 g^COoSlI 3IGOW «OcS^jSo^SII
This car is very fast. But I don’t want to buy it.
19 . m ei’-hswei-ne lan:-shau’-chin-de.
B o S c a g ^ co8sGCvjpo8^|8oooSii
I want to walk with [my] friend.
20. di sa:-thau’-hsain kaun:-de. ho-hma sa:-jin-de.

8 ©osgoooo S s ^ S gooo S soooS ii
©os^jSoooSii
This restaurant is good. I want to eat there.
D rills
I, Practice writing the following sentences in Burmese. If it is a

question, practice answering the question as well.
What color do you like? l
Do you want to go and eat at the market?
I want to go to the airport.
2 . Do at least one o f the following:
Write a two person dialog describing how much something is

lind if it is cheap or expensive.
Write a paragraph describing something. Use at least three

particles.
Write six sentences using ta’-te, thi-de and hma-mi-de (three

verbs for “to know”).
118 Lessod
Use the following words to help form ten sentences.
lan: co 8; yu-de oôoco lan:-shau’
co 8:6c^pc 8
lei’-sa o88©o zei:-cho-de
G^jSÔOCO
m ei’-hswei ScScag o-mya: 30^0; zei:-ji:-de
GGj>j;(o^;cooS
thei’ 088 to-bi Goo8[y ka: 000;
myan hnei: g^j be-lau’-le:
oooSgodooSoö
thei: gods ka: 000; ni:
si:-de BsoodS wei: go; 9-pya 3000

myin: 08 ; 9-sein: 3088: o-ni 3 o |
o-ne’ 33<ô8 o-hpyu 3O 0| be-ha-le:
000S0000Ö
Igrmese for Beginners 119
Test 4 i <r*
Mutch the English words with the Burmese words.
1. friend a. ji:-de g :o o o S
2. difficult ’*• b: lei’-sa cSSoo
3 . green c. o-mya: 33 tj»p;
4 . far d. pyo G(flO
5 . car e. wei: go;
6. near f. a-sein: 3o8S;
7 . soft g- ni-de |oooS

8. know h. thei: goo:
9 . address i. zei:-cho-de &qj:ôooS
10. to be red j- ka: ooo:
11. many k. tO-bi GOoS(y
12. cheap 1. hke’ ooS
13 . it’s big m. m ei’-hswei ScScsg
14 . enough n. zei:-ji:-de g^:( c^ : oooS
0. thi-de 08000S
P- thei’ o3 8
-fy®
3i—
»•
q-
•0
120 Lesso
Translate sentences 1-3 into English. Transliterate sentences 4-5 into

Burmese.
1. mot oooS^Sês ^cooàii
2. dj)So^> WOgO^So^SII 33C|Ss gosoooS ii
3. c p c p s ogojG |8 oooS gcooo S o^ ii
4. Is this taxi free?
5. That’s expensive. W ill you take 3500 kyats?

Word Exercise,
Insert the correct form of the word ‘to know’ (thi-de, ta’-te, or
hma’-mi-de) in the following sentences.
?y
1. 0^ ______ II.
thu na-me____________ .
[I] (know) his name.
2. ajj> oo^cSoooos e jy o _____ ii

thu te-yo’-so-ga: pyo: _________.
She (knows) how to speak Chinese.
y Ojj> ogj^GOQ'S o 8 8 _______ II

thu jo-no ein__________ .
She knows (recognizes) my house.
4. g cd q 8 8 o^ o g o s __________ II
lei-zei’-ko thwa:______________.
I (know) how to go to the airport.
,V QôSo^ G<^0 ______• 3jj> BoSGSgll

ho’-ke, ma-nan-da________ . thu jo-ma-ye mei’-hswe.
Yes, I (know) Nanda. She is my friend.
122 Lessoi
Medial Consonants
ya-pin /medial ‘y’ sound/

-J
ya-yi’ /medial ‘y’ sound/

6
E ya-yi’ /medial ‘y’ sound/ (used for
wider consonants)
wa-hswe: /medial ‘w’ sound/

0
Burmese has three medial consonants, shown above. The first tw

ya-pin and ya-yi’ produce a “y” sound, while the third, wa-hsw
represents a medial “w” sound. There are exceptions, however, ai
so in some words the medial sound is reduced or even absent. All
note that when either ya-pin or ya-yi’ is combined with ka-ji:, hk
gwe or ga-nge it does not represent a medial “y” sounds but the j,
and ch sounds, respectively. Medial consonants can also \
combined with other symbols as follows: ]

\ t'»
ya-pin wa-hswe: /medial y + w sounds/

b
jj ya-pin ha-hto: /medial y plus aspiration/
” wa-hswe: ha-hto: /medial w plus aspiration/

JO
Practice Writing the Following Words
Practicing writing the these examples of medial consonants.

Start writing a character with the small circle if there is one.
W -P 'n -J
chin (want) ^]S
0-inya: (many, a lot)
jmin: (school) GCn(p8s
l.veho (some) OOc^
die’ (cook) SflcS
J.i: (back) GCCp
J.i-pan (Japan) C^JO^

124 Lessor!
y?■-yi’ - C
ji: (big)
pyo: (speak) c|cjO
jai’ (like) g o S
myo (city)
myan-ma (Myanmar) iGO
pye (country) fcjpS
je ’ (chicken) [oZ|o8
myan-myan (quick, hurry!)
wa-hswe -
• o
zun: (spoon)
nwei: (warm) GgS .■I
pwe: (festival) ^
thwa: (go) 0gOS
hkwei: (dog) GgS i
i
thwei: (blood) GOgS
lwe(easy) CgoS
4

(he proper stroke order as shown below. t
GO GO GO GO
tj/f ya-pe’-le' GO
/^ s
ti
w.
Cl
itu
aq L»
’Qk
*
Cl Q
>* V
/q
'Qk q q Q Q Q Q
L Hm. k№
c x i c o m
/l/la q ~ ) q ~ ) c m c \~)
126 Lesson

Practice writing the following consonants. Remember to a«
,
■ /li X
--»,lauiEi___
1 ,11 %
r |1 if
1 \i /
1 3
\ if....
.si»'““!.,
f '*!
o .¡"""‘ti,. .¡rf««!:-. ¿•""X

[t
/w/wa t ) c ) C 1 C) Jw L
c I i 1
X../
X J V ^ A -J__ W v .Z .
3 D
......, a,'"\ -v f".. \
/th/ tha vA J . a„ .1 i„ A J !
( V A / \ ...% / V “.., / v~ > / Y ~ \

S... J .. J l J J i J , J W D .
0 0*_"
( Y \ r Y 'A i ... v “\ /..../ 1 ( X X
/h/ha - W ^ _ w J X j .../ L j J
4
Practice Writing the Following

Words in Myanmar
yn-pe’-le’ oo ,*
'i *'
1. yu (take) Ojj>
2. yin (fly) ooS
3. ya: (itch) o ooz
4. ya-yi (temporary) 00008
3. yau’ (classifier for people) gooooS
yii-gau’
ft, yei (water) GC|
7. ywa (village) gp
H. yon: (office)
9, y i’ (pheasant) C[6
l(). yi:-za: (lover, boy/girlffiend) C|pS;oo;
li) CO
11. lei: (four) gcos
12. la (com e) c o o
13. le’ (hand, arm) cooS
14. la’ -hpe’ -ye (tea) cooSooSc^pS
15. lei-zei’ (airport) g c o s 88
128 Lesson
wa o
16. wei: (far) gos
17. w e’ (pig) ooS
18. win (enter) oS
19. we (buy) ooS
20. wa-de(fat) ooooS
tha oo
21. tho-mi: (daughter) ooos
2 2 . tha: (son) ooos
23 . thau’ (drink) goooo S
24. thin-de (study) ooSoooS

25. thei’ (very) oS8
ha oo
26. ho (there) dj)
27. ho’-ke (yes) 0^0808
28. he:-lo (hello) obc^
29. hin: (curry) 008s
30. ho-te (hotel) oôooS
R words using ya-gau’ (Cj) ,

Ya-gau’ was originally used to indicate an “r” sound but is now
jjcncrally used for a “y” sound. Some foreign borrow words still
fxist, however, along with some %Pali^words that use ya-gau’.
I'.xamples o f these include the following:
Animal te-rei’-hsan (from Pali)

Camera o o S ü cp kin-mo-ra
Radio GC[§dj) rei-di-yo
Rubber GCpOOO ro-ba
Tourist Ojj>SC|8 tu:-ri’
Ya-gau’ is also still pronounced as an “r” in the Rakhine dialect o f

Ihirmese and was likely the source for the former pronunciation o f
Yungon as “Rangoon”
130 Lesson Ц
Writing Exercise 4
1. Ian: (road) ______________

2. ein-dha (bathroom) ______________
3. di-ha (this one) ______________
4. wei: (far) ______________
5. o-wa (yellow) ______________
6. da’-pon (photo) ______________
7. mye’-hman (eyeglasses) ______________
8. te-li-hpon: (telephone) _____ ________
9. thin-de (to study) ______________

10. lwe (easy) ______________
11. ya-ba-de (that’s all right) ______________
12. hnei: (slow) ______________

13. ho-te (to ride) ______________
14. sa:-thau’-hsain (restaurant) ______________
15. lei’-sa (address) ______________
16. ho’-ke (yes) ______________
17. myan-ma-za (written Burmese) ______________
18. thwa:-de (go) ______________

Lesson 5
telling time; day structure; time terms; days of the
week; writing Burmese numbers; aspiration; final
consonant symbols
4#
thin-gan:-za nga: OOCQ^SQO Lesson 5

wo:-ha-ra GoloQOG| Vocabulary
Nouns
o-chein time'
mo-ne’ ü f o8 morning
nej-le e^co^S afternoon
nya-nei evening
e et
nya pj> night
-pain: suffix indicating period o f time
mo-ne’-pain: <yô8cj)8; during the morning
ili-nya tonight
ilha-gaun ooI sgqIS midnight
na-yi hour
mj-ni’ minute
se’-kan second
hkwe: half
na-yi-we’ «ôljooS half an hour
go-de:-ga OOOOgSsOO since
o-tu-du together
OT°2°2
nau’ gôo S after, later
nau’-pi: GôcSjys then, after that
nci, Gf. day
di-nei % today
-ye’ C|o8 counting word for days
hno-ye’ <^£cjo8 two days
134 Lessoqj
•j
te-cha: OOGjOS other, another |
te-cha:-ye’ oospsqoS another day ?
a:-la’-ye’ 300SCOO€|o8 holiday; day off 1
mo-ne’-hpyan tomorrow
dho-be’-hka oo£ooo8s>] day after tomorrow
mo-nei-ga GG_^00 yesterday
to-nei-ga OOGÔO day before yesterday
be-don:-ga o o o S o ^so o when (in the past)
be-do oooS gooo when (in the future) ,
mo-tain-mi go^S g before <
Verbs
sin:-za:-de ©^©otoooS to think
yau’-te GCpcSoQoS to arrive
twei-de GOgOQoS to meet
ku-nyi-de Ojj>g8oOcS to help
ku-nyi-ba! c^golii Help!
sa-de ©oooS to start, begin
hsin:-de soSsoooS to get out (of school, work, etc.)
pi:-de (^soooS to finish, end
9-lo’-mya:-de 3oco 8 ppsoooS to be busy
hse’- 9000 go on, carry on, keep on (adv)
e-chein 3Q Time
W hat tim e is it?
Two phrases are commonly used ip Burfnese for “what time is it?” :
1, What time is it? be-o-chein shi-bi-le: C O oS33£^ ^jycóli
2. What hour is it? be-hno-na-yi shi-bi-le: oooS<^8 <ôf| ^J^cvbil
l ime: Day S tructure.
The Burmese day is broken into four parts as follows:

• mo-ne’ y<ô8 (“morning” from 4 to 11 a.m.)
• nei-le or nei-gin:, G^COoSi 6 <^s8 s (“afternoon” from
12 to 3 p.m.)
• nya-nei, £DG<^ (“evening”, from about 3 to 7 p.m.)
• nya (night, between 7 p.m. and before 4 a.m.)
l ime: H ours of the Day
mo-ne’ lei:-na-yi y^>cS GCOSÔ^ 4:00 a.m.
mo-ne’ nga:-na-yi y ^ o S clsôf^ 5:00 a.m.
mo-ne’ chau’-na-yi y ^ o S g (ô o 8 ^ o ^ 6:00 a.m.
mo-ne’ hkun-hno-na-yi yôS ^ 8 ^ o f| 7:00 a.m.
ino-ne’ shi’-na-yi y^.c8 5}8 < p f | 8:00 a.m.

136 Lei
ma-ne’ ko:-na-yi w^>o8 9:00 a.m.
ma-ne’ hse-na-yi y ^ o S gooS ^ o ^ 10:00 a.m.
ma-ne’ hse-ta’-na-yi 0^.08 gooS oo 8 <|.o ^ 11:00 a.m.
mun:-de Noon
i # OTE§
nei-le ta-na-yi G^-COgS 0 0 8 ^ 0 ^ 1:00 p.m.
nei-le hna-na-yi G<^>COgS 2:00 p.m.
nya-nei thon:-na-yi ¡X>G<^> O i^ O ^ 3:00 p.m.
nya-nei lei:-na-yi ¡X>G<^> GCOS^.O^ 4:00 p.m
nya-nei nga:-na-yi p 3G<|i cl;<ô^ 5:00 p.m.
nya-nei chau’-na-yi £DG<|> g (^Qo8<^Q^ 6:00 p.m.
nya hkun-hna-na-yi 7:00 p.m.
nya shi’-na-yi 8:00 p.m.

B 5 1 % °^
nyako:-na-yi ¡X> 0^ 0^ 9:00 p.m.
nya hse-na-yi ¡X) GOoS^.O^ 10:00 p.m.
nya hse-ta-na-yi 0 D SO oSooSÔ ^ 11:00 p.m.
dha-gaun oo^ sgq 18 Midnight
nya ta-na-yi 0o£<^>0^ 1:00 a.m.
nya hna-na-yi ^ 8^0 ^ 2:00 a.m.
nya thon:-na-yi ¡X) 0 ^ 0 ^ 3:00 a.m.

Conversation 1
Thct di-ne be thwai-mo-le:?
oooS 3Gfo oooS OgOSGOÎI
Where are you going today?
D ill O di-ne o-lo’-mya:-de. mo-ne’ jaun: thwa:-me.

nau’-pi: nei-gin: zei: thwa:-me.
:8cS §G<^ 3 5 0 ^ 8 tJpSOOcSlI G<ôS G Q ôSs
OgOSGoSlI GÔo8|^S G^qS s G<^|S ogosyoSii

Oh, I’m busy today .
This morning I’m going to school.
Then, this afternoon I am going to the market.
Thet zei: be-hno-na-yi thwa:-mo-le:?
00 o S O Q o S ^ S ^ O ^ OgOSQobll
What time are you going to the market?

138 Lessoifl
Bill thon:-na-yi thwa:-me. lai’-ira-la:?
cScS ogosücSii c Ç o S ücoosii
I will go at 3 p.m. Do you want to go with me!
Thet ho’-ke, lai’-me.
0008 CXj)c8obl cÇoS üo S ii ,
Yes, [I] will go with you. 1
B ill kaun:-bi. jaun:-hma hno-na-yi hkwe:

twei-me-no? v
o8cS GOOo8jQlÎ Ga^p8j<ÿO GOgüoSe^Sll

Ok, come along.
You’ll meet me at school at 2 :3 0 pm, right?
Thet in:,7 twei-me.

О
'jj
0008 3 q8 sI GOgöoSlI
Yes, see you.

Conversation 2
llcin ba lo’-nei-dho-le:?
o o o c ^ S G ^ c o a b ii
What are you doing? :
John myan-ma-lo thin-nei-de. hno-na-yi thin-pi:-bi.

0 $ Oo S g ÔOoS h a o 8 5 S(3n
I am studying Myanmar.
I’ve been studying for two hours already.
Mein myan-ma-zo-ga: o-yan: hke’-tho-la:?

o
o [y^yooooos 39C|Ss qoS oocoosii
Is Myanmar very difficult?
John ho’-ke, hke’-te. ku-nyi-lo ya-mo-la:?

o ^ oS ctJ i qo S ooo S ii €|OCOOSI
0 §
Yes, it’s difficult. Can you help with it?
Hein ku-nyi-lo ya-de. da-bei-me nga:-na-yi-hma

mei’-hswei-go thwa:-twei-ya-me.
C|00cSll ¿I g o g els
OgOSG
I can help, but I must go meet a friend at five
o’clock.
140 LessoPP
wa-ja-mya: o la ^ p s Sentence
1. A: be-o-chein thin-da ja i’-tho-le:?

oooS so^ 008000 j^jjoSoodbn
What time o f day do you like to study?
B: mo-ne’-pain: thin-da ja i’-te.

0^08^8; 008000 (ajjoSoooSii
I like to study in the morning.
C: nya-bain: thin-da ja i’-te.

00^8; 008000 (ajjoSoooSu
I like to study at night.
D: nya-nei-bain: thin-da ja i’-te.

£OG^(j)Ss O080OO @ c £ o 0oSll
I like to study in the evening.
2. A: jaun: be-o-chein sa-le:?

GO^pSs 000830^ ©0811
What time does school start?
B: jaun: mo-ne’ shi’-na-yi-hma sa-de.

GO^pSs yôS ^8(^01^)0 ©000S11
School starts at eight in the morning.
C: jaun:-go hkun-hno-na-yi-hkwe: thwa:-de.

60^p8;o^> ogosoooSii
I go to school at half past seven.
.V A: jaun: be-o-chein hsin:-dho-le:? ,

GoqpS: oooS gos^ soSsoodbu
What time is school over?
B: jaun: nya-nei thonr-naryi hsiji:-de.

GO^pB: ¡x >g^ soSsoooSii
School gets out at three in the evening26.
C: yo’-shin hkun-hno-na-yi-hma sa-de.

^ 8 ^ 0 ^ ooooSii
The movie starts at seven.
4. A: be-o-chein yau’-le:?
C Q o S 3 Q ^ GCpoScibll
What time did you get here?
B: nya-nei nga:-na-yi go-de:-ga shi-nei-de.

¡X>G<^> cl;<ô^ OOOO^SOO <jjG<ÔOoSll
[I] have been here since five in the evening.
C: di-hma mo-ne’ lei:-na-yi go-de:-ga shi-nei-de.

y<ô8 G C O S^ O ^ G O O O ^SG O ^G^>OOoSll
[I] have been here since four in the morning.
5. A: yan-gon-go be-o-chein thwar-jin-le:?

o o o S o s ^ OgOS^jBaSlI
What time do you want to go to Yangon?
'' 3 p.m. is considered the start o f the evening in Myanmar.

142 Lessfl
B: yan-gon-go di-nya thwa:-jin-de.
I want to go to Yangon tonight.
6. A: zei:-hma yau’-ta be-hno-na-yi shi-bi-le:?
How many hours have you been at the market?
B: zei:-hma yau’-ta hno-na-yi shi-bi.
I have been at the market for two hours.
C: zei:-hma yau’-ta na-yi-we’ shi-bi.
I have been at the market for half an hour.
D: zei:-hma yau’-ta hse mi-ni’ shi-bi.
I have been at the market for ten minutes.
7. A: nau ’-be-hno-na-yi hse ’-lo ’-mo-le: ?

g ^ o o 8 oooS^£^. o ^ SDoScySyobll
How much longer do you want to work?
B: nau ’-hno-na-yi hse ’-lo ’-chin-de.

g ^ oo 8<^Sô ^ sog S c^ S ^ jS oocS ii
I want to work for two more hours.

Ilirmese for Beginners 143
C: nau ’-ta-na-yi-hkwe: hse’-lo’-chin-de.

G ^ o c o o o S ^ o ^ SOOOCV^)S^ScboSif
I want to keep working for-one and a half more hours.
D: nau’-hse-nga: mi-ni’-lau^ hse’:-lo’-me.

GôoSsooScls 8 <|.8gcooo8 soo8a^8«oSii
I will keep working for about fifteen more minutes.
E: hse ’-mo-lo ’-chin-hpu:.

soo 8 « o ^8 ^ j8 o^ sii
I don’t want to work any more.
N. A: myan-ma-nain-gan-go be-dhu-ne thwa:-m3-le:?

g § « o § S c ^ o o o S o ^ OgOtyc8ll
Who do you want to go to Myanmar with?
B: myan-ma-nain-gan-go mei’-hswei-ne thwa:-me.

g^yo^Sco^> BoScsg^ ogotwoSu
I want to go to Myanmar with friends.
144 Less#
Drills
1. Translate and say the following sentences in Myanmar. Some
sentences can be said in different ways. If the sentence is a
question, practice answering it too.
When did you get here?
When are you going to Myanmar?
Class starts at 7:00 in the morning.
I am going to play sports with my friends.

2. Do one of the following.

i *'v
Create a two person dialogue about a certain activity and
what time it will take place. The dialogue must have at least
two parts for each participant. t
f 1
Notice where you are. Tell someone in Myanmar how long
you have been at that place. Tell them in two different
ways.
,V Use the following words to form ten sentences.
pi:-de (ysoooS ti’ 0 0 8 sa-de ©coco

na-yi jaun: GcryoSj be-lau’-le: oooSgcoooSoc)
jo-ma Ogj^y 3-the’ 3 3 0 0 g8 gs-de:-ga oooogSsoo
be-do° oooS gooo
o
e:-da 3^31 shi’ ^|S
-hma <jO s-chein 3 3 ^ ja i’-te (oôSoooS
mo-ne’ o<|>oS nei-le G<^COgS a-lo’-lo ’-te
33c^8cy8oooS
-pain (j)Ss hkwe: ^ na:-htaun-de
ÔSGOOoBoOcS
mi-ni’ 8 ^ 8 thwa:-de OgOi chau’-hse g Jô c S soo S
ji-de [a^pSoop^ -ne ^ nya-nei pQG<^

-le: copSs twei-de eogoooS la-de c o o o o o S
-ko/go orj> nya yau’-te G G poSoooS
146 Lesson
Test 5 '
Write these times in Burmese.
1. 4:00 am _______________________________
2. 6:00 pm _______________________________
3. 12:00 a m _______________________________
4. 3:50 pm _______________________________
5. 11:30 a m _______________________________
6. 10:45 p m _______________________________
'l
7. 5:05 pm _______________________________ \
Write these times in English. For each time make sure to specify a.na
or p.m.
1. nya-nei hkun-hno-na-yi ________________
2. mo-ne’ thon:-na-yi _____________ •
3. mo-ne’ chau’-na-yi ________________
4. nei-le hno-na-yi lei:-ze-lei: mj-ni’ ________________
5. mo-ne’ hse-na-yi hno-hse-nga: mi-ni’ ________________
6. nei-le ________________
7. nya-nei lei:-na-yi ________________

Translate sentences 1-3 into English. Transliterate sentences 4-6

Into Burmese.
I. aÔ^GCOOcS GCpoSyoSlI
. 33C^8o^ o^cS clsô^ ogosoooSii

rj
ü<^>o8(j)Ss ojj) 388^]SoooSn
4. Bill’s school gets out at 4:00 pm.
5. [I] already read that book.
6. Will you follow me to the movie theater?

148 Lesson 6

o o o o o o o
O '1
thon-nya (0) o o o o o o o
/ “"X rs y“N / ”\ /•’■x rs r\
o
^\***f>r \lMuttSr
/""X/ “X /"“X y"x / x y \ yx

tr (1) v-/ v*y v -/ v-/ vy v,y \»y
j hj i f
w v
J v
Ji I I jJ vJ \J K
J o
JJJJJJ
S r 's
hni’ (2)
o\ 9 9 9 9 9 9 9
9999999
thon: (3)
4
9 9 9 9 9 9 9
9 9 9 9 9 9 9
chau’ (6) R RRf cfsfs Q

T V V W V l
Q
hkun-ni* (7)
T I T V I T I
150 Lessonj
Practice Writing the Following Numbers^

Practicing writing the following examples o f numbers in
Burmese. Make sure you are able to say the numbers as well.
15 2005
26 2344
47 7590
89 16000
113 34922
238 250000
577 767000
1550 1430000
1997 5000000
Aspiration , f
Symbol Name Pronunciation
ha-hto: /marks aspiration/

j ». 1
A number o f “second column” letters in the Burmese alphabet are

aspirated consonants, such as hka-gwe (s>), hsa-lein (SO), and hta-
hsin-du (OO), which I have already introduced. Several other
consonants can be aspirated, indicated by the addition o f the ha-
hlo: mark shown above. The most commonly aspirated consonants
that use ha-hto: are ma (o) and na-nge (<^>). Also the letter ya-gau’
(C|) uses ha-hto: for the “sh” sound in Burmese.

Practicing writing the following examples o f words in which
(lie consonants mark their aspiration using the ha-hto: symbol.
ha-hto: -
hnga: (borrow, hire or rent)

152 Lesson
Consonant-V ow el C om binations Using ha-hto:
ha-hto: te-chaun:-ngin /u sound plus aspiration/

JL
ha-hto: hno-chaum-ngin /u sound plus aspiration/

Jll
F inal C onsonant Symbols
Symbol Name
O
“ / final n sound/ thei:-dhei:-tin (same as î or 8 )
8
“ /final n sound/ kin:-zi: (same as 8 )
Thei:-dhei:-tin is an alternate way o f writing the final n consonant

and is sometimes used instead o f na-tha’ (^ ) or ma-tha’ (8 ). kin:-
zi: is an alternate form o f nga-tha’ (8 ).

Practicing writing the following examples o f words in which

the consonants mark their aspiration using the thei:-dhei:-tin and
kin:-zi: symbols.
thei:-dhei:-tin -
o ° C
Ihon: (three) CX^S zo-bin (hair (on the head)) SO O C
o o
po-hkon: (shoulder) wun-bo-lwei (wolf) OCj)GC^

Qo o o
da’-pon (photograph) GO C o y than-yon: (embassy)
hke:-dan (pencil) QOO nan-ba’ (number)

f>olo8
(
kin:-zi: -
!hin:-bo: (ship) OOGC&D
lo-nin:-la-nei (Monday) 0 0 < |> o 5 o G ^
in-ga-nei (Tuesday) 3 0 ^ )1 g ^
in:-gs-lei’ (English) 3 0 8 0 8 8
154 Lesson 6
Writing Exercise 5
Write the following numbers using the Burmese numbers.
1. 123 2 . 676
3. 590 4. 2084
5. 3561 6 . 1873
7. 2492 8 . 5637
Write the following using Burmese script (including numbers).
9. in-ga-nei mo-ne’ (Tuesday morning) ________________________
10. pyin-dhi’-lu-myo: (French person) __________________________
11. ba’-so-ka: nan-ba’ lei:-ze-nga: (bus number 45) _______________
12. da’-pon yai’-mo-la:? (Can [I] take a photo?)___________________
13. di-go la-ba, shin. (Please come here, sir) _____________________
14. hni’ ko: lei: pan:-so:dan: lan:. (294 Pansodan Street)
15. mi:-yo-hta: chau’-na-yi yau’-te. (The train arrives at six o’clock)
16. di-nei. pan:-jan thwa:-me. (Today [I] will go to the park.)
17. in:-ga-lei’-s9-ga: pyo:-da’-la:? (Can you speak English?)
18. di-lan:-hma htain:-than-yon: shi-de. (The Thai embassy is on this

street)___________________________________________________
Lesson 6
calendar time; weeks, months and years; Burmese
calendar and holidays; voicing; unwritten tones;
talking on the telephone; buying a bus ticket
thin-gan:-za chau’ O O C o ) ^ ,© ^ : b Lesson

Wo:-ha-ra g o Io o o g | Vocabulary
Nouns !
f
'*■
o-pa’ 33008 week

pi:-ge-de-to-pa’ [8sddbooSoo8 last week, one week ago
nau’-te-pa’ 9^.008008008
< next week, in a week
nau’-thon:-ba’ 9^0080^008
< in three weeks
la CO
< month
ro N N
pi:-ge-de-la QSQOQCO
1 0 0
last month
pi:-ge-de-hno-la ysddb^Sco two months ago
nau’-la '9^.00800 next month
nau’-thon:-la '9 <po8 o^CO three months from now
be-la-le:? oooScocd which month?
nnu’-ei-pi next April
hni’ year
pi:-ge-de-hni’ sdod
o e
last year
nau’-hni’ G<pc£ ^ 8 next year
r>-the’ 3 3 0 OCO age
hlain-gon seat
hka-yi: trip
hko-na a moment
nau’-hson: GÔoSs^S the last one
la-zan: coooSs beginning o f the month
la-gon end o f the month
la-bye full moon
158
la-bye-nei CO full moon day

la-bye-nya CO full moon night
V erbs
le-de co:^SoooS to visit

htwe’-te ° g ("dcooS to go out, leave
hko-yi:-thwa:-de :ooo;oooS to travel
ja-de ((XpOOoS to take, last, elapse
be...ja-le:? oooS...|moodii How long?/How many
(hrs., days, etc.)?
win-de ocoooo to enter
thwa:-ei’-te ooos388oooS to go to bed
e i’-pyo-de 3:388oooS to go to sleep
e i’-ya-hta-de 388 cpoooooS to wake up, get up
o-na:-yu-de 33<ôsoôooS to rest
saun-de GCoSoOoS to wait
Particles
pi:-ge-de- 1 J o o
last, ago
nau’- GÔaS next
9-hti 3Q o8 until
-ka...-hti 00 ....08 from...until
thon:-na-yi-ga lei:-na-yi-hti from 3 to 4 o ’clock
a ^ o ^ o o gco ;^ o ^ o8
-hpo/bo in order to
-hsi noun particle showing
direction of; action to or
from a person
(no English equiv.)

•pc:/be: only, just
. (suffix used for emphasis)
iln-bc:-la:? 3 I0 C0 0 SH is that all?
■Nunn GOO8 >
. coimter for documents,
letters, tickets...
Other Words and Phrases
i>-mye:-dan: 3oj2oo8? always

UV-hka-ta-lei oooq Ioogco sometimes
pon-hman w? usually
tla-bei-me dîlGOÔ
o
but
nau’-hma twei-me 6 ^ 0 0 8 <j GOgOoS “See you later.”
liko-na saun-ba. QODGOoSollI
o
“One moment, please.
Days of the Week
I.v n in :-go-nwei-nei oo <^8 g 0 G<^> Sunday

l.vnin:-la-nei 5
ot <£o o g <^ Monday
m-ga-nei 30< Tuesday
bo’-do-hu:-nei l ° î !Gi Wednesday
ja-dho-bo-dek-nei )OOOGOOSGô Thursday
lhau’-ja-nei G O O O Ô G ^ Friday
s.vnei-nej ©G<^G<|> Saturday
160 Lessorii
thd-da oo gl Grammai
The Burmese Calendar, Climate and Holidays
Myanmar uses both the Western and (Buddhist) lunar calendars.

Lunar months are just 29-1/2 days long, so a second Wazo is
added about every three years to keep the calendars aligned.
Consequently, traditional Burmese holidays do not have an exact
Western calendar date. The two calendars roughly correspond as
follow s:
Month Burmese Name Corresponding

Burmese Month
January zan-no-wa-ri o ^ o l ^ pya-tho £ p o ?
February hpei-bo-wa-ri gogo S oI^ do-bo-dwe: ooyo^
March ma’ qo 8 ds-baun: oogo IS;
April ei-pi <s[y do-gu: 0 0 ^ :
May mei go ko-hson oooc^
June zun no-yon
July zu-lain <gc^ 8 wa-zo 0)9^
August o-go’ [ocjcpcS wa-gaun o1g s 18
September se’-tin-ba ©08008000 to-dho-lin: goo S 00008;
October au’-to-ba G30 o c 8 côoo tho-din:-ju’ o8oo8;ogjc8
November no-win-ba ^0 8 0 0 0 do-zaun-mon: oo^ gsooS ^
December di-zin-ba S 08000 no-do ^ oS gooS

Myanmar has three seasons: cold, hot and rainy. In October,

northerly winds bring cool, dry air. This ofanges to southerly
winds in February, which bring hot, dry air for about three months.
I .ale in the hot season, rains become frequent. By June, frequent,
heavy showers mark the rainy season’s., start. The names o f these
Ncasons are: >
.
I lot season nwei-ya-dhi G^cpoS
Rainy season mo:-ya-dhi <pcpoS
(oldseason hsaun:-ya-dhi caooSscpoS
The main holidays in Myanmar are Thingyan or the Water Festival

in April, and Thadingyut or the Festival o f Lights, marking the end
of Buddhist Lent in October. Besides the main holidays, there are
also numerous local festivals (called a “pwe:” in Burmese) held at
pagodas around the country and include both Buddhist and spirit or
"nat” festivals. Nearly all festivals are held on the night o f the full
moon.
162 Lessoi
Noun Particle: -hsi -98 (shows movement to or from a persoif

<
I;
When a person is the direct object o f a sentence, the -hsi 98 \
particle must be used to instead o f ko or ka. For example:
I will visit Kyaw.

kyaw-hsi thwa:-le-me. GOCj»j8s8 O g O tC O g S « ^
General Particle: -pe:/be: o (emphasis)

f
The final sentence particle -pe:/be: (3 is used to emphasize the J
ti
subject o f the sentence. English speakers often do this using ,j
inflection, or through words like “just”, “really” and “only”. (J
Just bring water, please, yei pe: pei:-ba 6 C j c) g o : 6 ln .
Just looking, (please). ji-da-ba-be: [o^pSoQOoloii

;
This curry is really good, di hin:-be: kaun:-de.
§oo8:c) gooo8:oooSi
Conversation 1
/a w he:-lo.
GO’S oc5c\j>ii
Hello? V
r-
Ron he:-lo, ma-nan-da shi-la:?

o b cî ^jcOOJII
Hello, is Ma Nanda there?
Zaw ho’-ke, shi-ba-de.

GO'S oôSobi ôloooSii
Yes, she’s here.
Ron pyo:-lo ya-mo-la:?.

6|yOCê G|QCOOSII
May I speak [with her]?
Zaw ya-de, hko-na saun-ba.

60 'S CjOOoSl SOD 6 0 o 8 ulll
All right, please wait a moment.
Nanda he:-lo.
o8c\j)ll
ft3
Hello?
Ron he:-lo, jo-no ron-ba. ba lo’-nei-le:?

oc5c\î ogj^GooS cpôlii c o o c\^86âbn
Hi, this is Ron. What are you doing?
1p4 Lesson f|
Nanda ba-hma mo-lo’-hpu:.

0 0 0 ^ w c y 8 o^sn
I’m not doing anything.
Ron di-nya mei’-hswei-ne hte-min: thwa:-sa:-me.

lai’-mo-la:?
cpf §03 8 o8 G3 g^# 0 0 0 8 ; OgOJOOSQoSlI
oSc£)0COOSII
Tonight, a friend and I are going out to eat.
Do you want to come along?
(lit., “Will you follow?”)
Nanda lai’-me. be-s-chein thwa:-mo-le:?

oSoSwoSlI OOoS3 3 ^ OgOS0 OC5ll
[I] will come. What time are you going?
Ron
Nanda ya-ba-de. chau’-na-yi-hma twei-me.

ooloooSii c|aooS^ o^ ^ o GOgyoSii
r ll do that. See you at 6 :0 0 .
Ron kaun:-bi. da-be:-no?

cp§ GOQoSsIBlI olc^G^.'SlI
Great. Goodbye (that’s all, isn’t it?).
Nanda da-ba-be:.
¿lolon
Goodbye (lit.: “that’s all”).
Conversation 2 f *
Ticket S eller:27 be-thw a:-m 9-le:?
coo8<y»o8 GcpSsajj) oooSogoswabii
W here are you going?
( Tistomer: bo-gan-go thw a:-]in-de. bo-gan-go

be-hno-na-yi ja-le:?
ooSo^ o6o^> ogos^poooSii c ôoooS^8^. o^
m ocdii
I w ant to go to B agan.
H ow m any hours is it to B agan?
Seller: b a ’-S9-ka:-ne hse-hno-na-yi ja-de.

cGpSsojj) oooSoooos^ gogS ^ S ^ o ^ [cqocooSii
T w elve hours [long] b y bus.
C'ustomer: bo-gan-ka: m o-ne’-hpyan be-hno-na-yi

h tw e ’-m o-le:?
ooSojj» yoooos oooS^Sô^
ogo8y<x>n
W hat tim e w ill buses go to B agan
tom orrow ?
Seller: nya-nei thon:-na-yi, nga:-na-yi,

hkun-ns-na-yi.
oo
"■ 3
jX>G<^ 0 ^ 0 ^ I clsÔ ^ I
o
eo
T hree [in the afternoon],

five and seven.
Ticket Seller: Le’-ma’ yaun:-dhu, Customer: we-dhu.

166 Lesson
C ustom er: nya-nei nga:-na-yi th w a:-jin -d e.

o-shej-hm a htain-gon shi-dhei:-la:?
£X3G<^ ¿I:
I w an t to leave at 5 p.m .
D o you still have any seats in front?
Seller: shi-ba-de. be-hno-saun lo-jin-ba-le:.

GCpSsa^ ôloooSii oooS^8goo 8 c\^Soloc5ii
[W e] do. H ow m any tick ets do you
w ant?
C ustom er: te-saun yu-m e.

OoSajj) ooS goo S o^wgSii
I ’ll take one ticket.
Seller: nga:-daun.
GcpSsajj> c 1sgooo8 ii
F ive thousand.
C ustom er: di-hm a. jei:-zu:-be:.

ooSa^ § ^ oii go ^ j: c^ c3ii
H ere [is the m oney]. T hanks.
wa-ja-mya ol Sentences
° ff!
1. A: di-nya, ba lo’-chin-le:?
§jx> ooo aj>8^jSo5u
What do you want to do tonight?
B: di-nya 3 -pyin-hma thwa:-sa:-jin-de.

§0D OgOS©OS^|8 oOo8 ll
I want to go out to eat tonight.
2. A: ma-nei-ga be thwa:-le:?
oGôo oocS O0o;c8ii
Where did you go yesterday?
B: ms-nej-ga shwe-ds-gon hpa-ya: thwa:-de.

0 6 ^ 0 0 G g d ^ O ^cpi OgOtOQoSlI
Yesterday, I went to Shwedagon Pagoda.
,V A: ma-ne’-hpyan be-thwa:-le-jin-le:?
QQoSogOSCOjDS ^Scroll
Where would you like to visit tomorrow?
B: m s-ne’-hpyan m ei’-hswei-hsi thwa:-le-me.

Wfc £ § § 8o8G 9gs8 OgOSCO^WcSlI
Tomorrow, I will go visit friends.
4. A: ein be-don:-ga we-le:?

388 oooScp^soo 00S0811
When did you buy a house?
B: pi:-ge-de thon:-la-ga ein we-de.

O^SCOOO 388 00S000S11
I bought a house three months ago.
168 Lesson;
5. A: se’-bein: be-do we-ma-le:? j

©o8o8s oocSgoooo ooSwobii ,
When do you want to buy a bicycle?
B: nau’-la-hma se’-bein; we-me.

6 <ôo8co(j)o ©o8o8s ooSyoSii
I will buy a bicycle next month.
C: no-win-ba-la-hma se’-bein: we-me.

ôSoQQCOijiO ©08oS? ooSgoSii
I will buy a bicycle this coming November. ;
6. A: be-nei na:-jin-le:?
oqoS g ^ o <pS^j8 o8 ll j
W hat day [do you] want off? •
B: sa-nei-nei-hma na:-jin-de.
© G ^G Ô ÔS^|8 oOcSll
[I] want Saturday off.
7. A: be-nei-dwei s-lo ’-lo’-tha-le:?

OQoSG^GOg 33C^8o^8oQobll
What days do you work?
B: ja-dhs-ba-dei:-nej-ne sa-nei-nei-hma a-lo’-lo’-te.

[ego ooogoosg^ ©g ^g -^ o 3Qcg8cg8oooSn
I work on Thursday and Saturday. a
8. jaun:-hma shi’-na-yi-ga hse-hns-na-yi-hti shi-de.

G0^p8;(^0 ^£<^0^00 socS^£ôô8 ^ oooSii
I was at school from 8:00 until 12:00.
A: pon-hman be-s-chein ei’-le:?

O O oSc30^ C^8 o8 ll
When do you usually go to sleep?
B: pon-hman ei’-ya-go hse-te-ria-yi-hma win-de.

o 8 8 e p g aooS'ooSôô oSoooSu
I usually go to bed at 11:00.
10. A: nin ba lo’-da ja i’-le:?

<^.8 ooo cpScoo goScvbii
What do you like to do?
B: ti-bi ji-da ja i’-te.

d 38 g g ooo goScooSii
I like to watch television.
11. hpei-bo-wa-ri-la-ga ei-pi-la-hti jo-pan-hma nei-de.

GGGoSol^COOO o[yC O o8 C^jO^Ô G^.OOoSll
I live in Japan from February to April.
12. se’-tin-ba-la-hma hpo-ya:-bwe: ji-bo in:-lei:-kan-go

thwa:-jin-de.
3
ooSooSooocoyo o^cp;^ gp S (^ oS;G co;oo^g
ogos^jSoooSii
In September, I want to go to Inle Lake to see the
Pagoda Festival.
13. mo-ne’-hpyan bi-za ya-bo htain:-than-yon: thwa:-me.

y f c£ § § 8eo gSsoo^s ogosooSii
Tomorrow, I will go to the Thai embassy in order to
get a visa.
170
14. A: s-the’ be-lau’-le:?

330008 oooSgcooo8 c8 ii
How old are you?
B: 9-the’ hna’-hse-ngar-hni’ shi-bi.

330008 ^SsooScIs^S ^ 1 1
I am twenty-five years old.
15. A: man-da-lei:-hma be-lau’ ja-ma-le:?

o^ gcosô oogSgcoogS [opticdii
How long will you be in Mandalay?
B: hns-ba’ ja-me.
[I’ll] be there for two weeks.
16. A: myan-ma-nain-gan yau’-taja-bi-la:?

(tÔ O ^Sc GCpoSoQO (apj^COOSII
Have you been in Myanmar long?
B: te-laja-bi.
ooSco g o g n
For one month.
17. te-nya-lon: ei’-ma-pyo-bu:.

OoSj3DC^>S 388fc>GCjJjSo3jj)S
I didn’t sleep all night.
Drills fi
I. Practice saying the following sentences in Myanmar. Some
nentcnces can be said in different ways. If the sentence is a
question, practice answering it too.,
Yesterday, I went to the movie theater.
I go to Myanmar in order to study the Myanmar language.
I usually read the newspaper in the morning.
When did you go to Bagan?
What months were you in France?
2. Do the following.
Create a two person dialogue about a trip you are planning.

Include when you are leaving and the length o f time that you will
be gone in months.
Compose a paragraph telling when you usually go to sleep,

how long you sleep and when you usually wake up.
172 Lesson
j
3. Use the following words to form ten sentences.
shin ^8 -po/bo ^ win-de 08000S

o-the’ 330oc8 thin-de coSoooS o-lo’-lo’-de
3ocp8 cp8 oooS
p rr\
jaun: GGopcs ei-pi G s to-nei-ga oog ^ go
jo-ma ogj|w se’-tin-15a ©08008000 go-za:-de oo©o:oooS
thu twei-de GOgOOoS bu-da-yon cpcoo^
thwa:-le ogoscogS shi-de <^ oooS lo’-chin-de
c y 8 ^j£oooS
nga: ck we-de ooS oooS te-nin:-la-nei
OOôSoG^
o-po 33GoT lo’-de C\^)8 oooS mo-ne’-hpyan |
1
sa-o’ © 03^8 pa’ 008 a:-la’-ye’
330? co 8 c|g8
-hma yo la co ta’-hka-to-lei
OoSsIoOGCO
ka: ooo: -hti 08 pi:-ge-de-la
Test 6
*
Match the following days and months with the appropriate Burmese
word.
Months
_ 1. January a. GO
_ 2. February b. §©8 ooo
___ 3. March c.
__ 4. April d. © 08008000
__ 5. May e. 0 0 8 8
__ 6. June f. § 0 8 0 0 0
__ 7. July g. G3 0 0 0 8 OÔOO
___ 8. August h. 0 0 8
9. September i.
__ 10. October j-
11. November k. ojy
12. December 1. g o g g S o )^
Days
1. Monday a. ja-dho-bo-dei-nei [crp ooogoosg^
2. Tuesday b. bo’-do-hu:-nei Cj)goosG<£
3. Wednesday c. te-nin:-la-nei co <ô 5o g <|>
4. Thursday d. so-nei-nei ©g ^>g <^
5. Friday e. thau’-ja-nei GOQo [o ô g <s
6. Saturday f. te-nin:-go-nwei-nei 0 0 <ôGgG<|>
7. Sunday g. in-ga-nei 3 0 &Ig <^
174 Lesi
1
Translate the following into English or Myanmar.
1. ©6 ^ 6 ^ 0 0 0 0 <^c6 o G ^ o8 ÔSOOoSlI it
2. OoSsloOGCO OO^SGsl8tpO 388oOoSll
3. 6^.00833008^0 80008^8 ogosooSii
4. Two months from now, I will go to Mandalay.
5. He has been waiting since six o’clock.

Reading & Writing

Voicing and The Voicing Rule
Moth English and Burmese haê both unvoiced and voiced

consonants. Voicing means making a humming sound in the
voicebox while saying a consonant. For example, the consonant
"b” is voiced, while “p” sound is not. In Burmese, there are a
number o f “voiceable” consonants, that is, consonants that shift
from unvoiced to a voiced pronunciation. The folllowing chart lists
both the unvoiced and corresponding voiced consonants:
Unvoiced C onsonants:
/k/ /hk/ /}/ /ch/ /s/ /hs/ N /ht/ /p/ /hp/ Uhl
0 0 3 (7]j 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 O 0 00
gets voiced to:
/g/ I'll Izl /d/ /b/ /dh/
These unvoiced consonants get voiced according to the following

rule: the second and following syllables are voiced, unless they
I'ollow a syllable that ends with a glottal stop. For example, the
verb particle -te oooS is usually voiced to -de:
|he/she]eats ©OSOQoS (sa:-de) or

|he/she]goes OÔJOOoS (thwa:-de)
but note that
[he/she] likes [côSoooS (jai’-te)
is not voiced because of the glottal stop.
The voicing rule applies to particles added to the end o f a word,

but not to the first syllable o f the following word, so care must be
laken to understand where words end in order to voice the
176 LessOQ
consonants correctly. Consonants are also not voiced in syllabi«

following the 3 3 prefix.
Other Voicing Examples:
^ 8 (chin, want) > ©Ot^jS (sa:-jin, want to eat)

q p S to o ; (yi:-za:, boyfriend/girlfriend)
3^8 (hsain, shop) > oo«8ss^c(hto-m in:-zain, restaurant)
o o o o S so o (tho-din:-za, newspaper)
□Swgooo S (ein-daun, marriage)
coo S oogos (le-dho-ma:, farmer)
Exceptions to the Voicing Rule
There are many exceptions to the voicing rule. Initial consonants il

some words are voiced (these are discussed in Lesson 9), whil
other consonants are not voiced, even though they look like the
should be. A seeming exception is that a syllable following oti
with a weakened vowel that includes a glottal stop is sti
pronounced as if the glottal stop were pronounced. It is therefor
not voiced even though it sounds like it should be. For example!
is in
the word for ten: CoSaooS is pronounced to-hse ( not to-ze). ,
“Hidden” compound words make up another group o f exception»

In such cases, the word is pronounced as if its components ad
separate words. For instance, the verb for listen (literally “to stanf
in the ear”), begins with “ear” (<ô:) is not voiced:
na:-htaun not na:-daun ^.OlGOOoS (listen)

Murmese for Beginners 177
Writing Exercise 6
Translate and transliterate the following sentences into

Ihirmese. Mark a ll voiced consonants and make sure to
he aware o f exceptions to the voicing rule in these
examples.
1. Five thousand forty, please.
2 . [I] want to go to the university in the afternoon.
3 . No. [He] doesn’t come from Bago.
4 . Thank you. Goodbye (“[I] have gone.”)
5 . [The] Burmese language is not difficult.
6 . Can you write in Myanmar?
7 . [I] have already been to Shwedagon Pagoda.
8 . [He] went to Yangon six months ago.
9 . Nice to meet [you].
1 0 . [I] want to read a book.

Lesson 7
foods; forms o f address; informal pronouns; talking
to monks; have ever; eating in a restaurant; eating at
a teashop; weakening
thin-gan:-za hkhu-ni’ ^ Lesson 7

w o:-ha-ra g o )o oog | V ocabulary
Nouns
f
ba-hpyi’-lo...le: 000(^80!^...oö Why?

ba-hpyi’-lo la-le: 000(^80^ coooöll “Why have you come?”
ba-jaun ooogJc^ o S because
min, nin 08:1 ^8 you (informal)
nga cl I (informal)
thei’ ma...bu: 088 not so...
myan-ma-9-sa:-9- sa (^«03300:3300 Myanmar cuisine/food
htain:-9-sa:-9-sa 0^8:3300:3300 Thai food
lo-yo’-s-sai-s-sa 00^083300:3300 Chinese food
D-sa’ 33©8 spicy food
o-cho-bwe: 33%g dessert
mi:-bo-jaun q :^ g ^ o 8 kitchen
ne:-ne:-hta’ ^¡3S:^j3S:oo5 a little bit more
da: 00; knife
/ un: spoon
hka-yin: scSc|8: fork
(u °? chopsticks
00
^0
hin:-jo soup
00
s
hta-mim-p oo«8:Gg $ fried rice

yci-than G G |O d | purified (bottled) water
o-ye 33C]pS juice
182 Lesson
kei’-mon 0808^^ cake ,y

paun-mon go18^ o bread
■V
-hkw e’/gw e’ go8 up (also a counter word)
nau’-te-hkwe’ GÔcSooSgcS another cup
-pwe:/bwe: á serving or bowl (also a
counter word) ^
-Ion: CV^S bottle (counter word)
nau’-to-lon: 6^0080080^2 another bottle
1
Verbs
V
bai’-hsa-de cjtaSsoooooS to be hungry j
mei:-de gosoog S to ask something i(
taun:-de gooo 8 soooS to ask for something ¡j
shin:-me ^ SstícS to clear [the bill] i

jo-de G ^ SoO cS to fiy <
than-de ooôooS to be clean, pure
thon:-de o^soooS to use 1
che’-pyo’-te ^]o8(cjjo8oooS to cook j
hli:-de c^ so o cS to cut, peel, slice 'i

mya:-thwa:-de tjpSOgOSOQcS to be too much '
■l!
cho-de ^jjcooS to be sweet28 ^
chin-de ôooS to be sour j
i'
28 Cho-de is often used to refer to dishes that are not spicy (w/o chili) as well.
ngan-de CÔQoS to beâlty

hka:-de ofeoooS to be bitter
Na’-te ©8000S to be spicy (hot)
ma-sa’-hpu: o©8ojj>?n v • “It’s not spicy.”
pa-de G0I0O0S
O
to be bland, tasteless
wa-de 0000S to be fat, satisfied
wa-bi °g l “I ’m full.”
a-ya-dha 3 QC[QOO delicious, tasty (adv)
a-ya-dha shi-de 3 3 G|0 OO ÔOüSlI “It’s delicious.”
a-ya-dha ma-shi-bu:: 3 3 Cpoo oôjj>?u “It’s not tasty.”
Particles
-lo because
4
-on: A°
-/
k o indicates further action
-hpu:/bu: have ever done something
M ore Food Nouns
a-tha: 33000? M eat
a-me:-dha: 330000? beef

je ’-tha: |crjo8ooo? chicken
we’-tha: 008000? pork
nga: cl? fish

184
s-thi: Fruit
pan:-dhi: apple
hto-ba’-thi: GOCOOoSoSs avocado
nge’-pyo:-dhi: banana
on:-dhi: coconut
o:-za-dhi: (oêooSs custard apple
du:-yen:-dhi: durian
zo-byi’-thi: ©CflSoSs grapes
m a-b-ka-dhi: w ocoooooS ; guava
pein:-ne:-dhi: 8|o8s jackfruit
than-bo-ya-dhi: ooocpoS; lime
lain-chi:-dhi: cvj>S^po8s lychee
tha-ye’-thi: 006|o8o8t mango
min:-gu’-thi: ySsogoSoS; mangosteen
lein-mo-dhi: o S gwS oS s orange
thin:-ba:-dhi: oogo8 o o 8 s papaya
th i’-to-dhi: ooS goo S oS s pear
na-na’-thi: <|o<ô8o8s pineapple
zi:-dhi: s8so8; plum
jwe:-go:-dhi: O^jGOQOoSs pomelo
je ’-m au’-thi: [c^ oS g g o o S oS; rambutan
G
hpa-ye:-dhi: watermelon
e o
hin :-dhi:-hin:-ywe’ oo8 so8 jod8: qo8 Vegetables

t f*
gaw-bi-do’ GoT8ocj>8 cabbage
mon-la-u-ni ^ cooef carrots
t*
pyaun:-bu: com
je'-thun-byu garlic
Jin: cjS: ginger

hso-la’-ywe’ socooSgoS lettuce
Inno mushrooms
$
jc ’-thun-ni onions
shwei-be: Gjg|C3o8s snow peas
myei-be: g (^c) peanuts
hin:-nu-nwe ooSs^goS amaranth
pc:-daun-she Ögooo S^[pS string beans
C3
°8
hko-yan:-dhi: eggplant, aubergine

oo
Cd
G>
OO
hko-yam-jin-dhi: 9G|8s^ o8s tomato
Tea Shop Beverages

Ic’-hpe’-yei cocSocSqpS black tea (w/ milk+sugar)
yei-nwe:, yei-nwe: -jan: 6G|G^si GG|60sj^ 8? plain (olong) tea
ko-hpi G00S8 coffee (w/ milk+sugar)
nwa:-noo cow’s milk
s ° 4.
no-ne
e o
with milk
ko-hpi-no-ne
A 0 o
ggo8 8 £ ^ coffee with milk
L°
186 Lessau
lein-mo-ye eSG gSqpS orange juice ft

hso-da s^ál soda water
yei-ge: GG|^ ice
•1
ko-hpi-ei: GGoS 8 g 33S iced coffee 1]
tho-ja: oojöps sugar

1
jan-ye sugar cane juice
:,?
n,
bi-ya 08000 beer
Some Typical Burmese Foods Í

po-la-ta ocooooo parata i
so-mu-hsa 0^900 sarnosa ¡1
pau’-si 60I088 Chinese steamed dumpling
hkau’-hswe: GoloSs^ noodles ■‘f
hkau’-hswe:-jo gq IoS si^ g I ^ S fried noodles
mon-hin:-ga: ôoSsols mohinga
'
shan:-hkau’-hswe: ^ üsgq IoS s ^ Shan noodles j
hin: 00S; curry
bo-zun-hin: shrimp curry (1
\
cIsGolSt steamed fish 1
nga:-baun:
le’-hpe’-tho’ cog 8 gg 8 o^ 8 pickled tea salad ■4
l
00
CO
00
cQ.
jin-dho’ ginger salad

kau’-hnyin: GOOOoSgSs sticky rice
ths-da 003) Grammar
l.evcl of Formality
In this lesson, w e’ll review pronouns, and the use o f kinship terms
iiml other forms o f address used in everyday life. Three factors
determine what term one should use in conversation with another
person: familiarity, age difference and social status.
I’ronouns: Formal and Informal forms of “You and I”

• The pronouns min: (0 8 ;) and nin (<^S) are commonly used
for “you” but only between close friends and siblings, so a
beginning Burmese student may not hear these words in
direct conversation.
• hko-mya:/shin (cScjpsi (j|8 ), are said by the speaker, males
use “hko-mya:”, females use “shin”. Both are polite terms
for “you” used with unfamiliar individuals.
• Likewise, nga (cl) is used for “I” between close friends and
family of roughly the same age while jo-no and jo-ma are
used in less intimate circumstances and with elders.
Forms of Address: Use of Kinship Terms

• A more distant form o f “you”, using kinship terms, is often
used in interacting with waiters, waitresses, taxi drivers,
sellers o f goods, etc.
• When speaking to a much older person use u:-lei: (^ : gco :)
or do:(G3l) meaning uncle or aunt, respectively, for “you”.
When speaking to a somewhat older person use o-ko
(330^) and o-raa (3 3 « ) meaning elder brother or elder
sister, respectively, for “you”.
A man speaking to a somewhat younger person uses nyi-
lei: (^S gcos) and nyi-ma-lei: (£D« g o 3S) meaning younger
brother/sister, respectively.
A woman uses maun-lei: ( goo 8 gcos) and nyi-ma-lci:
yGCOS) to younger man or woman, respectively.
188 Lesson!
Forms of Address: Equivalents to Mr. and Miss/Mrs.

• In addressing someone as “Mr.” use u: (pJ) for a man that
is older than the speaker and maun (gooc ) for one who i | j
younger. In both cases the u: or maun should be followed j
by the person’s name (e.g., maun sein). *!
• There’s no equivalent to Mrs. in Burmese, but there is a J
distinction between older or younger listeners. An older
woman is addressed as do (G3 l) while a younger woman
should be called ma («), followed by the person’s name. '
Forms of Address: Use of hso-ya (“teacher”)

• Teachers should be addressed using hso-ya (socp) for a
man and hso-ya-ma (so cp y ) for a woman. This term not
only applies to teachers, but also engineers, doctors,
managers and some civil servants.
Forms of Address: Talking with Monks

Special forms of address are also used in Burmese to speak to
monks. There are three ways to address monks as follows:
ko-yin 0808 (for a novice, age 6- 19) I

u:-zin: (most other monks)
hpon:-ji: (for a monastery’s senior monk)
A monk calls a lay person do-ga/do-ga-ma (30001 3000 «)
Refer to oneself as: to-be-do/te-be-do-lna (ooGgScooSi
OOU^SgooS g , meaning student or follower)
Buddhist nuns (of any age) should be called hso-ya-lei:
(SOCpGCDS)
Verb: -hpu:/bu: (have ever)

To say that one has “ever done” something, -hpu:/-bu: (<£S) is used:
I hive you ever visited Mandalay? man:-do-lei: thwa:-bu:-dho-la:.

G ^G CO S O gO Í^S O O O D O S II
Yes, I’ve visited Mandalay. ho’-ke, man:-do-lei: thwa:-bu:-de.

oôS qî g ^ gco: ogo:^:oooSii
)
No, I have never been to Mandalay. hin in:, man:-do-lei: mo-
thwa:-bu:-bu:.
00833811 o ^ goo; yogo;(|;o^;n
I lave you ever eaten mohinga? mon-hin:-ga: sa:-bu:-dho-la:?

sols ©OS^SOOCOOSII
Yes, I ’ve eaten mohinga before, in:, mon-hin:-ga: sa:-bu:-de.

33811 ôoSsols oo^ joooSii
Clause-ending particles: -lo (because), -hpo/bo ^(in order

to), -yin C|8 (if)
In Burmese sentence clauses are formed using a clause-ending
particle. This is similar to English, except that in Burmese, the
"subordinate clause” comes first, not last as in English. The clause
ending particles used in this book are -lo. (because), -hpo./bo. (in
order to), and -yin (if).
11ere’s an example sentence using the lo particle to mean because:
11] went to sleep because [I] was tired. mo:-lo thwa:-ei-de.

ggocv^ ogos3 8 8 oooSn
The -hpo/bo particle has a similar use o f providing a kind o f

explanation for why something needs to be done or why something
was done. It can be translated as “for”, “to” or “in order to” . For
example:
190 Lesson
He went to the market to buy fruit, o-thi we-hpo thu zei:-go thwa:-det
The yin CjC particle means “i f ’ or “when”, in reference to some

future action. Such sentences in English would have one clause
starting with if and another starting with then, but Burmese only »
uses the -yin Cj£ particle at the end o f the subordinate clause.
If I have time, I will go there, o-chein shi-yin, thwa:-me. ,
Verb Particle: -on: 0 S (further action) •>'

The -on: verb particle indicates an action will be carried on i
further. A very common phrase which uses this particle is said ji
when negotiating a price with a vendor:
That’s expensive. Can you lower [the price] more? zei:-mya:-de. <
■fl
J
Conversation X *
Customer: nyi-lei:, nyi-lei:,..

OoSajj) gSccos i ^ gcosii
Waiter, waiter.’
Waiter: ba thau’-mo-le:?
GOO GOOOo6fcXX)ll
What will you drink?
Customer: la’-hpe’-ye to-hkwe’.

ooSojj> cooSooSqpS ooSgoSii
A cup of tea, please.
Waiter: ba sa:-mo-le.
©osgocj)? COO ©OSGCOII
What do you want to eat?
( ustomer: so-mu-sa-tho’ to-bwe:.

ooSajj) ©(^9 0 0 0 ^ 8 OoSÎI
A samosa salad.
192 Less<
... Later.... |
Customer: nyi-lei: shin:-me. '

OoSajj) ¡dS gCOS ^SsQoSlI
Waiter, the bill! ■
Waiter: thon:-ya nga:-ze-ba.

o^scp clssooSolii
Three hundred fifty, please. ;
(j
Customer: di-hma. {
ooSajj» §ÔII
Here.
Waiter: jei:-zu:-be:. •
©osô^s GO^jS^sdll 1
Thanks.
Conversation 2
Waiter: htain-ba. ba-sa:-mo-le:?
/30
C^Solll OOOOOSOCXbll
oo
oo
S
Please sit down. Wha!t do you want to eat?

C’ustomer: nga:-hin: to-bwe:-ye hka-yan:-jin-dhi:-tho’
te-bwe:-ye
hte-min: nho-bwe:.
OoSajj) cltOoSs OoS^QoS QG|Ssô8;op8
OoS^C|oS OOOCS ^S^ll
A plate fish curry and a plate o f tomato
salad and two plates o f steamed rice.
Waiter: ba thau’-mo-le:.
/30
ooo GooooSoabii
oo
oo
§
What would you like to drink?

Customer: than-bo-ya-yei te-hkwe’-ne la’-hpe’-ye te-hkwe\
ooSajj) ooSgcSê cocSocSiqpS ooSgcSii
A glass o f lime juice and a glass of plain tea.
Waiter: da-be:-la:?
©oj^c^s 3lc)coosii
Is that all?
Customer: da-ba-be:.
ooSajj) 3 lolc)ii
[Yes], that’s it.
194 Less
... Later....
Waiter: di-hma.
Here you go.

Customer: di-ha mo-hma-bu:.
OoSajj) §000 0(^)0O^SII
I didn’t order that!
Waiter: 0, hso:-ri:.
©osôcjk 0 ^ GQOofjSII
Oh, sorry.
... Still Later....
Customer: nya-ma-lei:, shin:-me.
ooSojj) ¡dS gGCOS ^SsQoSlI
Waiter, the bill!
Waiter: chau’-ya nga:-ze-ba.
oosô^s GÔGOGp cIsSDoSolll
Six hundred and fifty, please.
Customer: di-hma.
ooSojj) §<cj)OII
Here.
Waiter: jei:-zu:-tin-ba-de.
Ga^s<*sooS6loooSii
Thanks.
Burmese för Beginners 195
wa-ja-mya: o)
°W 5 Sentences
A: di yo’-shin ji-pi:-bi-la:?
§ ^|8 ^ 8 g g S jl^ c O 'D s ii . :
Have you seen this movie yet?
B: di yo’-shin ji-pi:-bi.
§ g g S jy s g ii
I have already seen this movie.
C: to-hka-hma mo-ji-bu:-bu:.
oool^
I have never seen it.
A: hsai-ka: si:-bu:-la:?
9^08000: 8;<^coosu
Have you ever ridden in a “sidecar”?
B: ho’-ke, si:-bu:-de.
oôSabi Ss^soooSii
Yes, I have ridden in (one).
bo-gan-go yau’-hpu-ba-de.
GCpoS^loloGoSlI
I have been to Bagan.
A: myan-ma-9-sa:-9-sa thei’ sa’-th9-la:?
g f c >0 3 3 © 0 2 3 9 0 0 088 ©8oocootn
Is Myanmar food very spicy?
B: myan-ma-9-sa:-9-sa thei’ m9-sa’-hpu:.
g y o 3300233 ©o 088 y©8ojj>sii
Myanmar food is not very spicy.
196 Lesson)
5. A: ta-yo’-a-sa:-a-sa ba-hpyi’-lo ma-jai’-ta-le:? i

co ^ o839<dos3 3 0 o 0 0 0 (^8 0 ^ y j^ o S o o o a b n
Why don’t you like Chinese food?
B: ta-yo’-a-sa:-a-sa ma-sa’-lo.
ooSc^ji
Because Chinese food is not spicy.
6. A: thu-hma ka: ba-hpyi’-lo ma-shi-da-le:?
OfflO coot OOO§Scêyôoocvbn
Why doesn’t he have a car?
B: thu-hma pai’-hsan ma-shi-lo ka: ma-we-ya-bu:.

o ^ p <ô8s6 y^cvj> coot yooScp^sii
Because he doesn’t have money, he doesn’t have a car,
7. A: thu ba-hpyi’-lo che’-pyo’-ta m e-jai’-le:?

0^ o o o ^ 8 c ^ ^|o8 |y o 8 ooo g (o ô8 cx5ii
Why doesn’t she like cooking?
B: thu che’-pyo’-ta m a-jai’-lo ma-che’-te’-hpu:.
ôSjyoSooo y § c £ c $ y^joSoooSajp
She doesn’t like to cook because she can’t cook.
8. A: di hin-jo kaun:-la:?
§ O o S s £ ^ G O O o S s C O O tll
Is this soup good?
B: ho’-ke, di hin-jo a-ya-dha shi-de.

CôSobl § OoSt^ ôooSii
Yes, this soup is delicious.
C: ma-kaun:-hpu:. di hin-jo a-ya-dha ma-shi-bu:.

yGOOoSsO^tll § 008;^ 3 Q€ |0 0 0 yÔjj>SII
No. It’s not tasty.
D: mo-kaunt-hpu:. o-yan: ngan-lq sa^-tna-kauni-bu
No. It doesn’t taste good because it’s too salty.
A: hta’-yu-on:-mo-la:?
ooSojj^sycoosii
Will you take a bit more?
B: ne:-ne: hta’-yu-on:-me.
<^.^Ss<^»^Ss oo8o^^jyoS n
I’ll have a bit more.
/
C: ya-ba-de. wa- bi. jei:-zu:-be:.
cjoloooSii og.i Goq»|S(^;oii
That’s all right. I ’m full. Thanks.
10. A: o-sa’ ja i’-tho-la:?

□o©8 joôSoocoosii
Do you like spicy food?
B: ja i’-te.
j like it.
C: mo-jai’-hpu:.
« [ ^ oS q^ sii
I don’t like it.
II. hin:-dhi-hin-ywe’-go da:-ne hli:-de.

ooSsoSsooSsgoSo^ olsôc^soooS
I cut vegetables with a knife.
12. ko-hpi-ei: ja i’-te.

GooS 8 g 33s jcxjjoSoooSii
[He] likes cold coffee.
198 Lesson
13. thu sa:-da mya:-de.

ojj> ©ojooo tp so o cS ii
He eats a lot.
14. A: bai’-hsa-bi-la:?
^ o S so o ^ c o o sii
Are you hungry?
B: thei’ hsa-de.
088 GOOOOcSlI
[I am] very hungry.
C: mo-ho’-hpu:. bai’-mo-hsa-bu:.
y o ^ c S o ^ n ôS ysooo^sii
No. I ’m not hungry.
15. A: thu-go saun-da hno’-na-yi shi-bi.

ggo S ooo
I have been waiting for him for two hours.
B: thu-go mo-hma’-mi-bu:.
I don’t recognize him.
16. sa-o’-twei hpa’-bo we-de.

©Q3^ 8 GOg Oc8 ^ OcSoOcSlI
I buy books for reading.
17. yei-nwe: pei:-ba.

GCJG^S GOSolll
Bring some tea, please.
18. o-sa’ sho-ba.

G0©8 GO^JOolll
Make it less spicy, please.
l ‘). a-ngan sho-ba. f'*

go ^jooIii
Less salty, please.
200 LessoUl
Drills <
1. Practice saying the following sentences in Myanmar. If the
sentence is a question, practice answering it as well.
I have too many books.
W hat foods do you like to eat?
Have you ever visited Mandalay?
Why do you use chopsticks?
She drinks bottled water, but she does not drink tap water.
Create a dialogue asking someone what kind o f food they like. Asll
that person why they like it and have the person give an answet
(because it’s sweet, delicious, etc.) I
Compose a short telephone conversation between two people thalj

has each o f the following parts: an opening greeting, asking if the
person is home, and asking the receiver o f the call if he or shej
wants to do something with the caller.
5, Use the follow ing words to form ten sentences.
zei: GCfls ta’-te oocScooS hta-minr-zain

oo©8:dj>8
o-me: 33o ngan-de cÔooS ma-tain-mi gc^Sg
ho-hma ja-ma Og|^© a-thi: 3308;
yei G€| jai’-te [cgoSoooS yei-than GCpo^
ma-nei-ga wgôo au’ G300oS a-ya-dha shi-de
32G|00080O0S
zun: g^S je ’ |cgo8 -tho’ 0^8
chin-de ^jôooS tllOjj) mei’-hswei ©oScsg
da: ©os cho-de îpooS dha-gaun OO^SGslS
c
sa’-te ©80000 a-yan: 30C|©s hsain-ge S^SoooS
we’ 008 hin:-jo ooSsc^ da-ba-be: 3I0I0
wa-bi o g thei’ 088 hta-min:jo
O O oSsG gS
202
LessoM
Test 7
1 . tobebitter a. wa-bi o|y

2 . fish b. cho-de^jjoooS
3 . tobesour c. 9-me: 30©
4 . delicious d. zun: g^s
5. food e. ngan-decôooS
6 . tobesalty f. hka:-de©IsoooS
7. beef g. sa’-te©cooooo
c
8 . spoon h. nga: els
9. tobehungry i. da: ©os
10. knife j. bai’-hsa-deôSsoocooS
11. fork k. chin-de^00oS
12. tobespicy 1. hka-yin: ©o8c|Ss
m.9-sa:-o-sa □0©os3©©o
n. o-yo-dha shi-de 3©€jOOO <ôoo$j
Translate the follow ing into English or Burmese.
I. ^ Ü 0 3 3 0 0 S33© 0 gcÔD cS áleoy 80008^83300 S3 9 0 0

o ^ o S o js i ,,1
2. 388^0 coo sn
.V (t^ o o o o S ; 0 8 8 ooSo^sii
4. This soup is very salty. I can’t eat it.
5. Have you ever eaten Shan noodles?

204 Lesi
Reading & Writing

W eakening
Another important factor in Burmese pronunciation is called

“weakening”, which is the way a vowel is sometimes shortened
into a shwa (o). This sound is found in the English words the,
about and around. Weakening also occurs in English, such as wh<
“going to” and “want to” are pronounced as “gonna” and “wanna'j
Perhaps the most common cases in Burmese are the words that
combine the numbers one (ti’ 0 0 8 ), two (hni’ <^S) and seven
(hkun-ni’ ^ S ) with another word:
one litre te-li-ta 00808000

one mile to-main ooS<j>8
two hours hno-na-yi
two million hno-than: ^8oo^s
two cups hno-hkwe’ ^SgoS
seven hours hkun-hno-na-yi
Some other words are also weakened such as the words thu O
nga: els and sa ©O. The following list gives examples o f otha
weakened words in Burmese:
els
shark ngs-man: clso^s
flying fish ngs-pyan clst^j
fish cake/ball ngs-hso’ clsapS
©0
‘ fv
clerk so-yei: ©OGG|S
list so-yin: ©OC[Ss
ooos 4
first bom tho-u: ’ ooosSs

leather tho-yei
oo
§
womb tho-ein
eo
§
hero, warrior tho-ye:
child tho-nge o^coS
thief tho-hko: °ü?!
00coos (meaning Indian)
chair ko-b-htain opcooso^S
camel ko-b-o’ opcoos ô3 8
206 Lesson
Writing Exercise 7
Transliterate the following sentences in Burmese and

mark a ll cases o f weakened consonants (Note: please
review the words in the irregularly pronounced words
section of Lesson 9 for this exercise).
1 . One thousand two hundred kyats.
2 . He wants to sit in the leather chair.
3 . Waiter, do you have shark soup today?.
4 . It takes two hours to [go to] Bago by bus.
5 . Bananas and fish paste are on the table.
6 . 1 want to eat a serving o f shrimp curry.
7 . Ko Tun Moe (htun: mo.) comes from Bhamo. He is

twenty years old.
8. Ananda Pahto is in Bagan.

Lesson 8
body parts and health issues; commands; gender and
plural forms; ordinal numbers; stacked consonants
thin-gan:-za shi’ 0 0 8 0 ^ 2 0 0 • f> Lesson 8

wo:-ha-ra 6 oloO O G | V ocabulary
Nouns
ko oôS body
gaun: gq IS; head
/.r»-bin 90o8 hair
inye’-hna ^ joS^ o face
mye’-si ^ )c88 eye
mye’-hkon: eyebrow
mye’-taun ^ gS gooo S eyelash
hna-gaun: ÔGslSs nose
oo
ba-za’ mouth
oo
o
hna-hkan:-mwei: |o80ü ?G gS mustache
mei: GÜS chin
hna-hkan: lips
sha tongue
° 3P
thwa: tooth
na: ear
S-
oo
OO
le-bin: neck
00
8
le-jaun: C O gSc^pSt throat
yin-ba’ G|8 ooo8 chest
ja:-gon: G oqpo^s back

210 Lesi
hka: ¿Is waist, lower back ^

9-sa-ein 3300388 stomach
le’ coo8 arm, hand
le’-hps-wa: cooSools palm
le’-chaun: cvdoS g ^ o S s finger *
le’-the: cooSoogSs fingernail ,j
po-hkon: o^s shoulder ;
chei G§ leg r,
chei-hta’ G^GOOQoS foot .)
chei-bs-wa: g (^ g o Is sole o f the foot ...
chei-jaun: G ^G ^p S s toe (
du: knee (
paun GolS thigh
a-yei-bya: 336C|jyOS skin ,
on:-hnau’ ^SGÔoS brain ,|
hna-lon: heart ,|j
9-hso’ 33SXpo8 lung j
1
9-the: 3 3 0 0 gSs liver
jw e ’-tha (ogoSooos muscle
9-yo: bone
9-hpya: 33(^0 s fever
hsg-ya-wun OOCpO^ doctor
hsei: GSOS medicine
a-wu’-o-sa: 330083300? clothing

,vnwei:-hte 33Gg;oogS warm clothes
3 3 0 ^® shirt
f
lai’-pon oôSc^ jacket, coat
haun:-bi goooS?o8 pants, trousers
sa-ka’ ooocS skirt
o’-hto’ ^?ccj)8 hat
hpo-na’ 8^8 shoes
chei-ei’ 0(^3808 stockings
lc’-ei’ 03083808 gloves
hka:-ba’ okoo8 belt
Ic’-swu’ coo8g8 ring
Ic’-kau’ 0308000008 bracelet
hsa’-pya 9o8|yO soap
lhan °4. clean
bo-gan O^SOO^ dishes
o-chein-mi 33^8 in time, on time (adv)
ba-hma oooy nothing
o-thi’ 3300S new
a-haun: 3 3 6 0 0 0 8? old (thing)
212 Less«
V erbs 4
na-de ôoooS to hurt, be in pain

nei-kaun:-de g <|>gooo S soooS to feel well
nei-ms-kaum-bu: G^yGGOoSsO^SII “ [I] am not well.”
9-ei:-mi-de 33G 33 s8 ooo S to have a cold
9-the:-gwe:-de □QOOgStOÔOoS to be heartbroken (lit.,
‘split livered’)
w u’-hta:-te 0 0 8 0 0 0 joooS to wear (clothes)
hsaun:-de g so o S iooo S to wear (a hat)
si:-de 8:oooS to wear (shoes)
cho’-te g|c8oooS to remove
9-w u’ sho-de 3 0 0 0 8 g o ^ S oooS to wash clothes, do
laundry
gaun:-hpi:-de GolS^SOOoS to comb hair
yei’-te £jo8oooS to shave
thwa:-tai’-te cgosoô8oooS to brush teeth
yei-cho:-de GCj^jjsOOcS to bathe/ wash one’s self
sho-de GCXjjSoQoS to wash (clothes)
gaun:sho-de go 18s g o ^ S ooo S to wash one’s hair
(lit., wash head)
le’ hsei:-de CO08 GSDSOOoS to wash hands
bo-gan hsei:-de o£soo£ GSOSOQoS to wash dishes
lo-de oôooS to need
lo-a’-te oij)3 3 8 o o o S to need, \vant something
gnim:-kai’-te g q 18sc^ o 8 ooo S to have a headache
bai’-na-de ô8< ôoooS to have stom ach ache
wun:-sho-de o 8 t6 C g p O O o S , to^have diarrhea
Ihc’-tha-de oocSooooooS to feel better, recover
hla-de c^ co g S to be pretty, beautiful
lliei: GO0% still
mo-...-thei:-bu: y.-GOOSO^ not yet [+ verb]
nau’-ja-de g ^ o g 8 o ^ | ooo S to be late
Ordinal Numbers
po-hto-ma 0000 first
du-ti-ya ^0800 second
la-ti-ya 000800 third
zo-do’-hta fourth
pyin-zo-ma fifth
°ew
hsa’-hto-ma SO gy sixth
tha’-te-m a O D ^y seventh
a’-hts-m a 33gy eighth
no-wo-ma <|.Oy ninth
da-tho-ma 3 0 oy tenth
214 Lesson
tho-da oogl Gramma

.i;
Command form of a verb {
The command form o f verbs in Burmese is simply formed by usin
the root o f a verb:
Sit! htain! dj>8 n

Come here! di-go la! §orj> coon
The pa/ba particle can be included to be more polite. Thus, the

following examples is more typical o f spoken Burmese:
Please Sit! htain-ba
In some cases the particle -ge S> may be included in the command ^
form o f a verb. It has a similar function as the noun particle -hsi
s 8 . A case o f this is for the verb “come”, for which you may
commonly hear: l|
V
Come [to me]! la-ge! COOSill 1

1
Finally, another common way o f added the idea that some action itf
obligatory is to add the final particle ya A common sign would ,
be:
No smoking. hsei:-lei’ ma-thau’-ya GSOSc 8 8 0 6 0 0 0 o8 g|I
(Note also that since this is an example o f a negative command, the

-hpu:/bu: particle is replaced with ya)
Noun Particles: -ma y , -thu/dhu Qjj>, -thas/dha COOS (Gender)

(icnder-based fonns o f nouns do sometimes exist in Burmese and
are indicated by adding a suffix to a noun. In some cases, the
masculine form has no suffix. The feminine form, when it exists,
uses the suffix -ma (y). A very edmmon example is found in the
word for teacher:
teacher (m) hso-ya soep

teacher (f) hso-ya-ma soepy
Animal and plant names also generally have male and female
forms (though not always). For example, the suffix -hti:/di: (0 8 s)
is sometimes used for females and -hpo (cj>) or -hpa (o) for males.
I lere are two examples:
tiger ja: epps

tigress ja:-m a oppsy
male tiger ja:-di: opp;o8s
chicken je ’ g c8
hen je ’-ma o ô S y
rooster, cock je ’-hpa ogoSo
Conversation
nei-kaun:-la: m a-sein?
G^GOOoSsCOOS u 8 §ll
H ow are you doing, M a Sein?
nei-m o-kaun: -b u :.
G^GGCOoSsO^SII
[I’m] n ot w ell.
ba h p y i’-ta-le:?
00o
W h at’s the m atter?
le-jaun: na-de.
O O ^ G ^ p S ? ÔOOcSlI
M y throat hurts.
216 Lessofl
Noun Particle: -twe/dwe GOg , -to/do 0 ^ (Plural form) 1

There is a plural form in Burmese, though it is often left out. Also
unlike English, the plural form is not used for proper nouns or
numbers. There are two forms. Generally, the plural form is show
by adding the suffix -dwei (GOg). For example: 1
•>
person lu
people lu-dwei Qi G08
For pronouns, the suffix -to/do (O^) is used instead, as in:
t
He/she thu
they thu-do
i
This case also be used in the possessive form: «
our car do-ka: CÔOOJ
or to indicate a group o f people associated with the subject:
Ma Sein and her family (or friends)

ma-sein-do
218
George
G9 P §
Oh, that’s not good. Have you taken any medicine^
"i
Sein hin-in:,
♦ 7
ba-hmaO mo-thau ’-thei:-bu:.
8§ 008338;! ooo<cj> « goooq 8 gco ;3^;ii
No, I haven’t taken anything yet. ■,
George hsei: thau’-ba. o-na:-yu-ba.

gso ; gooooSoIii 33<|>o;ajj>6lii 1
GT $
Please take some medicine and rest. J
Sein ho’-ke. lo’-me. nau’-hma twei-me.

e p o
1
<
8§
wa-ja-mya: o lc x ji^ p s Sentences

A: ba lo’-hpo shi-le:?
000 cv^S^^cöii >. :
What do you need to do?
B: sa’-o’ hpa’-hpo shi-de.

©03^8 oo8ô^ oogSii
1 need to read a book.
C: hno’-na-yi-hma zei: thwa:-bo shi-de.

gö^j; ôooSn
I need to go to the market at 2:00.
ro
A: ba-lo-le:?
O O O O ^ C Ö II
What do you need?
B: mo-to-hsain-ge o-thi’ lo-de.

Gü S g Oo8 s^%7DüS 3 3 0 o S c^ oooS ii
I need a new motorbike.
C: zun:-ne hko-yin: lo-de.

s g 8 g|8 s c ^ ooo S ii
I need a spoon and fork.
3. A: thu o-wu’ sho-pi:-bi-la:?

ajj> 3 3 0 0 8 Gcxj>j5[^;(ycoo;ii
Has he done the laundry yet?
220 LesaOfl|
B: hin-in:, mo-pi:-thei:-bu:.
OOCGQCSI wh sgooso^ h
,4
No, its not finished yet.
(
C: pi:-bi.
[Its] already done.
4. A: thu yau’-pi-la:?
GGpoSj^COOSII
Has he arrived yet?
B: ho’-ke, thu yau’-pi:-bi.

O^cSabl Ojj> G G poS^j^ll
Yes, he has arrived already.
C: hin-in:, thu mo-yau’-thei:-bu:.

00839811 cxj OGGpOOGOOSOOS,,
No, he hasn’t arrived yet.
5. A: bo-gan o-chein-mi hsei:-pi:-bi-la:?

O^SOO^ 3 9 ^ 8 Gsozjysjycoosil
Did you wash the dishes in time?
B: ho’-ke, hsei:-pi:-bi.
oôSobi G so sjc^n
Yes, [they’re] already washed.
C: hin-in:, mo-hsei:-y a-thei:-bu:.

00839811 OGSOSG|GOO;3 jj>SII
No, [they] haven’t been washed yet.
ft. A: s-chein-mi yau’-la:?

3 3 S ^ O GCpoScOOSII
Did [you] arrive in time?
B: ho’-ke, o-chein-mi yau*-te.

obabi Gcp oooooSii
Yes, [I] arrived in time.
C: hin-in:, o-chein-mi mo-yau’-hpu:

00833811 3 3 ^ 8 OGGpoSo^SII
No, [I] didn’t arrive on time.
7. A: thu ba-wu’-hta:-le:?
Ojj> 000 0 0 8 0 0 0 so5 ii
What is she wearing?
B: thu so-ka’ o-pya-ne in:-ji o-hpyu w u’-hta:-de.

ajj> 00008 33(^0^ 33o^j0 33^| 008000 soooSn
She is wearing a blue skirt and a white shirt.
C: baun:-bi o-ne’ w u’-hta:-de.

g o o o 8 sc8 33^,08 o o 8 ooosooo S ii
[She is] wearing black pants.
D: in:-j:i o-ni w u’-hta:-de.

3 3 0 ^]®33^ 008000 toooSii
[She is] wearing a red shirt.
8. A: nei-kaun:-la:?
G^GOOoSsCOOtll
Are you feeling well?
. rracuce saying me ionowing sentences m iviyanmar. 11 me
mtence is a question, practice answering it as well.
-V
I have to go to the bathrom.
Did Bob wash the dishes yet?
. Fill in the blanks in the diagram below with the Burmese word
>r each body part.
222 Lessd
B: nei-kaun:-ba-de.
Gi^GQQOSsoloQoSlI
[I’m] feeling fine.
C: nei-mo-kaun:-bu:.
ill
[I am] not feeling well.
D: gaun:-kai’-te.
go18;o^g8 oooS ii
[I] have a headache,
E: bai’-na-de.
[I] have a stomach ache. (lit. “stomach hurts”)
F: wim:-sho-de.
OWIGCV^p oooS ii
[I] have diarrhea.
9. A. hpo-na’ si:-lo ya-mo-la:.

8 ^ 8 8lO^ C|«COOIII
May I wear shoes?
B. hpo-na’ si:-lo ya-de.

8 ^ 8 8lC § GjOOoSlI
You can wear shoes.
C. hpo-na’ si:-lo mo-ya-bu:

8 ^ 8 8 ic\£
No, you can’t wear shoes.
224 LeSMN
bo-gan o^soo£ na-de <ôoooS o-chein-mi 3 0 ^ 8

mo-tain-mi goo S o -hma 00 tho-be’-hka ooôoc
c
ein 388 o-yaun 3oecpc o-thi’ 30008
sa’ -te oSoooS we-de ooSoooo le’-su’ coo8©8
so-ka’ 00008 o’-hto’ ^S0C^8 hsa’-pya ao8[yo
o-wu’ 00008 wu’-te 008000S o-sa-ein 3000088
gaun: go ISs hke’ 908 hpa-na’ 8^8
in:-ji 300^ thu Ojj> hko-mya: oSc^pt
-la:? coot ei’-de 388000S mo-pi:-thei:-bu:
«(q JGOOSOOJ
hla-de cvpoooS si:-de 8soooS ein-dha 30GOOO
o-na: 30^0 1 ba/pa 61 lo-de côooS
Test 8 ».

1. clothes a. le ’ c\}o8
2. new b. so-ka’ © 0008
3 . skirt c. in:-ji 3 3 0 ^>jö
4 . face d. o-w u’-o-sa: 3300833© ©
5 . body e. m ye’-si fc^joSS
&>
6. to w ash f. r-80
0
7 . arm g- m ye’-hna c^jo8<ô

8. eyes h. on:-nhau’ ^SG ôoS
9 . m edicine i. hno-lon: <^cv^s
10. brain j- bo-za’ ols©8
11. shirt k. hsei: gsos
12. m outh 1. sho-de GCv^SoooS
m. o-thi’ 3 3 0 0 8
226 Less*
I
Translate the following into English or Myanmar. j
1. 8<|>8 y e p jp ^
i
2. ojj> 330^® 3 3 (^1^ goooSsoS 3 3 (tp oo S ocosoooS ii
3. ogjêooS oStGcvjpoooSii GsISscogSs g^ oS oooS ii
4. I need new clothes.
5. His hat is very big.

Burmese Jor Beginners 227
Reading & Writing

Stacked Consonants
Anyone reading Myanmar will occasionally see two consonants
written one on top o f the other. These “stack consonants” are a
Burmese form o f contraction rather like the way we write “don’t”
or “can’t” in English. Words with stacked consonants can be tricky
lo pronounce because most o f these words come from Pali and also
because something gets deleted to form the contraction. For
example,
lake a look at the Myanmar word for world: o o « p pronounced: go-ba
If uncontracted, this word would be written: OOOOOO
00,<gp demonstrates the three main features o f stacked consonants.

1) the second consonant is placed underneath the first.
2) any symbol written above the first consonant is removed (almost
always a killer stroke).
3) if a vowel symbol remains it is now placed over or next to the
upper consonant, but it is still understood to modify the lower
consonant. For example, the ye-cha (o) in o o ^ p modifies the
lower consonant (00) rather than the upper ((=>) .29
29 Note that this example is also a special case o f weakening in which the nasal n
at the end o f the first syllable is not pronounced.
228 Lesson#
Below are some additional examples o f Myanmar words with

stacked consonants:
Word Pronounced As Translation A
\
GO^D go-ba world ■h
kei’-sa matter, issue 1
opyctB kon-bo-ni company
loqwo jam-ma fortune
L_Ju
%
°g2i _ se’-ku paper
to-rei’-hsan animal
i.
©yo do-ma teachings o f the Buddha
8 |= § : pein:-ne:-dhi: jack fruit t
\
o g jg o : bo-do-hmya: ruby
QOOCS m e’-go-zin: magazine
o
G§bGCO* man:-do-lei: Mandalay
tha’-thi courage
tho-da grammar
OOQOO tho-mo-da president
w u’-hto novel, story
°83l
3© ogcp e ’-hka-ya character, script
3 3 0 0 ^ )[ a-gan-du visiting monk
a^cpaS an-da-ye danger
a 8 |o o ein-di-ya India
o ’-ka-byan shooting star
Z m
Writing Exercise 8
Translate the following sentences into Burmese.

K
1 . He studies at Yangon University.
2 . W e’re going the to the World Famous Teashop.

Will you follow?
3 . It doesn’t matter.
4 . I want to go to the zoo tomorrow.
5 . We usually eat jackfruit in the rainy season.
6 . He works for a Japanese company.
7 . Next month I will go to Mandalay.
8 . Do you have a 2 0 0 kyat bill?

Lesson 9
classifiers; comparisons; traveller’s needs; rarely
used consonants and symbols; shopping for clothes
thin-gan:-za ko: Oo£ q^ s©0 g Lesson 9

wo:-ha-ra GolooOG| Vocabulary
Nouns
o-myo:-dha: 3Qo|isooo; husband, boyfriend,

gentleman, man
o-myo:-dho-mi: 33fcj>
]|S0ûüS girlfriend, lady, woman
o-lei:-chein weight
V erbs
pu-de SioooS to be hot

pu-de-no? SiogoS g s -Sii “It’s hot, isn’t it?”
ci:-de GÜQSOOoS to be cool or cold
pein-de 8«EooüS to be skinny
htu-de otjj>oooS to be thick
pa:-de ülsoooS to be thin, light
lei:-de ecosœoS to be heavy
po-de GoloooS
O
to be light, not heavy
myin-de jySoooS to be tall; high
than-de ooôooS to be strong, healthy
a:-ne:-de 330ï^^îOOoS to be weak
tau’-te GoooœoooS to be bright, brilliant (color)
hmaun-de G<ÿoSoocS to be dark
pyin:-de
a OïOOüS
8 soooS to be lazy, be bored
pya:-de
chau’-te
BG aoc8oooS to be flat, to be flattened
to be dry
so-de ÇOOüS to be wet
234 Less«»
nyi’-pa’-te ^SooSoooS to be dirty

chan:-dha-de gpsooooooS to be rich
hsin:-ye:-de soSscjOooS to be poor
cho:-de ^jjtOQoS to break
9-tu-du to be the same, similar
3-tu-du-be:. 3 q o ^ o j c 5ii “They are the same.”
ma-tu-bu:. “They are not the same.
o O Î 0 î'"
po-de cj)oooS to be more than
Particles
-hte’ oocS more than, greater than

-hson:/zon: 9ÇS most, greatest
9-ji:-hson:-be:. 33jô^;sç;c 5ii The biggest one.
a-twe’ 330go 8 for
Traveller’s Needs,
g sg 8 matches, lighter
da’-hke: oooSè battery (dry cell, e.g.,
flashlight batteries)
be’-htri oooSoo^ battery (wet cell, e.g,
car batteries)
hpa-yaun:-dain o g o o o 8 so8 8 candle
da’-mi: ¿10882 flashlight, torch
thwa:-tai’-hsei: ogojo^cSesos toothpaste
chin-zei:-gwei j^Sesoseg mosquito coil
hsa’-pya 908(00 soap
gaun:-sho-ye GS>18«GCMfl5 c|pS shampoo
tha-da 003)
3 ♦.
Grammar
Classifying Nouns
( lassifiers (also called counting nouns or1counters) are sometimes

used in English, as in: “four cups of tea”, “a bunch of grapes” or
"lliree pairs of socks”. In Burmese, however, classifiers are almost
always included whenever a noun is quantified. Also, while the
English pattern is: quantity, classifier, noun; the word order in
Burmese is: noun, quantity, classifier. Note that there are two
classifiers for bottles, depending on whether or not the bottle is
glass or plastic and that the counter for a cup is different from the
counter for a “cup-sized serving”. Here are some examples:
a cup hkwe’ te-lon: go8 ooSc^>;

a cup of coffee ko-hpi te-hkwe’ gooS 8 ooSgoS
a (glass) bottle of beer bi-ya:- to-lon: 08000 ooSo^s

2 (plastic) bottles of water yei-than hno-bu: GCpoS ¿ S a j i
5 books sa-o’ nga:-o’ ©03^0 cls3^0
A related term that comes in handy is lau’ (GCOOoS) meaning
“about”. For example:
About 50 people nga:-ze yau’ lau’ cIssooS 600008 6coo08
Below is a list of some of the most common classifiers in Burmese.

people yau’ GOOO08
day(s) ye’ C|o8
animals kaun/gaun 60008
round things, fruit, glass bottles Ion: co;
plates, mats, mirrors cha’/ja’
236 Lesson«
sheets o f paper, leaves, doors y w e’ 9 ? «

cigarettes, cheroots, rolls o f film or tissue lei’
letters, newspapers, magazines, tickets saun 6 ©o£ rj
bunches (“branch”) o f fruit, flowers hkain/gain ,,
glass or cup o f water, tea, etc. hkw e’/gw e’
servings, bowls o f a dish pwe:/bwe:
8 j
clothing, cloth articles (such as blankets) hte/de co g S 4
vehicles, animals that can be ridden si:/zi: & \
houses ein oS8 '
floors o f a building hta’ C3o8 tj
musical instruments, tools, weapons, umbrellas le’ co o S 'j
rod-like objects (needles, pencils, knives, chaun:/jaun: G ^pSî
spoons, fingers, toes, arms and legs)
boxes, cans, tins, plastic containers, plastic bottles bu:
“generic” counter hku/gu
i
Comparisons
Being able to compare two things is an important skill in any
language. Here w e’ll discuss four kinds o f comparisons: simple
comparisons (“A is more than B”), implied comparisons (“the
higger one”), superlatives (“the biggest dne”) and equalities (A is
the same as B). The examples below and sample sentences
presented in this lesson will help you develop this ability in
Burmese.
Noun Particle: -hte/de OOoS (more than, used in simple

comparisons)
Simple comparisons in Burmese use the particles -hte’ (0 0 0 8 ), a
suffix added to the end o f the noun being compared,
for example:
“That house is bigger than this house.”
would be
ho-ein-ga di-ein-hte’ ji:-de 0^38800 §3880008 [c^jscooSii

(literally: that house/this house-than/more-big-is).
Another example would be:
Ko Moe is taller than Ko Sein.

ko-mo:-ga ko-sein-hte’ myin-de. O^SOO 0^)8^0008 QSoooSll
(literally: ko mo-ffom/ko sein-more than/tall-is)
238
Verb: -po y (more than, used in implied comparisons)

The way to make an implied comparison is by using the verb po
meaning to be more than and combining it with the verb used in.
the comparison, making it possible to say something is better,
prettier, etc. than something else without mentioning the object o i
the comparison. For example:
“the prettier blouse” in:-ji:po-hla-de. 3 QO^jg yoôooSn
Or simply:
“the prettier one” po-hla-de. (j)CvpoooSn
Noun Particle: -hson/zon Stps (most, best)

To say something is the best or the prettiest, etc., use the suffix ,
hson: (3tps) as follows:
That is the best one. da o-kaun:-hson:-be:. ¿1 3 3 0 0 0 0 Sss^:c)|

i
Or more simply: “the prettiest [one]” o-hla-hson: 30O])S^S
To say something is “the worst” (“most bad”) is:
“the worst [one]” o-hso:-hson: 33Scj)SS^>2

Noun: a-tu-du SSOjjJOjj) (used to say two things are the same)
To say that something or someone is the same as something else,
use the phrase:
“They are the same.” o-tu-du-be:.3QCfj)Ojj>oii
To more clearly show two things are the same, use the particles -ga
( o o ) and ne ) with a-tu-du-be: (O Q O ^ c rjjio ). For example:
Nanda and Min are the same age.

ma-nan-da-ne ko-min:-ga a-the’ a-tu-du-be:.
O ^ g S i OO 3 Q O O c 8 3QOÔjj)C)ll
(literally: Nanda-and/Min age/the same as)
To say something is,“about the same” as something else add lau’

(gcooo S) before pe:/be: (o):
[She’s] about the same age.

a-the’ a-tu-du-lau’-pe. 3 Q 0 0 g 8 3 2 a jj> a jj)G C O O o 8 o ii
Finally, to say something is “not the same” as something else, say:
“not the sam e” ma-tu-bu:

240 Lessoj
Conversation
Salesperson: ba lo-jin-dho-le:?
GCpSiOjj) coo o^Soocvbii 1
What would you like? ,
Customer: hto-mein shi-dho-la:?

ooSojj> OOC§ ÔOCOOill
Do you have longyis30?.
Salesperson: shi-de. ba o-yaun jai’-tho-le:? 1/1

GCpSiOjj) ^COoSlI OOO OOGCpS (c^jjoSooabii 'l<
[Yes, we] do. What colors do you like?
Customer: o-pya-ne o-sein:, shi-la:?

ooSojj) 3o(yo^ 3088: ^ coojii ,
Do you have blue and green?
Salesperson: shi-de. di hto-mein jai ’ -tho-la: ? j

GCp8;ajj> ^ oooSii § 0008 (ajjoSoOCOOill
[Yes, we] do. Do you like this one? ^
Customer: jai’-te. be-lau’-le:?

ooSojj) (c^joSoooSii oooSgcoooSc^ ii
Yes, I like it. How much is it?
Salesperson: nga:-daun, shin.

GGpSsaj c Ijgooo8 <^8ii
Five thousand, sir.
30 hto-mein (0 0 0 8 but note this word isn’t pronounced the way it’swritten) is &j
woman’slongyi. !
Customer: zei:-mya:-de. sho-ba-on:*do-lei:?

ooSo^> soooSn goôoI^s G3iecosn
That’s a lot. Can you lower the price, auntie?
Salesperson: be-hno-hte yu+hma-le:?
GCpStQjj) oooS^SoogS o^ôobii
How many longyis will you buy?
Customer: thon:-de.
ooSajj» O^SOOgSlI
Three (pieces).
Salesperson: e:-da-hso, lei:-daun nga:-ya-ne yu-ba.
GGpSsCXjj) o^3ldj)i gcojgoooS clscp^ ojj>oln
In that case, I can take forty-five hundred for
them.
Customer: yu-me.
ooSo^ OÔcSlI
[Okay], I’ll take them.
Salesperson: da be:-la:? te-cha: ba-lo-jin-dho-le:?
GGpSsajj» ¿Idcooni ooôs oooc^^jSooabii
Is that everything? What else would you like?
Customer: nyi-ma-lei: o-twe’ in:-ji te-hte lo-jin-de.
le’-to in:-ji shi-la:?
ooSajj» gSoGCOS 330go8 320^jQOoSoOgS
C\j)^]SoOoSll COoSo^ 330^° ^COOSII
[Yes], I want to buy a blouse for my younger
sister.
Do you have any with short sleeves?
242 LessorM
Salesperson: shi-de. di in :-ji ja i ’-tho-la:? '

GCp8$CXjj> ^ oqoS ii § 3 qo ^0 (c^ oS oocoosii <
W e do! D o you like this blouse? ;
Customer: o, hla-de, te-cha: 9-yaun shi-thei:-la:?. J

ooSojj» 3^1 CVjJOOoSl Oo8 (ÔS 33GCpS ^GOOSCOOtll -i
O h, th a t’s beautiful, do you have another !
color?.
Salesperson: 9-yaun 9-m ya:-ji: shi-de..

GCpSsOjj) 33GCpS 33fcflOt(c^S ÔOoSlI
[We have] m any colors here.
Customer: a-pyu yu-m e. b e -la u ’-le:? ;i

ooSo^ 33§| O^yoSlI OOcS gCOOgScÎI !
I ’ll take the w hite one. H ow m uch is it?
I
Salesperson: thon:-daun-ba. \
GCpSsOjj) 0^60008olll ^
T hree thousand, please.
Customer: kaun:-de. yu-m e.

gooo8;oooSi o^goSii ;
G ood, I ’ll take it.
Salesperson: jei:-zu:-be:. n a u ’-te-hka la-ge-no?

GCpSsDjj) 60^j^sc5ll g ^ o o S oo S g ] co o ^ g <^5ii
T hanks. N ex t tim e, com e again, okay?
wa-ja-mya: olocjjtjps Sentences

1. A: hps-na’ a-me:-ga s-pyu-hte’ hla-de.
c8^8 33ygS;oo 3p^|q6o8 cvpoooSn
The black shoes are prettier than the white shoes.
B: hpo-na’ o-me:-ga o-ni-hte’ mo-hla-bu:.

08^.8 33«gS;oo 33^0008 ycvj)Ojj>sn
The black shoes are not prettier than the red shoes.
C: hpo-na’ o-me:-ga o-hla-hson:-be:.

08^.8 33ogS;oo 33câcp;oii
Black shoes are the prettiest.
2. A: be-zs-ga: po-hke’-le:, in:-go-lei’-la: bo-ma-la:?

oooSoooos yooSoî 338088000? 0OOCOOSII
Which language is more difficult, English or Burmese?
B: in:-g3-lei’-lo-ga bs-ma-lo-hte’ hke’-te.

3380880^00 0000^0008 ©oSoooSii
English is more difficult than Burmese.
C: in:-go-lei’-lo-ga bs-ma-lo-hte’ ma-hke’-hpu:.

3380880^00 OWO 0^0008 «QoSojtll
English is not more difficult than Burmese.
D: bs-ma-zs-ga: po-hke’-te.
ooooooos cjtaoScnoSii
Burmese is more difficult.
244 Lesson^
E: ba-ma-lo a-hke’-hsonr-be.
o « o c ^ 33SoSsj^sdbii
Burmese is the most difficult.
3. A: be-o’-hto’ po-jai’-tha-le:?
oooS^sapS yjôSoocîi
Which hat do you like more?
B: di o ’-hto’ po-jai’-te.
§ g?oc^8 § @ c^ cdo S ii
I like this hat more.
4. A: be-baun:-bi po-nyi’-pa’-tha-le:?
oooS gooo 8 so8 ^¡x>Soo8 ooabii
Which pair o f pants are dirtier?
B: ho baun:-bi po-nyi’-pa’-te.
gooo S so 8 ^ ^ d S oo S o o o S ii
Those pants are dirtier.
5. A: se’-ku be-hna-ywe’ shi-le:?

OQoS ^ S qo S ^ c8 ii
How many sheets o f paper do you have?
B: lei:-ywe’ shi-de.
gcosqo S ^ oooS ii
I have four sheets o f paper.
6. A: thu sa-mu-hsa be-hns-b w e: sa:-le:? ;

Ojj) ©<jj)SOO oocS^S^ ©OSOÎI
How many plates o f samosa did he eat?
(.Ji
B: hno-bwe: sa:-de. ;
©osoooSn
[He] ate two servings.
7. jo-no-hma thon:-hta’ ein ta-lon: shi-de.

Qgj^GOO'SÔ O^SOoS g86 Oo8 c\^>S ÔOoSlI
I have a three-story house.
8. A. ko-sein o-lei:-chein be-lau’-le:?

3 qgco; ^ oooS gooooS oS ii
How much does Ko Sein weigh?
B. ko-sein paun ta-ya thon:-ze lei:-de.

o8c\j> ooScpo^saooS gcosoooSii
Ko Sein weighs one hundred-thirty pounds.
9. jo-no myan-ma-pye-go hna-hka yau’-hpu:-de.

ogj^GooS ^8al 6Gpo8c^;ooaSii
I have been to Myanmar two times.
10 A: hsei: be-hno-lon: thau’-le:?

gsos oooS^Sc^s GQCOoSobll
How many pills did you take?
246 Lesi
B: thon:-lon: thau’-te.
GOOOoSoQcSlI
I took three pills.
11. thu-hma m ei’-hswei o-mya-ji: shi-de.

8 o8esg 33fcj>ps[c^ ôooSii
She has a lot o f friends.
12. jo-no-hma sa-o’ 9-mya:-j:i: shi-de.

Ogl^GOoSiÔ © 03^8 OQfcjpsjc^S ^joQoSlI
I have the most books.
13. A: be-dain:-pye o-pu-zon:-le:?

oooSo^>Ss(ygS 33((|>3<âbii
Which country is the hottest?
B: myan-ma-pye-ga o-pu-zon:-be:.
(y^yo(tjgSoo G0(^s^ sc5ii
Myanmar is the hottest.
14. A: di-hpo-na’-ne ho-hpo-na’ o-tu-du-be:-la:?

§ 8 ^ .8 ^ 0 ^ 8 ^ 8 320jj>O jj)<-5C002ll
Are these shoes the same as those shoes?
B: a-tu-du-be:.
□QOjj>Ojj>OII
[They are] the same.

C: ms-tu-bu:.
QOÔÎI f*
They are not the same.
15. di-inr-ji-ne ho-in:-ji a-tu-du-be:.

§ 3 3 0 ^® ^ 0^330^® 330^0^011
This shirt and that shirt are the same.
16. nyaun-shwe-ga yan-gon-hte’ ei:-de.

GgDoSegpD G jâpôooS g 3 q ; oooS ii
Nyangshwe is cooler than Yangon.
17. chaun:-dha-ga nga-pa-li-hte’ mo-wei:-bu:.

G^p8sOOOGO COcSoOcS WGOJOÎI
Chaungtha is not farther than Ngapali.
18. A: ba’-sa’-ka:-ne thwa:-me. ba’-sa’-ka:-ga yo-hta:-hte’

myan-de.
oooSSooos^ ogosyoSn oooSSooosoo GpoosoooS
I ’ll go by bus. The bus is faster than the train.
lei-yin-ga o-myan-zon:-be:.
GCOOOOÔO 3 3 ^ 3^011
The plane is the fastest.

248 Lesson*
Drills
1. Translate the following sentences into Burmese.
I have two glasses o f water.

!
My bag is lighter than your bag.
Bhamo is colder than Mandalay.
2. Do one o f the following.
Say in Burmese: “Which tastes better, coffee or tea?” You must |

say which one tastes better and give at least two reasons why using
the word “more”.
Say in Burmese what you had (or will have) for all your meals
today. You must give the food, drink, and amount o f servings. !
Classifiers must be used.
3. Use the following words to form ten sentences with classifiers.
so ^ hso: S(j)S pyin: c^jSs

se’-bein: OcScSz ein o 8 S o-lei :-chein 3QGCOS^
tau’ gooooS htu o ç hmaun GôS
pu-de côooS wa-de OOToS pein-de S^cooS
to o^> shi-de ^ o o o S yei GG|
lei: Geos zo-bwe: ©Oty zun: <^>i
nga: els chan: ^jS; chan:-dha ^jSsooo
nyi’-pa’ ¡odS oc S thon:-ze CX^QOoS t u o j
hsin:-ye: so S t€ | sa:-de ©oîooo S ei:-de 63310000
Test 9 ♦.
Match the English words with the Myanmar words.
1. strong a. pya: (cps
2. lazy b. chû’ e ja o c S
3. poor c. pyin: cflCS
4. tall d. than 00^
5. bicycle e. hsin:-ye: so S sg|
6. dark f. p u V
7. flat g. lei: gcos
8. hot h. se’-bin: ©0808 s
9. wet i. m y in g S
10. heavy j. hmaunG(j)oS
k. so ©
Match the Myanmar words with their appropriate classifier.

1. cups a. pwe:/bwe: ^
2. letters b. hte oogS
3. servings c. saun G©oS
4. sheets o f paper d. Ion: c^s
5. dogs e. zi: 8 s
6. cars f. hku ^
7. people g. yw e’ goS
8. fruit h. kaun GOQoS
9. plastic bottles i. yau’ goooo S
10. horses j. hkw e’ g o 8
k. bu: o^s
250 LessoMt
Reading & Writing

Irreg u larly Pronounced W ords !j
In this section, we will discuss a few other irregular pronunciation |
patterns as well as the use o f rare consonants and vowels. One 'j
source o f irregular patterns is that Pali-derived words often use an I
older spelling that has been conserved but no longer conforms to j
modem Burmese pronunciation. jj
0 0 pronounced as (9
Sometimes words that begin with ba-gon: (oo) are pronounced as
if written with the letter hpa-o:-hto’ (o). The most common
example of this is with the particle hpu/bu which is usually voiced^
but is pronounced as ‘hpu” when it follows a glottal stop as in the j
negation o f the verb for “like” :
don’t like mo-jai’-hpu: «(aôScrjj);

The city o f Pa-an hpa-an OOOS33
•i
Here are some Pali words used in Buddhism that show this pattern:]
monk hpon:-ji:
monastery hpon:-ji:-jaun: SG (pp8 ?
pagoda or temple hpo-ya: O^CpS
home altar hpo-ya:-zin c p c p t©8
Voiced Initial Consonants

<v.
Another irregular pattern is to voice a word’s initial consonant.
This is common with place names and many Burmese towns are so
pronounced.
© pronounced as & ’■
OC/
030
table zo-bwe:
language zo-ga: ©ooos
lemon grass zo-bo-lin ©oltcoS
shrine zei-di G©o8
jasmine zo-be ©ooS
O pronounced as 0 0
o
Pagan/Bagan bo-gan
Pegu/Bago bo-go:
beads (used in Buddhist rosaries) bo-di: uœ :
00 or 00 pronounced as 3
bridge cfo-ta: oôoooi
door do-ga: œols
Tavoy/Dawei do-wei ooosooS
W ords w ith la-tha oS

Another spelling pattern that comes from Pali, is the inclusion o f a
silent la-tha’ (oS). Here are a few examples:
university te’-ko-tho
lieutenant bo
short haircut, crew cut bo-kei
religious merit (cf. kudos) ku-dho
252 Lesson 9
Rarely Used Burmese Consonants and Vowels

Eight o f the consonants in Burmese are uncommon to rare. The
three shown below are found in a few everyday words.
'\/ l\Jj
s i-s m SI SI
*l V
.1 I1,,i ?*i
/z/ za-myin-zwe:
SI SI Si SI SI SI
cm o p o n cm
Ini na-ji: rnapanm
/1/ la-ji:
Examples o f the use o f these letters include the fo
market zei:
cheap zei:-cho-de G<SJSÔOoS
expensive zei:-ji:-de
bank ban-dai’ O O G bôS
crab go-nan: OCJD^S
s;
©
universe se’-ja-wo-la
o
Garuda go-lon
The following five consonants, though stijl fqjsfid in the alphabet

are rare in modem Burmese. Except for ga-ji:, all are from the third
row in alphabet chart.
; O
0
/g/
0
N
Q s Ml
q
Id/ Id/
ga-ji: ta-te-lin:-jei j hta-wun:-be: da-yin-gau’ 1da-yei-hmo’
Rarely Used Vowels

In reading Burmese, you will occassionally come across words
written using special vowel symbols derived from Pali. The
following table lists these symbols, along with the more standard
form o f writing the same vowel using the letter 39 .
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
lil ■ m /u/ /u/ /ei/ h :l hi
d E § G
B egS
& 3? G3Q GGQO ©39^
Some examples of words that use these symbols are listed below.
When using a dictionary, note that words beginning with these
characters are included in the section for the letter 39 and in the
order shown in the vowel table above.
254 Lesson 0
Q e ’-hks-ya-ei /ei/
G€p 008 ei-ya-wa-di Irrawaddy
ei-pi April
GOO ei-ka acre
e ’-hks-ya-D /0:/
o:-go’ August
0 3 0 0 OOS o:-za-dhi: custard apple
e e ’-hka-ya-u /u/
e u egg
g e ’-hks-ya-u /u/
k_/0 u: uncle, Mr.
Lesson 10
vocabulary for feelings, family, occupations, animals;
subordinate clauses; irregular negative forms; the 33
prefix and c o o suffix; literary form
thin-gan:-za td-hse: ooS q^ soq qo Lesson 10

wo:-ha-ra GoloQO€| Vocabulary
Nouns
lu-lu’ single (unmarried)

lu-pyo single man
3-pyo single woman
yi:-za: steady girlfriend/boyffiend, lover
ko-dain in person, oneself
ko-bain one’s own
to-yau’-hte: oo 8 gooog 8 oo ^ s by oneself
3-mya:-zu mostly, majority
nei-ya G^.cp place
a-hku 33^ now
o ’-sa property, possession
3-yei’ 3o88 shade
3-pyen-hma 33^8^0 outside
ds-ga: OOsk door
mi: 8; light, fire, electricity
b9-din:-bau’ (yOoSïGulcS window
V erbs
mo:-de GüOOOüS to feel tired

ei’-chin-de 3 8 8 si8 o o o S to be sleepy
ein-daunja-de 3 8 0 6 OO0 S 001000S to get married
ein-daun-ja-bi. 3 8 8 gooo 8 o^|(!jii “[He/She] got marr
258 Lessort1
hpyi’-te |^8oocS to be, become f

pyo-de Gc^fSoocS to be happy ^
wun:-ne:-de oSs^^soooS to be sad, troubled
sho’-te jjScocS to be confused
'
yu:-de ^jSOOcS to be crazy
1
y e’-se’-te C|o8©o8oOoS to be cruel
■[
>
a-yei:-ji:-de 33gc|s(c^ soooS to be important
hko’-te. ôSoocS to cut with a machete
l\
aun-de G3Qo8oooS to pass [a test]
ja-de O^JOOüS to fail [a test]
hkin-de ©8oooS to like someone, be friends 3
a-hsin-pyei-de 33£o8 gÔOoS to get along well with som eone
A dverbs ^
H\
-tain:/dain: o^8j every *
nei-dain: g^ o^8; daily
la-dain: coo88s monthly
OQ
oo
hni’-tain: yearly '

oe
[
co
oo
mi-dha:-zu
r-0
F am ily
a-hpei C3QG0 father

a-mei 33GQ mother
yau’-ja: GOOOO^pi husband
ma-ya:, za-ni: GOOOSI wife
9-go 330^ older brother
a-ma 33G older sister
maun GGO8 younger brother o f a woman

nyi younger brother o f a man
nyi-ma younger sister
ko-lei: child rt
f '
myei: grandchild
tha: son
tho-mi: daughter
u:-lei: uncle
9-do, do-lei: aunt
o-hpo: grandfather
o-hpwa: grandmother
tu nephew
tu-ma niece
yau’-hko-ma o-hpei Goooogo 3QGO father-in-law
yau’-hko-ma o-mei GOOOOgy 3QGG mother-in-law
s-lo’-a-kain 3 3 Oj)8 3 3 0 ^ £ Occupations
jaun:-dha: GO^pSsooos student (m)

jaun:-dhu GOôSsOjj) student (f)
hso-ya socp teacher (m)
hso-ya-ma 90 Cpü teacher (f)
hso-ya-wun soepo§ doctor
thwa:-hso-ya-wun OgOSSOGpO^ dentist
shei-nei G5l Gf lawyer
si:-bwa:-yei:-dho-ma: 8 soosgcisoo« s businessperson
kon-dhe oôogo trader
260 Lesson'
hsain-shin s§S<j|S shopkeeper, own©

a-lo’-shin 330^8^8 boss, employer »1
taun-dhu GOOoSojj> farmer
le-dha-ma: coo S oogos rice farmer i
ta-nga oocl fisherman ri
le’-tha-ma: coo S oogos carpenter (*i
se’-pyin © oS gS mechanic It
a ’-cho’-tha-ma: 3o8^||8oOGOS tailor, seamstress
sai’-ka:-dha-ma: s^cS ooosoow o; “sidecar” pedaller 4
bei-din-hsa-ya G 0 3 8 s0 C p fortune teller
sa-yei: ©OGG|S secretary, clerk
1
za-bwe:-do: ©OSÔ^S waiter J
ma-nei-ja manager
1
ta-ya:-gan OOGpSQ criminal
‘i1i
ye: police officer
*1 •j■}
tha-ma-da OOGOO president
■!\
wun-ji: o f e minister "
i
.1
min:-dha: g S sooos prince

(or movie star)
min:-dha-mi: g 8 soo§ s princess
(or movie star)
yo ’-shin-tha-yo ’-hsaun ^|8 <J|£oO^|8 g SOo S movie actor
si’-tha: ©8 0 0 0 s soldier
si’-bo ©8 ^ o S army officer ■
bo-jo’ ?<&# general (in army)
sa-yei:-hsa-ya ©OGC|SSOCp writer
te-rei’-hsan Animals
-hti: male suffix
oo
-ma female suffix
hkwei: G dog
Bl
jaun Go p 8 cat
I
0
nga: C e fish
hnge’ cob bird
chin-dhei go5 lion
0
ja: cqp i tiger

w e’-wun 0080 bear
hsin QoS elephant
ko-la:-o’ DCOOSGQO camel
je ’ 008 chicken
be: 08 duck
nwa: §Ol cow
w e’ O08 Pig
myin: E 8: horse
myau’ 6 'y p o S monkey
hsei’ a8 o8 goat
tho: O^S sheep
wun-bo-lwei OyGO^ w olf
jwe: water buffalo
tau’-te 6 O0O0 8 dbe large forest gecko
ein-hmyaun 3886^08 small gecko found
inside buildings
mi-jaun: 8 go^ o8 ; crocodile
262 Lessoni
mwei G§ snake j
chin gs mosquito
yin-gaun ooSgqooS % ,r|
'¿I
Other Useful Words
m
myo city
ft
ywa §p village
ll
pyi-ne g p S fo S state
tain: division 1
(Myanmar political unit) J
sa-mei:-bwe: OOGGS^ test, exam 0
thi’-pin 00808 tree *
pan: flower ^
m ye’ grass
B f - »
hsan 30^ uncooked rice
nain-ngan-yei: £8 c GG|S politics 1
si:-bwa:-yei: ©sô ;g€|i economy, economics
tu:-ri’ O j^S tourist
9-jin:-daun 30O^SG0Co 8 prison
kei’-sa matter, activity
mo-go-zin: magazine
00
cc
3
kun-pyu-ta O&HCOO computer

rei-di-yo GC|§0^ radio
yei-ge:-thi’-ta GC|^GOO£gO refrigerator, freezer
hti: 08s umbrella
Verbs f.
hkwe:-wei-de ^ gooqoS to share

sai’-te çoSoooS to plant, grow
hman-de oioooS ! to be correct
pyan-de (cjSoooS to fix, repair
hpwin-de oSoooS
Q° to open, turn on
pei’-te ooSoooS to close, turn off, shut
si:-bwa:-ye:-lo’-te 8 î ^ o îg c |îc^ 8 oooS to do business,
make a living
myin-de j^SoocS to see
hta:-de ooosoocS to place, put
ya’-te G|8oooS to stop, stand up
3-the’-shin-de 3 qooo 8 c|8 ooo S to be alive
thei-de GOOOOÜO to die
pye:-de g ^ soogS to run
z9-ga:-pyan-lo’-te ' ooooîjyâpSoooS to translate, interpret
pyan-pei:-ba (cj^GOSol “please translate
[form e]”
hta -de oooocS to rise, go up
hsin:-de QoSsCOüS to descend, go down
(also to get out from)
264 Lesson 10
tha-da oogl Grammar

Irregular negative forms
Exceptions to forming the negative form o f a verb often occur
when using compounds o f a noun plus a verb or sometimes a
“double verb”. In such cases, the initial mo particle is added before
the verb instead o f the first part o f the compound. For example,
when negating the verb for understand, na:-le (<ô;copS, literally
“to go around in the ear”), the mo particle is added after the word
for ear:
“[I] don’t understand. na:-mo-le-bu:. <|>o;ycogSajj>sii

Negating double verb combinations depends on the pattern o f the '
verb and must be learned individually. An example o f a common ,|
double verb is sa:-kaun:-de ((©o ; gooo 8 jcoo S, to taste good). In
this case, the negative mo particle is added after the word for eat:
“[It] doesn’t taste good. sa:-mo-kaun:-bu:. OOSOGOOoSo^JH
Below is a list o f verbs found in this book that use this form:
Verb M eaning Negative Form
nei-kaun:-de g^ gooo8:oooS to be well g^ ggoooSsoo;
c c
lan:-sho-de coSsGC^poSooco to walk COQSGGO^pC
..... ..........
le’-hkan-de cooSsoooS to receive cooSwsajjJS
bai’-hsa-de pc8 soocooS to be hungry ^ oSgsoooo;
gaun:- sho-de ggISsgo^S oooS to wash hair GslSswGcopoo;
oc re ^
gaun:-hpi:-de 6slS:J8 soocS to comb hair GQlCSygSOOS
thwa:-tai’-te coosopoSoooS to brush teeth
ei’-ya-da-de 3?ocpoooooS to get up iScpwoooo;
o-lo’-lo’-te 33cy8 o^8 oooS to work 33CpOycp8oo;
o-ei:-mi-de c» g33 s8 oooS to have a cold 32G33Sw8o^
o-chein-ja-de 39^ [o p o o o o S to take a long time
o-yei:-ji:-de 30GC|;j^;oooS to be important 3Q G C |to|îop;

Conversation
i *
Ko Min mi-dha:-zu be-hne’ -yau’ shi-le:?

oj>üS 8ooos<^ oooS^SgooooS ^cvbll
How many people are ifi your family?
John thon:-yau’ shi-de. jo-no-ye, js-no-ye z9-ni:-ne tha:.
81? OOJGOOOoS ÔOüSlI QgJ^GOoSC|oS Ogj^GOoSc[

ooosii
There are three people. Myself, my wife and son.
Ko Min tho-mi: mo-shi-bui-la:?

0 ^>g S c o g ; g ^ o^ scoosii
Don’t you have any daughters?
John mo-shi-bu:. maun-hna-ma be-hna’ -yau’ shi-le:?

GÔ^H G G o8 <^G O O aS ^8 GOOOo8 ÔC5ll
[No, I] don’t. How many brothers and sisters
do you have?
Ko Min thon:-yau’ shi-de. 9-go hno’-yau’, nyi-ma t9-yau’.

g^wS c^ sgoooo S ôooSii 33cxj) ^ 8 goooc 8 i ¡d8 g
oq 8 goooo 8 ii
I have three [brothers and sisters]. [I have] two

older brothers [and] one younger sister.
266 Lessons
wa-ja-mya o1oi l T
o
e Sentences
1. A: ein-daun ja-bi-la:?
g8 8 gcoo S o ^ coosii ■x
Is [he] married yet?
B: ein-daun mo-ja-bu:.
gS S g o co S « o^ jo^ sii
[He’s] not married.
C: ein-daun ja-pi:-bi.
□SS gooo S C^jgtgll
[He’s] already married.
D: lu pyu-be:.
[He’s] still single.
2. A: ba-hpyi’-lo o-lo’-mo-lo’-le:?
O O oj^Sc^ 33C ^8«C ^8c5ll
Why aren’t you working?
B: jo-no mo:-lo.
O g j^ G O o S G W O C ^ jl
i
j
Because I ’m tired.
j
C: jo-ma thei’ ei’-chin-lo.
ogj^w 088 388^80^11
Because I ’m so sleepy.
D: thwa:-s3-ya-mya:-lo. fv
o g o jo c p ^ p s c ^ ii
Because [I have] a lot o f errands.
3. A: maun-hna-ma be-hna-yau’ Shi-le:?

goo 8 ^ « o S^S
oo goooo § cC$ii S
How many brothers and sisters [do you] have?
B: o-go ta-yau’-ne nyi-ma ta-yau’ shi-de.

y oo S goooo S § oooS ii
An older brother [and] a younger sister.
C: maun-hna-ma ma-shi-bu:.
G y o S ^ y « § 02*11
[I] don’t have [any] brothers or sisters.
4. A: yau’-hka-ma-go hkin-la:?
G o o oogyc§ s S coosii
Are you Mends with your mother-in-law?
B: a-hsein ma-pyei-bu:.
339 oS yGjyO^SII
[I] don’t get along [with my mother-in-law].
C: ho’-ke, hkin-de.
oôSabi sSooaSii
Yes, [I] like [my mother-in-law].
5. A: ba a-lo’ lo’-chin-dha-le:?
OOO GQC^S C^S^jSoOOÖll
What kind o f work do [you] want to do?
268 Lesso
B: hss-ya-wun hpyi’-chin-de.
socpo^ jc^S^jSoooSii
[I] want to be a doctor.
C: yo’-shin mim-dha-mi: hpyi’-chin-de.

^8^8 «Ssooo; j^8^j8ooaSu
[I] want to be a movie princess.
D: le’-tha-ma: hpyi’-chin-de.
cooSooyo; (g 8 ^ |8 ooqS ii
[I] want to be a carpenter.
6. A: thu ba-lo’-le:?
ojj> oooo^Scvbii
What does he do?
B: ko-bain sa:-thau’-hsain hpwin-de.

080S88 ©o s g o o o c o s ^ S gSoooSn
He opened his own restaurant,
C: le-dha-ma:.
cooSoooosn
[He is] a rice farmer.
7. A: myan-ma-pye-hma ba te-rei’-hsan-dwei shi-le:?

(^ « o jy g S y D COO c 8 c ] g p § G O g ^ o 8 ll
What kind o f animals are in Myanmar?
B: myan-ma-pye-hma ja:-dwei a-mya:-ji: shi-de.

CTjptGOg 39(^0t j ^ l ÔQoSlI
There are a lot o f tigers in Myanmar.
C: myan-ma-pye-hma ko-la: -o ’ mo-sl|Vbu:.

O^COOS3^8 o ^ o j p
There are no camels in Myanmar.
8. pan:-dhi: yei-ge:-thi’-ta-de: hte-pei:-ba?
Could you put the apples in the refrigerator for me?
9. thi’-pin-yei’-hma htain-da pyo-de.

00808^8^0 O^SOOO GCjpOOoSlI
[I] enjoy sitting in the shade o f the trees.
10. A: sa-mei:-bwe: aun-dho-la:?

OOGOS^ G30o S qOCOOSII
Did [you] pass the test?
B: aun-de.
G3008000 S 11
[I] passed.
C: mo-aun-bu:.
GG33o8ojj>SII
[I] didn’t pass.
D: ja-de.
ocfloooSii
[I] failed.
11. A: ti-bwi hpwin-pei:-ba.

c8 § gSGOtoln
Please turn on the television.
270 Lesson
B: mi:i:: pei’-pa.
pei -pi
S. ooSuii
Please turn off the lights.
C: bo-dim-bau’ hpwin-ya-mo-la:?
(yooStGolcS gScjWCOOSII
May [I] open the window?
D:
Shut the door, please.
12. to-rei ’-hsan-dwei paun-mon mo-sa:-bu:.

oBcjgO^bGOg G o l S ^ GGOJOîll
Animals don’t eat bread.
13. ein-hma yin-gaun-dwei 9-mya-ji:-be:.
[My] house has so many flies.
14. 9-pyin-hma m ye’ sai-hta:-de.

3 3 0 8 ^ 0 Q oS ^ oS ooosoooS ii
I planted grass outside.
A: thu 9-bwa: shi-dhei:-la:?

Oj^ 330gOS ^GOOSCOOSII
Does he still have a grandmother?
B: mo-shi-to-bi.
y^GOOOO^JH
[No,] he doesn’t.
C: thu a-bwa: shi-de. yan-gon-hmafhei-de.

3Qogo; ^ oooS ii g ^ ooo S ii
He has a grandmother. She lives in Yangon.
<
■>
16. A: hsa-ya-wun-hsi be-dhu-ne thwa:-le:?
SOGpOâS 30oSajj)<^ ogojcvbn
Who did you go to the doctor with?
B: hsa-ya-wun-hsi ta-yau’-hte: thwa:-de.

%ogosoooSn
I went to the doctor by myself.
17. A: be-dhu-go mye’ hko’-hkain:-le:?

CDoSojj>o^ (fcjoS ^cS^8;cvbn
Who did [he] ask to cut the grass?
B: thu-ko-dain hko’-te.
ojgoôSo^S ^ o S ooo S ii
[He] cut [the grass] by himself.
18. ko-dain ba-dha-pyan-de.

o ô S o ^S oooooo ^ oooS ii
I translated it by myself.
19. ja-m a yau’-ja: ko-dain za-bin hnya’-te.

ogj^w eoooo^ps gôSo^8 so o 8 j^>8oooSu
My husband cuts his own hair.
20. myan-ma-za ta-yau’-hte: thin-da pyo-de.

oo 8 goooc 8 oo ^ i oocooo gc^S oooS ii
I enjoy studying Myanmar by myself.
272 Lesso
21. A: da be-dhu ha-le:?

3I oooSo^ oooabii
Whose is this?
B: jo-no o ’-sa.
c g ile o ^ e r'
[This is] mine.
22. thu in:-ji o-yan: hla-de.

3QO^J0 33C|Ss Oj)OOoSll
Her blouse is very pretty.
23. A: da be-dhu le’-kau’-le:?

3I oooSojj>#coc^GooooSobii
Whose bracelet is this?
B: e:-da jo-ma-ye le’-kau’.

3 ^ 3 ! og|^<y^ coo S goooo S ii
That is my bracelet.
C: be-dhu o ’-sa-le: mo-thi-bu:.

oooSajj>oggocogS; «oSo^sii
[I] don’t know whose this is.
D: da thu o’-sa, jo-no o’-sa mo-ho’-hpu:.

31 6 8 ° ' ° a ? sOT? e r
It’s hers, not mine.
Drills f;
1. Translate the following sentences into Myanmar.
My girlfriend went home. '*
She has three younger sisters.
What movie star do you like most?
Describe your family in Burmese. You must tell how many

family members you have and identify each member.
Tell what occupation you would like to do (or currently do)

and give at least one reason why.
yi:-za: C|gSt©os mo:-de ggooooS yu: (¡¡¡t

la-dain: coo^Ss 9-hku 33^ ein-daun 388godo 8
tain: 0^8: nei-ya G<êp hpwin-de gSoooS
hpon:-ji: o^sjc^: pyo GCflS o-yei:-ji: 33GG|?|^?
ko-lei: oogcos tha: ooos ths-mi: OOü ;
hkwei: Ggs we’ ooS hss-ya-wun SOCpO^
mwei G g yin ooS z9-bwe:-do: ©osô^s
si’-tha: ©Sooot hsin S o 8 le’-ths-ma: cooS oogo;
• 0
jaun g 0 dS chin g 8 mi: <
4%
-hti: o8i pan: a-lo’-a-kain 330^8330^8

ywa g o mo:-de ggooooS sai’-te ôSoooS
274
Lessorvdfl
Test 10
Match the English words with the Myanmar words.

1. mother a. hman-de yôooS ;
i
2 . to be confusing b. on:-dhi ossjoSj
3. tree c. myin-de gSoocS ;
4. village d. yo-hta: C|ocos
5. coconut e. chin gS
6 . to see
f. ei’-chin-de 38o^j£cogS
7- Pig g. nei-de GôooS
8 . to sit
h. sho’-te ^}8oooS
9. to live i. rei-di-yo gg|8o^ j
10. husband j. ywa gp $
11. to be crazy k. thi’-pin ooSoc
12. sleepy
l . htain-de O^SoocS
13. to be correct m. yau’-ja Gcooo^p; 1
14. waiter n. hso-ya-wun socpo^ i
15. doctor o. yu:-de (¡¡poooS
p. 9-mei 33Gw |
q. zo-bwe:-do: ©osôî |
, c i
r. we ooo i
Write the appropriate form o f address to use ftihen speaking to the

people below:
1. A woman who is much older than you ___________
2. A man who is much older than you ___________
3. A woman five years younger than you ___________
4. A five year old boy ___________
5. A stranger who is about your age ___________
6. A monk ___________
7. Your boss (a man) ___________
8. A close friend ___________
9. A novice monk ___________
10. Your doctor ___________
11. A man five years older than you ___________
12. Your teacher (a lady) ___________

276 Lesson 19
Reading & Writing

L iterary Form
Nearly every language shows some divergence between spoken

and literary styles and Burmese is no exception. In fact, the literary
and spoken forms are more different than in English.The main way
that Burmese literary form differs from spoken form is in the
particles that each form uses. For example, the particles attached to
nouns for “to” and “for” are different in literary and spoken form.
Literary form also has special particles to indicate the present/past
and future verb forms. In addition, literary form sometimes uses
special abbreviations.
Literary form in Burmese is also used in many everyday situations

including dictionaries, signs and restaurant menus. Thus, it is
useful for even an introductory student o f Burmese to be able to
recognize the literary form o f Burmese. This brief introduction to
literary form o f Burmese will enable you to identify and
understand some very common examples o f literary form.
For example, a sign saying “to the bathroom” would be written:
o S S o o o o ^ (ein-da-dho) instead o f 3 8 8 0 0 0 0 ^) (ein-da-ko)
or the dictionary entry for “to go” might be written like this:
instead o f
Literary Abbreviations ».
The Burmese literary form also contains some special characters

which are used in place o f the more easily recognized spelling
using letters from the Burmese alphabet.
Symbol Name Sound Primary Function or Meaning
& e ’-hko-ya-i /i/ possessive form = Cl

o jj e ’-hko-ya-i N this = S
§) e ’-hko-ya-yue /yue/ so,because = d^>
a e ’-hko-ya-hnai’ /hnai’/ at, in, on = tjO
Spoken and Written Forms Compared
Spoken Written Function or Meaning
Particles
£
'to
go gS (-thi)
+-i>
present/past sentence particle

8
üüS (-me) «¡dS (-mi) future sentence particle

C§(-ko) =§.(-tho) to place or time
00 (-ka) ^ (-hma) from place or time
(-hma) § (-hnai’) at, in, on
*[(-yç) (-.0 possessive form

o oob (-tho-le:) OO^gSt (-tho-ne:) question
G|8 (-yin) a ^|8 (hlin) if, when
4 ( - ! ç) § (-ywei) so, because

a b (-le:) (-le:) also, as well
a b (-le:) <^>gSs (-ni:) question marker
278 Lessoni
^(-ne) fS(-nin) and

y..O^S (-m9...bu:) y (-ma) not
8(-hpo) as(-yan) in order to
gcooc S (-lau’) y^(-hkan) about
Nouns and Verbs
<|>8(nin); y8s(min) 008 (-thin) you

(-na-me) 33ygS (-i) name
33^ (o-ku) CX)^(y9-ku) now
oooSajj) (be-dhu) y|£ajj>(mi-dhu) who
§<di) this
gS®
G&S (e:-di),o^(ho) 0^(hto) that
§(di) OOjzS(thi) this
0 (-pe) o 8(-pin) emphatic
no spoken form §8 (-hpyi’) to be
Reading Exercise
Read the following aloud and translate into English.
A.
o8coool socpii
J G^GoooSsejcoosii
^ O ü p S OOoSc^GSÎoàll
R
9 cploooSii
3
ÔSGCOgSoßSIl
G
¿1 00oS gooo 080^11
9
o 30GüÔO^ C\jj>0|;6)ll
e
388000 oooSyoobii
00 3880OO ¡00000o8^0ll
00 ©03^8 oâooso^8 G30 oo 8 yon
°J § o88oÔOoSll
°9
§G<^# OOOG^pàll
§G<^ 30^1g <ÎI
°9
00 0^08^82 go ô S s ogosoooSii
oG Ogj^GOoS 00^083000S30OO O0OÎOOS
00 30^ oooS^Sô^ ôocvbii
00 clsôSjyo gcos88 ogosüoSii
og o^gcoS oêp; o0osooo [ajjo8oooSn
JO Q&Cpl COOl OOO 30GCpS ^cvbll
280 Lesson 10
В.
о oooSoo (cj^cooabii
Ц^УООО O0OSCo8(=)oÇjl
J
9
Ogj^GOaS 00^|с8 з 00023000 ü(tfjjo8a¡j>sii
? OgCbBSgO Gg? ÔOoSll
3
GgOo8cOgO 00^|о8[ё]|э8 OgOSGoSll
G OOgoSoG«^ Ogj^GOoS § g O ÜÔgSII
O glÔ 30 Go£|OO gO 3 0 8 0 8 8 0 0 ÜgOSOoSooSll
T
о c^jo^ ©osGQoooSsÇBiÿo 3oa^8o^8g]8oooSn
e
388000 30 Güloo8 gOII
oo OgjêOoS ©0 3 g8 GÇjSGgOOüSll
oo ogj^ü 3080880000s gjDSsggSs o[cpooo8oooSii
°J
§6ge 30G|8 s goooooSii
°9
§ ©0 3 g8 oooSogoo3g8 o8 i
°? §G<ô088 (¿OToSegSll
°3
oSc^psçj cjpSsoos ôü^ oooScvj) 6oïooo8n
oG o g j^ G o o S G g o ^ S s б С |ф о о о 8 н
DC1
Ogj^ü OOg8GgGgO^Ss 300 o8 g0 ^ 5 oOüS|I
oo G ^ S ^ S O ^ Ojj> OOOS GOoSogSII
°e
30g goI8 s 30 G|8 j o^ oSoooSii
OgJ^GOoS G gO ^Ss ^ 8 o l GgOSOôSoOoSll
J°
c.
o 3060 ^ 00^00 oo<ô8ggScoo8 |^soooSii
J
3^§ ooos 088 ôpoocSii
Ojj>yO 60 S o^ sg o o o S ^ o o o S ii
R
9 ogjô 3oÖ6 Cp8 o^ 30^ 6 CpSooo8 gdBoDoSlI

3
OgjÔ 300^ O^CpS C0OS^|8oOoSll
G Ojj>#300^ OOO 30C\j>8 cpSobii
3
O O ^ S g jD S ^ o S tp 6000 8 3 o g 8 s p s ^ o o o S ii
o 6 0 0 8<ô o o o S ^ 8 6 0 0 o o 8 ^ e d n
e ogjô 3oo^ <^Sg o o o o 8 ^ o o o S ii

oo 06^00 Ogj^GOoS 300 ^®CoSoOjDS OoSoOoSlI
DO o8§ oo^|o8©ooo; 30C|os 6goooo8oooS6<^Sn
°J
o8cyo; ooogSdj) 6opp8soogo;o8n
OOGpO^ § S ^ 8 a D o S ll
°9 oSc^ps 300008 OO0S6COO08081I
o ^ p epSsoos ooo S ^ S g o o o o S ^ o $ ii
°3
06 6^p^8; coosGcpp o S c o o S ii
°3
Of c£§§ SOoS OgOSg^SooSlI
OO ogjô 3 0 0 0 8 0 0 sabeôocSii
°e of c£g$ <j)8ij|8 ogos[cgjDS©oSii

oScflOS (j>o8sO 30 <^ps[c^S ^C|8 oooo^Socvbii
J°
282 Lesson 10
D.
о § 088 G^GGOOoSsajp
g <^
J 0^>c8g§ ЗОСО^ OgOSüoSll

R
зэ8о88©ооог oo8oooGc^Sêg o o o S so o o S ii
зоо^ ©03^8 008000 088 § c £ œ o S n
9
o g j^ o ЗО6 3 Г g g 5 c o (§ 8 ô g ^ o o o S ii
3
G GSCjOOOS 08^.0 Ôo8<ÿO c o o ü o S ii
g <ô
308088 oooo8s©o ü^©Os£ Gogo ^ o o o S ii

T
O ©03 ^ 8 sÇ8 ©o o ^ o 8 g ^ ) o ^ o o o S ii
e g$GO Ü^SOOGCOS GôÇSs OO08 Oo8oOOSOOoSll
oo Ogj^GOoS 300^ 000 S GGoSsOOoSll
ЭО ooogScî aj^ ü o ^ o 8 o 8 ii
Ÿ g^ ooS; зос[8г © 8 4 ©osocpjjjsii
C^ÔÔ O êpSG O g 3 0 ^ 0 s g ÿ ^ o o o S ii
°R
°9 ooô8gpSoo g^«og¡DScoo8 [ÔÔOoSll
°3
G^>c8g§ ogj^GOoS^ coo80o8q^sÇ8<ÿo
eogocoosii
oG Oj> Co8?(ÿO 380008 ©osgoûoo8s^8 ÔOoSll
orl
ogj^GooS 33oÇ gsèabcoô зВБсооо So^joooSii
oo oScpsa8 G^>o8g§ c^ssocSooSii
°e
OO^jSggSôS g^GoggS(j)0 ÔOoSll
ogpS<j>o c c p o o 8 g S ЗЭС SÖII
j°
E.
OGÔO ©G<^G^J 33C\j)8 GC\j)8ojp ojcoSgjSs
^ 8 GOOOcS^ COo8 oo8 ^ ^ 9 ^ 8 ^ 0 GOgOQoSlI
C O o S o o 8 c ] p S O ^ S g o S G O O O o S o Q o S lI G G |
o o S p c o S s g o o o o S o o o S ii 30^000 c lsg ^ o
OCOOOOO GcosgcogSs ©OSOOoSlI GôoS(ys
oo^ gooS ( ^ s o^sjgô coSsG ajpoSoooSii
F.
8ooo<£ c IsgooooS ^ oooSii ggS co^S ^ o
GSOOoSlI 33GG Q 0G p0^ o 33GO GOppSsSOGp
[gSoooSii 330^ oo8 güooo8^ og8©
oo8 goooo8 ^ o o o S ii GgSCOgSs ^ o o o S ii OJo
<ÔG
Appendix I
A B r ie f O verview o f Burm ese Grammar
286 Appendix I
Appendix I. An Overview of Burmese Grammar
Burmese grammar is very different from English in several ways.

The Subject-Object-Verb sentence structure which places the verb
at the end o f the sentence is perhaps the more important difference
when compared to English. Another major difference is the heavy
use o f particles which take on a variety o f roles. The use o f
descriptive verbs in the place o f adjectives is yet another.
Most Burmese words are monosyllabic, although words coming

from Sanskrit or Pali tend to be polysyllabic. Sentences are made
up o f one or more noun phrases followed by the verb phrase. These
phrases are amalgams created by attaching particles, or by
combining nouns with other nouns and verbs with other verbs to
form noun and verb phrases. In addition to nouns, verbs and
particles, one may occasionally see an adverb, which is a fourth
category o f words, which is included before the verb phrase.
While nouns and verbs can be freestanding, particles are always

attached to other words, usually as suffixes. Particles play a critical
role in Burmese grammar, taking on a number o f functions such as ■
verb endings, conjunctions and prepositions. Particle classes
include verb particles, noun particles, question particles and
clause-ending particles. A list o f the spoken Burmese particles
used in this book is presented below.
Fortunately, Burmese speakers tend to use short, simple sentences

in ordinary conversation. A verb plus a particle can be a sentence,
without a subject or object. Noun phrases are often completely left
out and only added for clarity. Also, there is no verb for “to be” so
English sentences like “She is a teacher”, or “I am Canadian” are
said using just the noun or noun phrase without any verb.
Particles Used in This Book

i*
V erb particles
• -te oooS present/past final particle L2
• -dho- oo present/past particle u§ed when not in final
position L2
• -me ooo future final particle L3
• -mo- « future particle used when not in final position L3
• -pi/bi (y past perfect particle (e.g., sa-bi ©o(y “have/has
eaten”) L3
• mo.(verb).hpu:/bu: « ... ojj>; creates a negative form o f a
verb L2
• -hpu:/bu: <£S to have ever done L7
• -ya y command form o f a verb must L8
• -on: indicates continuing or further action, L7
• -ke/ge | indicates movement to or from a person L3
N oun particles
• -hma oo at the place of, at the time o f L2
• -ko oo used to indicate movement to a place L4
• -ka oo used to indicate movement from a place L4
• -ne and, with, by (to indicate type o f transport) L 1
• -lau’ ecoooS about LI
• -ye. possessive L4
• -le: cogos also sometimes used as v.p. to mean “and”
between two verbs L2
• -go: good shows emphasis can be translated as “as for...” LI
• -hsi s§ used to indicate movement to or from a person L6
• -dwe cog plural form L8
• gender forms: L8
• -hte’ 0008 more than L9
• -hson: ay; most, best, last L9
288 Appendl#
Noun forming particles

• a- 33 L4 J
• -da ooo L4 1
Subordinate clause particles

• -hpo/bo ^ in order to L7
• -lo cv^ because L7 i
• -yin c p if L7
Final sentence particles

• -la: coo: final “Yes/ No” question particle L I $
• -le: cvb final question particle LI
• -no? g<^8 final particle meaning “right” or “isn’t it?” LI
General particles (used in both noun and verb phrases)

• -pa ol polite particle LI
• be: cb particle used to indicate emphasis, or “only” L6
Appendix II
Test and W riting E xercise A nsw ers
290 Appendix H
Appendix II. Test and Writing Exercise Answers
t Test 1
Matching
l.e 2 .j 3. b 4. f 5. g 6. a 7. d 8. c 9. k 10. i
Translation
1. W hat is this? This is a watch (polite particle).
2. How are you?
3. Nice to meet you.
4. hso-ri:-no? GQOOQSGÔII
5. da tho-din:-za-no? 3 ) ooooBtOOG^Sli
Test 2
Matching
1. a 2 .p 3. 0 4. n 5. i
6. m 7 -g 8j 9. d 10. h
1 1 .f 12. r 13. e 14. k 15. q
Translation
1. He/she is studying Burmese.
2. He/she is studying over there.
3. I live in Japan.
4. ein-da be-hma-le:? 0 8 8 0 0 0 oooS<jOCC)ii
5. m ye’-hman zo-bwe:-po-hma shi-de. fe^joS^
© O t^G oltp ÔOoSlI
Test3
Matching
l.j 2. n 3. e 4 .h 5. k 6. o
7. g 8. b 9. m 10. d 11.c 12. f
T ranslation
r-
1. He/she can write in Myanmar.
2. May I go to the toilet?
3. He/she wants to go to the bookstore.
4. jo-no hkau’-swe:-zain-go thWa:-me. ogj^GOoS
gcos8 8 o^> OgOSQcSlI
5. thu-go yo’-shin-yon-hma shi-de.
ôooSii
Test 4
M atching
l.m 2.1 3 .f 4. e 5j 6. q 7. d
8. o 9. b 10. g 11.c 12. i 13. a 14. k
T ranslation
1. How many cars do you have?.

2. I don’t want to go to the store. It’s too far.
3. If [we] go to the pagoda, how much will it be?
4. di:-te’-ko-si a:-la:? § 33Qtcootii
5. zei:-ji:-de. thon:-daun nga:-ya ja ’ ya-mo-la:?
GG[]s(oÔOoSll O^SGOOOS ckcpO^jS C|GCOOSII
W o rd Exercise
1. oScooS 2 . oocSoooS 3. ôSBoocS

4. oocSoooS 5. oSoooS
292 Appendix II
Test 5
A. Write these times in Burmese.
1. G<ôS GCOSÔ^
2. 03 G Ô O SÔ ^
3. oo^ sgs 18
4. 03 g s O0 ;<so8 clsaooS8^.8
5. « ^ c S s o o S o o S ^ o ^
6. 03 SOoS<£>o8 GCOS3DoSc1s8 ^.£
7. 03 cls^-o^ cl;8^S
B. Write these times in English.

1. seven in the evening (7:00 p.m.)
2. three at night (3:00 a.m.)
3. six in the morning (6:00 a.m.)
4. two forty-four in the afternoon (2:45 p.m.)
5. ten twenty-five in the morning (10:25 a.m.)
6. afternoon.
7. four in the evening (4:00 p.m.)
C. Translation
1 .1 will arrive about three o ’clock.
2 . 1 go to work at five in the morning.
3. 1 want to sleep during the morning.
4. bil-ye jaun: nya-nei lei:-na-yi hsin-de.
o8 cv3C[ GO0P&S 03G<^ GCOSÔ^ SoStOQoSlI
5. e:-da sa-o’ hpa’-pi:-bi. 3 ^ 3 ) © 0328 ©oSH
6. yo’-shin-yon-ko lai’-me-la:? ^ 8 ^ 8 ^ '0 0 3 0 Sll
Test 6 i '»
Matching: Months
l.i 2.1 3. h 4. k 5. a 6.j
7. e 8. c 9. d 10.,.g ■ 11. f 12. b
Days
l.c 2. g 3. b 4. a 5. e 6. d 7. f
Translation
1. I rest from Saturday to Monday..
2. Sometimes I go to sleep at midnight.
3. I will go to Vietnam in November.
4. nau’-hno-la-hma man:-do-lei:-go thwa:-me.
G Ô o 8 ^£ c O (y O Q^GCOSO^) OgOSGoSlI
5. thu chau’-na-yi: ko-de-ga saun-nei-de.
Ojj> g ^ o g S ^ o ^ ODoogSsoo g ©o S g ^>ooo S ii
Test 7
Matching
l.f 2. h 3. k 4. n 5. m 6. e
7. c 8. d 9. j 10. i 11.1 12. g
Translation
1 .1 like Myanmar food but I don’t like Vietnamese food.
2. Is Ma So So at home?
3. Myanmar curry is not very spicy.
4. di hin:-jo ayan: ngan-de. mo-sa:-nain-bu:.
§ o o S s ^ l 3 QG|8 s c ^ ooo S ii «©os^Sajjjtii
5. shan:-hkau’-hswe: sa:-bu:-dho-la:? ^S tG oloSa^ <DOt(£SO0COo:ii
294 Appendix II
Test 8
Matching
l.d 2. m 3 .b 4 -g 5. f 6.1
7. a 8. e 9. k 10. h 11. c 12-j
Translation
1. You can’t wear shoes in the pagoda.
2. She is wearing a white blouse and blue pants.
3. I have diarrhea. My head also aches.
4. jo-no o-wo’-o-sa: o-thi’ lo-de. O O J^G O O O 3 3 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 ;
3 3 0 0 8 c ^ oooS ii
5. thu o ’-to’ o-yan: ji-de. Oj£ ^;ocj)8 33C|8; |c^};oqoS ii
Test 9
Matching
l.d 2. c 3. e 4. i 5. h
6.j 7. a 8. f 9. k 10. g
Classifiers
l.j 2. c 3. a 4 -g 5. h
6. e 7. i 8. d 9. k 10. e
Test 10
Matching
l.p 2. h 3. k 4-j 5. b
6. c 7. r 8.1 9g 10. m
ll.o 12. f 13. a 14. q 15. n
Forms of Address f.
l.GcST 2 . S; 3. £§G 4. GGo8
5. flS I sSc^p; 6. g;©8; 7. SOCp I ^SGCOS 8. ^8 I gS;
9. CpG|S 10. SOCp 11,. 30(Îrj$ 12. SOCp G
Writing Exercise Answers

Writing Exercise 1
1. m oi 2. o}: 3. si;
4- 9
5. els 6 . © 05 7. 8 ; 8. ©OOO;
9. soos io. s 8 1 1 . g so ; 12. 300;
Writing Exercise 2
oc8
cn
1. o^s 2 . g s IS; 4 . g ©o 8 ;
5. 00008 6 . s^ S 7. sÇ ; 8. ©oS
9. ©8 10. ¡ODO H. g 12. 0 0 8
13. 02 ! 4 . 09 15. g S 1 6 . 3 0 Oj>aj>
Writing Exercise 3
1. § 8 2 . c88 3. 008 4 . oog S;
5. gsT 6. 3 8 8 7. 3000 8. gg ;
9. GôcS 10. © odjtaS 11. gooo 8 ; 12. © 0308
CO
00
13. 14. so 8 16.

-eo
17. 30$ 18. 3008

296 Appendix II
Writing Exercise 4 ■
f
1. co8s 2. 388000 3. §000 4. go;
5 . 3 3 ol 6. © 0 0 8 9 7 . (^ 0 8 9 ^ 8. o o o S o S c^s
9. ooSoooS 10. côS 11. cjoloooS 12 . gss
13. oôooS 14 . ©OSGOOOo8scj>S 15 . 0 8 8 0 0
16. 09080b 17. g ^ o o o o 18 . OgOS
Writing Exercise 5
2 . G^G 4. J 0 0 9
‘■°JS 3- 3 6 °
5. 6. o o r p
7‘ » J 8'
9. 30o1
g<s o<
scS 10.
ll.oooSoooos <|olo8 c?£)12. 00080 8o8ocoosii
13 . §0^ cooolo8n 14. J09 o ^ s o ^ s co8s
15. 8s€|OOOS G0Oo8Ô^ GCpoSoooSn

1 6 . §G<£ 0 $ S § OgOSOoSlI
1 7 . 3 0 0 0 8 8 0 0 0 0 s e g o 0 0 0 8 0 0 0 Sll
18 . § co8 s<ÿo o§8s 0 0 9 ; ôooSn
Writing Exercise 6
1 . nga:-daun lei:-ze-ba. clsGOOoS GOOSaooSoln

2. te ’-ks-tho-go nej-gin:-hm a thw a:-jin-de. o o ç g o ^ o S o ^
GôSsÔ OgOS^jSoOoSlI
3 . m s-h o ’-pu. ba-go-ga m s-la-bu:. oo^cSo^Sllo^sooocooOjj>sn
4 . jei:-zu-tin-ba-de. thw a:-bi. GO^jsc^SOoSoloooSn o g o sg n

5 . ba-ma-za-ga: m s-hke’-hpu. 0 0 0 © 0 0 0 s O0O8O9SH
6. myan-ma-za yei:-da’-la:? [tj^w oco GCjSOróSoooScoo;

7. shwe-da-gon-hpa-ya: thwa:-pi:-bi. Gg|o8 ^ 0^ € p ; Ogos|
8. pi:-ge-de-chau’-la yan-gon-go thwa:-de. ^ s ^ o ^ e j^ o o S c o
QgOSOQoSlI !
9. twei-ya-da wun:-dha-ba-de. GCgCjOOO oS sooooloooS n
10. sa-o’ hpa’-chin-de. ©0 3 ^ 8 ocS^jSoooSii
Writing Exercise 7
1. ta-htaun hna-ya j a \ oo S gooo S c k c p ogjSii

2 . thu tha-yei ka-la-htain-hma htain-jin-de.
oj¡> ooosgc| ogcooso^Sô o^S^jSoooSii
3. za -bwe:-do, di-nei nga-man: hin:-jo shi-la:? ©osô^si § G ^
clsw^s o o S ;^ | ^ coosii
4. ba -go ba’-sa’-ka:-ne hna-na-yi ja-de. OOoS S gqos^
(ÖpOOoSlI
5. nga-pyo-dhi-ne nga-pi-yei za-bwe-po-hma. g o S c c ^ p o S :^
c];8c|gS oos^Golôn
6. ba-zun-hin: ta -bwe: sa:-jin-de. c^gôoSs ooSg
©os^jSoooSii
7. ko-htun: mo: ba-mo-ga la:-de. thu a-the’ hna-hse shi-bi.
oôg^s o^íggSoo coooooSi o¡>320008 ^8sooS ^11
8. a-nan-da-pa-hto: ba-gan-hma shi-de. 3 3 0 ^ .^ o y o ^ s c^cyo
ÔOoSlI
298 Appendix H
Writing Exercise 8 >j
1 . thu yan-gon-ta-ka-to-hma thin-nei-de. Ojj>

*
c ^ o ^ o o g ^ o ^ o S ^ o ooS g ^ oooS ii ./
2 . ga-ba-jo-la’-hpe’-ye-zain thwa:-me. lai’-ma-la:? ‘
GO^DGOC^S COoSocSGIpSs^S OgQjyoSlI Cô8 «COOSII
3. kei’-sa-ma-shi-ba-bu: o8gy^61ojj>;n
4. m a-ne’-hpyan ta-rei-hsan-yon thwa:-jin-de.
ogos^jSoooSii
5. pon-hman mo:-ya-dhi-hma pein-ne:-dhi sa:-de. ^scp o S y D '
8|o8s ©osoooSii
6. thu ja-pan kon-ba-ni-hma a-lo’-lo’-de. Ojj> cjjo^. ;
3 9 c^ 8 c^ 8 oooS ii
7. nau’-la man-da-lei:-go thwa:-me. G ^ o c S c o y^GCOSC^
ogosyoSu
8. ngwei-se’-ku hna-ya shi-la:? G g© ^g| ^ S c p ^COOJII

Appendix III
U seful W ords and Phrases
300 Appendix III
Appendix III. Useful Words and Phrases

General Conversation
How are you? nei-kaun-ye-la? g^ gooo8:c|coo;ii
Have you eaten yet? sa:-pi:-bi-la:? ©osgsgcootu

Where’re you going? be thwa:-m9-le: oooS OgOtGCÔll
pen
goodbye thwa:-bi
§°
OO
[I’m] fine. nei-kaun:-ba-de. 6^gooo8;o1oooS
[I’m] not so well ms-kaun:-bu: GGOOoSsOjjlS
so-so, normal di-lo-be:
See you later. nau’-hma twei-me. GÔcSiÿ GOgWcSlI
See you tomorrow. m s-ne’-hpyan twei-me. fc>ô8g§ 60güoSll
Please to meet you. twei-ya-da GOgCjOOO
wun:-tha-ba-de oS îcooüIoooS
Thank you. jei:-zu:-tin-ba-de. GO^|t<*S O080I0OO

I’m sorry. so-ri:-no? GSOO^SG^S
what? ba-le: OOOCÔ
where? be-hma-le: oooSôcvb
when? be-do-le: oooSgooooô
0
why? ba-hpyi’-lo-le: ooogSo^côii

how much? be-lau’-le: oooS gcoooS cô
who? be-dhu oooSo^

whose? be-dhu-ha-le: oooSo^üooabn
What do you want to ba lo’-chin-le:? 000 c^8^|8côii
do?
Where’s the ein-dha be-hma-le:? _388000 OOüSÔCÖII

bathroom?
market zei: G<W
hotel ho-te . oôooS
hospital hsei:-yon Gao;^|
airport lei-zei’ gcos88
embassy than-yon: oo^s

this da 3I
that e:-da 383I
here di-hma
there e:-di-hma
over there ho-hma
Whats this? da-ba-le:? 3100008
What’s that? e:-da ba-le:? 383I oooabll
Whose is this? da be-dhu-ha-le: ¿I OOoSaj£OOOc8ll
hello? (on the phone) he:-lo
Is John home? jon ein-hma-la:? sSSyOCOOJII
I’d like to speak with jon-ne pyo:-jin-de. g^ ^ jS oooS h
John.
John is not home. jon ein-hma mo-shi-bu: 8#
really do-ge 00000S
right? -no?
if yin
because -lo
not yet... mo-...-thei:-bu: «...Goosorp
302 Appendix III
[I’m] finished already. pi:-thwa:-bi [ysogosjyii /

but da-bei-me ¿Igoo0
didn’t, don’t m9-...-bu: «...o^s
Don’t do that. da mo-lo’-ne ¿1 « 0 ^8^11
Don’t go. ms-thwa:-ne
please -pa/ba (particle) <a
What is your name? na-me be-lo-hko-le: ^.OGgS OOoScvj$GsIc8jl
[My] name is john. na-me jon-ba Qjôlll
What kind of work ba lo’-tho-le:? 000 cy8 000811 |
do you do?
I’m a doctor. hsa-ya-wun-ba. socpoôlii
lawyer shej-nei G^ Gf
soldier si’-tha: ©8000;
student (m) jaun:-dha: GO^pSoOOOS
student (f) jaun:-dhu 6o q p 8;o^
professor pa-mau’-hka olcyoog '
engineer in-jin-ni-ya 3o8c||£^000
tourist tu:-ri’ ° ? !CIs
monk hpon:-ji: o ^ ;(c ^ :
Where are you from? be-ga-la-dho-le:? oocSoocoo 000811
I’m from America. 9-mei-ri-ka-ga-ba. 30GOÔOOQolll
Japan js-pan 91°?
China to-yo’ oo^joS
India ein-di-ya 38^00
Thailand htain: 0^ 8;
England in-go-lan
Do you like myan-ma-pye-go K>§e§°?
Myanmar? ja i’-la:? 5o8cOOSII
Myanmar people are myan-ma-lu-myo: • gôoojj^jpog 088
very nice. -dwei thei’ kaun:-de. GOOOSiOOoSlI
Yangon is very hot. yan-gon thei’ pu-de. 088 (ÔQoSlI
Myanmar is myan-ma-nain-gan g ^ S c oôooSii
beautiful. hla-de.
It rains a lot. mo: 9-yan: yua-de. 3og|8j gpoooSu
I like Yangon. yan-gon-go ja i’-te.
[^ oooooSii
Can you speak bo-ma-zo-ga: pyo: OÜOOOOOS
Burmese? -da’-la:? e g o oocScoo :k
Can you speak in:-go-lei’-so-ga: pyo: 3980880000;
English? -da’-la:? GgooooScoo;n
I want to speak bo-ma-zo-ga: pyo: owooooo;
Burmese. -jin-de. Ggo^jSoQoSlI
Please speak slowly. hpyei:-byei: pyo:-ba. Ggscg; Ggoolll
Please say that again. hta’ pyo:-ba. 008 G|gooln
Can you write in myan-ma-za yei:-da’ GOOO
Myanmar? -tho-la: G€|;oooSoocoo;n
I can write a little ne:-ne: yei:-da’-te
bit. GcpoooooooSii
I don’t understand na-mo-le-ba-bu: <ôsGC\ogS6bjj>;
(polite form).
I can’t hear. mo-ja:-ya-bu: ojegote] oytn
I am studying bo-ma-zo-ga: ogooooo;
304 Appendix III
Burmese. thin-nei-de ooS gôooSii
I’m learning di sa-o’-ka ba-ma-lo §©03^800 oooc^ .

Burmese from this thin-nei-de ooS g^cooSii
book.
What do you call ba-ma-lo be-lo owocvj) oooSeij)
this in Burmese? hka-dha-le:? GoioOCV)«
What does__mean? ... a-de-pe ba-le:? ...338000S 0000811
How old are you? a-the’ be-lau’-le: 330008
oooSgcoo 080811
I’m thirty years old. a-the’ thon:-ze ba. 330008 o^saooSoln

Where do you live? be-hma nei-dha-le:? oooSô g<ôoo8ii
I live at (in) ...nei-de ...GÔOcS
How many brothers maun-hna-ma be-hne- GGoS^G
& sisters do you yau’ shi-dha-le:? oooS^£goooo8
have?
^000811
Are you married? ein-daun shi-dha-la:? oSS goooS
ôocooa
I’m married. ein-daun-j a-pi:-bi 38800008 oq>j(y;(yii
I’m single. lu-lu’-pa. Cjj>C£o8oln
I’m divorced. ta-hku-la’-pa. oo^coSolii
My wife passed za-ni: thei-thwa:-bi. Gooogo:^«
away.
How is the weather? ya-dhi-u-tu be-lo-le:? cp oSgcp 00oS0^0811
It’s hot. pu-de. côocSii
It’s cold. ei:-de. 633;oooSii
Can [I] see you ma-ne’-hpyan y<ô8§§
tomorrow? twei-nain-ma-la: ? GOg^CGCOOtll
Can you teach me myan-ma-lo J

. g^üOO?
Myanmar? thin-bei:-m3-la:? oo8 gos« coo:ii
I like (it). ja i’-te. [ojjo8oooSii

I don’t like (it), mo-jai’-hpu:. 1ü^ oSo^ sh
I like Myanmar myan-ma-lu-myo: gjo oo^ p cgo^
people. -dwei-go ja i’-te. ajjo8oooou
[You] are kind. jin-na-de. [cyzjSÔOQoSlI
Where are you be-hma te:-dho-le:? oooSijOoogSsooodii
staying?
I am staying at the kan-do-ji: ho’ oo^6co8 [c&
Kandawgyi hotel. -te-hma ba. ÜÔOüSijOüllI
Here is my address. da jo-ma lei’-sa. 3I OgjÔ 0880011
Here is my phone dajs-m a hpon: ¿1 Og|^ü ( £ ^ 6lo8ll
number. -nan-ba’
Can I have your lei’-sa pei:-ba. 08800 go :o1»
address?
Can I have your hpon:-nan-ba’ pei:-ba. C ^ôloS GOJoll
phone number?
Give me a call. hpon:-hse’-no. ( ^ : soo8 g ^8 ii
Can I call you? hpon:-hko-lo ya-mo-la: (^SGoIa^ cpcoosii
I’ll leave tomorrow. mo-ne’-hpyan htw e’- ogoSooSii
me.
I will go back next nau’-o-pa’ pyan-me. 6^00830008
week. §§ooS.
306 Appendix III
In a Restaurant
I want to o rd e r... ...hma-me-no.
. . . ^ ooc S g ^.'Sii
What would you ba sa:-jin-dh3-le:. ooo oos^ jS ooo^ ii
like to eat?
What would you ba thau’-chin- ooo gooocS^ jS oooîi
like to drink? dho-le:?
Bring water, yei pei:-ba. GG| GOSullI
please.
I ’d like a serving hte-min:-jo te- ooy S iG jraS o o £ y
o f fried rice. bwe: lo-jin-de. C ^^jSoxBlI
I ’d like some more hte-min:-hta’ lo- oo©8soo8 o^ S oooSii

rice. jin-de.
I ’d like some ice. yei-ge: lo-jin-de. GQp Q ^SoO oSlI
Is it spicy? sa’-tho-la:? ©80OCOOSII
Is it too spicy? o-yan: sa’-tho- 3 3 €|Si ©80OCOOSII
la:?
It’s very spicy. s-yan: sa’-te. 33C|8s ©8000S11
It’s not spicy. mo-sa’-hpu: y©8o^SII
Does it taste good? kaun:-la:? GGQoSsCOOSII
It tastes good. sa:-kaun:-de. ©os 6 gqo 8 soooS ii
It doesn’t taste good. sa:-mo-kaun:-bu: ©OiGGOOoSsO'jp
It’s delicious, 3-ya-dha shi-de 33€|ooo ôoaSii
food 3-sa:-9-sa 3 3 ©OS3 3 ©Q
Myanmar food myan-ma-3-sa:- ^ © 0 3 3 ©0 S33© 0

o-sa
I want to eat myan-ma-a-sa:- jfcj^yo 3 3 0 0 SGQOO
Myanmar food, 9 -sa sa:-jin-de. ©os^jSoooSii

3-cho-bwe:
dessert
“ Iß
I want dessert. 9 -cho-bwe: lo- C V ^ S o Q o S lI
jin-de
I ’m full. wa-bi. 1 eg.
That’s enough to-bi GOoSj^ll
I ’m drunk, mu: -de (j^soooS
alcohol 9-ye’ 30C|o8
“check, [please].” shin:-me. ^SsggSi
beef a-me: 30«
beer bi-ya 08000

boil/boiled pyo’
B0 *5
chicken je ’ (0308
coffee ko-hpi G0068
crab ga-nan: OCOO^S
curry hin: 008s

duck be: cd
eat sa:-de ©osoooS
chicken egg je ’-u gcSg
noodles hkau’-hswe: GoloSs^
fish nga: els
fry/fried P G gS
fruit thi’-thi: oo£o8s
308 Appendix III f
grill/grilled ken oo8

ice yei-ge:
milk no
pork w e’ 008
cooked rice hte-min: oowSs
seafood pin-le-za oScooSoo
shrimp bo-zun vsf
soup hin:-jo oo8s^|
black tea la’-hpe’-ye COo8c9o8c|gS
oolong or plain tea yei-nwe:-jan:, G€|G0 j( ^ S jl GCp^S
yei-nwe:
vegetable hin:-dhi:-hin:- oo 8 so8 soo8 : qg 8
yue’
vegetarian the’-tha’-lu’ oooSoocSc^cS
water yei GG|
Expressing Needs and Feelings
I’m hungry. bai-hsa-de. ^ gS qcoooo S ii

I’m thirsty. yei-nga’-te. gg|co 8 ooo S ii
I’m tired/exhausted. mo:-de. GGOOGoSlI

I ’m sleepy. ei’-chin-de. □88^j8oooSn
I ’m happy. pyo-de. cjcpoooSii
I’m excited. se’-hlo’-sha:- 8o8o^8^psoocSn
de.
I ’m hot. pu-de. côopS«

I’m cold. ei:-de. G30SOOoSll
I ’m not well. nei-mo-kaun:- G^GGOOoSsO'jjJtll
bu:. ,
I have a headache. gaun: kai’-te. go 18s oôS oooS ii
I have a stomach ache. bai’-na-de. ^ o8<ôooo S ii
I need some hsei:-thau’- gsosgoooc 8^ c ôogS ii
medicine. hpo-lo’-de.
I need some sleep. ei’ pyo-bo lo-de. □SSgc^ ^ côooSii
I want to see a hso-ya-wun OOCpO ^ jygjSoOoSlI
doctor. pya-jin-de.
Come here! di-go la! §0^ COOII
Help! ku-nyi-ba! OJfgoln

Watch out! tho-di! 000811
I want to drink some yei thau’-chin- 6C| GOOOoSgjSoOoSlI
water. de.
I want to drink a bi-ya te-hkwe’ 08000 ooSgoS
glass o f beer. thau’-jin-de. GOOOoSgjSoOoSlI
I want to buy some hsei: we-jin- G90SOoSg|8oOoSll
medicine. de.
I want to go to the ein-dha thwa:- 088000 ogosgjSoooSii
restroom. jin-de.
It’s too loud. 9-yan: jei-ta-be:. 3oc|8s o^joSoooc)ii
Can you turn down e:-kon: pei’- □Sog^s 8o8gojii
the air conditioning? pei:.
Can you turn up the e:-kon: hpwin- 38og^S gSGOSII
air conditioning? bei:.
310 Appendix III
Can you turn on the pan-ka hpwin- o^coo gBeosii

fan? bei:.
May I use the te-li-hpon: o o o S c S c ^ s o^scv^
phone? thon:-lo ya- G|ocoo;n
mo-la:?
May I have some yei thau’-lo GG| GOOOoSc^ C|GCOO
water? ya-mo-la:?
I ’m lost. Ian: pyau’- CoS; GCjpoSGÔOaSlI
nei-de.
How do I get to ...be-lo thwa:- ...QOoScvj) OgOSGOÎI
? mo-le:?
I need more money. pai’-hsan hta’- ycSso oo8cvj>oooSii
lo-de
I need to change ngwei-le:-bo- Gga^CVÔOoSlI
money. lo-de.
I want to go back ein pyan-jin- g8 8 (y^8oooSn
[home]. de.
I want to ___ (verb). ...chin/jin-de. ...^|8 oooS ii
<3
°8J
I understand. na:-le-de.
8
8-
00
8
I don’t understand. na-mo-le-bu:.

Bo
oo
I don’t know. mo-thi-bu:.

c
I believe (you). yon-de. OÔQoSlI

I ’m sure. thei-ja-de. 600^0 OQoSlI
I’m not sure. mo-thei-ja-bu:. GGOO^pO^SII
I’m joking. yi-za-ya pyo:-de. cjoSocp c|yoooaSii
I agree. tho-bo:-tu-de. oogoooo ^ ooo S ii
No problem. kei’-sa ma-shi-bu:. o B ^ o ja

a little bit none:
I forgot. mei-dhwa:-bi. GWOgOSjyil

I don’t remember. tha-di-ma-ya-bu:. ooo8«cp^n
Let’s go. thwa:-zo '
I ’m busy. o-lo’-sho’-te. 30C^8^)8oOoSll

I ’m sad. wun:-ne:-de. oSs^jDSsoooSn
I ’m angry. sei’-hso:-de. 8 o8 s ^ ; oooS ii
I ’m homesick. ein-go lwan:-de. 3 8 8 0 ^ 0^ 8:000811
I’m confused. sho’-te. ^jSoooSii
I ’m embarrassed. o-she’-kw ode.
I’m bored. ngi:-ngwe-de. j^S6gOOoSll

I ’m worried. sei’-pu-de. SoSÔOoSlI
I ’m scared. ja u ’-te. g Q o o S ooo S ii
I ’m heartbroken. o-the:-gwe:-de ÜOCDjDSsOÔOoSlI

No smoking. hsei:-lei’ mo- GSOS088 OGOOO
thau’-ya
Speak up. pyo:-ba. Gjyoolll
I made a mistake. hma:-dhwa:-de. yDSOgOJOQoSlI
Please wait a hka-na saun-ba. QGDGOoSolll e
moment.
Good luck. kan-kaun:-ba-zei q o g c Oo S so Ig OII
I wish you pyo-shwin-ba- G(^|Sg8ol60ll

happiness. zei.
312 Index
Index
Aspiration, 151 -ne., -le: and -hma Noun
Being Polite: shin/hko-mya., 26 Particles, 53
Burmese Alphabet, 17 Negating a Verb, 55
Burmese Calendar, 160 Number Symbols, 148
Burmese Tone Marks, 42 -on: Verb Particle, 190
City Names in Myanmar, 52 Ordinal Numbers, 32
Classifying Nouns, 235 -pa/ba Polite Particle, 27
Clause-Ending Particles Past Perfect Verb Particle, 80
-lo -hpo/bo, -yin, 189 -pe:/be: General Particle, 162
Command Form of a Verb, 214 Plural form, 216
Common Consonants I, 37 Possessive form, 108
Common Consonants III, 95, Present Progressive, 55
125,148 Present/Past Verb Particle, 53
Comparisons, 237 Pronouns, 187
Complex Vowels, 90 Punctuation, 20
Compound Verbs, 108 Question Words:, 106
Consonant Sounds, 10 R words in Burmese, 129
Final Nasal N, 68 Rarely Used Burmese
Final question particles, 27 Consonants and Vowels, 252
Final Stopped Tone, 69 Simple Vowels, 39
Forming Nouns from Verbs, Specialized Vocabulary
109 Animals, 261
Forms of Address, 188 Family, 258
Future Verb Particle, 80 Occupations, 259
Gender, 215 Stacked Consonants, 227
Grammar Overview, 286 Talking with Monks, 188
hpu:/bu: Have ever, 188 Time: Day Structure., 135
-hsi Noun Particle, 162 Tone Definitions, 7
Irregular Negative Verbs, 264 Traveller’s Needs, 234
Irregularly Pronounced Words, Unmarked High Tone, 91
250 Voicing and The Voicing Rule,
-ko/go and -ka/ga Noun 175
Particles, 107 Vowel Sounds, 8
Level of Formality, 187 Vowel Symbols, 18
Literary Style, 276, 277 Weakening, 204
Medial Consonants, 122 What time is it?, 135
More Final Consonant Symbols, Yes and No Phrases, 81
152
About the Author i *
Gene Mesher holds a Ph.D. in Management Information Systems
from the University o f Arizona, a M.S. in Biology from the
University of Michigan and a M aster’s ,x>f Science in Engineering
from the University o f Washington. He is a former Fulbright
scholar and retired professor o f Information Systems at California
State University. He has travelled to Southeast Asia for the last 15
years, studying telecommunications markets in Malaysia,
Singapore, Thailand and other parts o f Asia. Dr. Mesher has
authored of more than 50 articles and reports on
telecommunications and information technologies most o f which
have covered developments in Asian countries. His interest in
language-learning is long-standing and he has studied many
languages including French, Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese,
Malay, Persian and Thai.
Titles from Paiboon Publishing
Tide: Thai for Beginners

Author: Benjawan Poomsan Becker ©1995
Description: Designed for either self-study or classroom use. Teaches all four
language skills— speaking, listening (when used in conjunction with the
cassette tapes), reading and writing. Offers clear, easy, step-by-step
instruction building on what has been previously learned. Used by many
Thai temples and institutes in America and Thailand.
Cassettes & CD available. Paperback. 270 pages. 6” x 8.5”
Book US$12.95 Stock# 1001B
Two CDs US$20.00 Stock# 1001CD
x ***************
Title: Thai for Interm ediate Learners
Description: The continuation of Thai for Beginners . Users are expected to be able to
read basic Thai language. There is transliteration when new words are
introduced. Teaches reading, writing and speaking at a higher level.
Keeps students interested with cultural facts about Thailand. Helps
expand your Thai vocabulary in a systematic way.
Paperback. 220 pages. 6” x 8.5”
Book US$12.95 Stock #1002B
Two CDs US$15.00 Stock # 1002CD
***************
Title: Thai for Advanced Readers
Description: A book that helps students practice reading Thai at an advanced level.
It contains reading exercises, short essays, newspaper articles, cutural and
historical facts about Thailand and miscellaneous information about the
Thai language. Students need to be able to read basic Thai.
***************
Title: Thai for Lovers
Author: Nit & Jack Ajee ©1999
Description: An ideal book for lovers. A short cut to romantic communication in
Thailand. There are useful sentences with their Thai translations
throughout the book. You won't rind any Thai language book more fun
and user-friendly. Rated R!
Book US$13.95 Stock#: 1004B
Two CDs US$17.00 Stock#: 1004CD
Title: Thai-English, English-Thai Dictionary for Non-Thai Speakers
Description: Designed to help English speakers communicate in Thai. It is equally
useful for those who can read the Thai alphabet and those who can't. Most
Thai-English dictionaries either use Thai script exclusively for the Thai
entries (making them difficult for westerners to use) or use only phonetic
transliteration (making it impossible to look up a word in Thai script).
This dictionary solves these problems. You will find most of the
vocabulary you are likely to need in everyday life, including basic,
cultural, political and scientific terms.
Paperback. 658 pages. 4.1” x 5.6”
***************
Title: Lao-English, English-Lao Dictionary for Non-Lao Speakers

Author: Benjawan Poomsan Becker & Khamphan Mingbuapha ©2003
Description: Designed to help English speakers communicate in Lao. This practical
dictionary is useful both in Laos and in Northeast Thailand. Students can
use it without having to learn the Lao alphabet. However, there is a
comprehensive introduction to the Lao writing system and pronunciation.
The transliteration system is the same as that used in Paiboon Publishing's
other books. It contains most of the vocabulary used in everyday life,
including basic, cultural, political and scientific terms.
Paperback. 780 pages. 4.1” x 5.6”
***************
Title: Lao for Beginners
Author: Buasawan Simmala and Benjawan P. Becker ©2003
audio), reading and writing. Offers clear, easy, step-by-step instruction
building on what has been previously learned.
Book US$12.95 Stock# Ю12В
Three CDs US$20.00 Stock # 1012CD
***************
Title: Improving Your Thai Pronunciation
Description: D eigned to help foreingers maximize their potential in prorotmeng Thai
words and enhance their Thai listening and speaking skills. Students wiál
find that they have more confidence in speaking the language and can
make themselves understood better. The book and the CDs are made to
be used in combination. The course is straight forward, easy to follow and
compact. Paperback. 48 pages. 5” x 7.5” + One-hour CD
Book & CD US$15:00 Stock # 1011BCD
Title: Thai for Gay Tourists . s
Author: Saksit Pakdeesiam ©2001
Description: The ultimate language guide for gay and bisexual men visiting Thailand.
Lots of gay oriented language, culture, commentaries and other
information. Instant sentences for convenient use by gay visitors. Fun
and sexy. The best way to communicate with your Thai gay friends and
partners! Rated R! Paperback* 220 pages. 6” x 8.5”
Two Tape Set US$17.00 Stock# 1007T
***************
Tide: Tai Go No Kiso
Description: Thai for Japanese speakers. Japanese version of Thai fo r Beginners.
Three Tape Set US$20.00 Stock # 1009T
***************
Title: Thai fiir Anfanger
Description: Thai for German speakers. German version of Thai for Beginners.
***************
Title: Thailand Fever
Author: Chris Pirazzi and Vitida Vasant ©2005
Description: A road map for Thai-Western relationships. The must-have relationship
guidebook which lets each of you finally express complex issues of both
cultures. Thailand Fever is an astonishing, one-of-a-kind, bilingual
expose of the cultural secrets that are the key to a smooth Thai-Western
relationship.
***************
Tide: Thai-English, English-Thai Software Dictionary for Palm OS PDAs -
With Search-by-Sound
Author: Benjawan Poomsan Becker and Chris Pirazzi ©2003
Description: This software dictionary provides instant access to 21,000 English,
Phonetic and Thai Palm OS PDA with large, clear fonts and everyday
vocabulary. If you're not familiar with the Thai alphabet, you can also
look up Thai words by their sounds. Perfect for the casual traveller or th
dedicated Thai learner. Must have a Palm OS PDA and access lo the
Internet in order to use this product.
B o o k * CD-ROM US$39.95 Stock# 1013BCD-ROM
Title: Thai for Beginners Software
Author: Benjawan Poomsan Becker and Dominique Mayrand ©2004
Description: Best Thai language software available in the market! Designed especially
for non-romanized written Thai to help you to rapidly improve your
listening and reading skills! Over 3,000 recordings of both male and
female voices. The content is similar to the book Thai for Beginners, but
with interactive exercises and much more instantly useful words and
phrases. Multiple easy-to-read font styles and sizes. Super-crisp
enhanced text with romanized transliteration which can be turned on or
off for all items.
B oo k * CD-ROM US$40.00 Stock # 1016BCD-ROM
***************
Tide: Cambodian for Beginners
Author: Richard K. Gilbert ©2004
CDs), reading and writing. Offers clear, easy, step-by-step instruction
***************
Title: Burmese for Beginners
Author: Gene Mesher ©2006
Book US$ 12.95 Stock# 1019B
***************
Tide: Vietnamese for Beginners
Author: Jake Catlett ©2006
Paperback. 320 pages. 6,r x 8.5”
Book US$12.95 Stock # 1020©
Three CDs US$20.00 Slock # 1020CD
Title: Practical Thai Conversation DVD Volume 1
Description:
This new media for learning Thai comes with a booklet and a DVD. You
will enjoy watching and listening to this program and learn the Thai
language in a way you have never done before. Use it on your TV,
desktop or laptop. The course is straight forward, easy to follow and
compact. A must-have for all Thai learners!
DVD and Paperback, 65 pages 4.8" x 7.1"
Book & DVD US$15.00 Stock # 1018BDVD
***************
Title: Thai Law for Foreigners
Author: Ruengsak Thongkaew ©2006
Description: Thai law made easy for foreigners. This unique book includes
information regarding immigration, family, property, civil and criminal
law used in Thailand. Very useful for both visitors and those who live in
Thailand. Written by an experienced Thai trial lawyer. It contains both
the Thai text and full English translation.
***************
Title: Retiring in Thailand
Author: GeneMesher ©2006
Description: A very useful guide for those who are interested in retiring in Thailand. It
contains critical information for retirees, such as how to get a retirement
visa, banking, health care, renting and buying property, everyday life
issues and other important retirement factors. It also lists Thailand's top
retirement locations. It's a must for anyone considering living the good
life in the Land of Smiles.
**»♦**♦**♦♦**♦♦
fide: Living Thai
Your Guide to Contemporary Thai Expressions
Description: This series o f books and CDs is a collection of numerous words and
expressions used by modem Thai speakers. It will help you to understand
colloquial Thai and to express yourself naturally... You will not find these
phases in any textbooks. It’s a language course that all Thai learners have
been waiting for. Impress your Thai friends with the real spoken Thai.
Lots of fun. Good for students of all levels.
***************
Tille: T M Phrase Book for Travelers
AoKfoor: Beqjwwan Poomsan Becker ©2006
Description: The best Thai phrase book you can find. It contains thousands of useful
words and phrases for travelers in many situations. The phrases are
practical and up-to-date and can be used instantly. The CDs that
accompany the book will help you improve your pronunciation and
expedite your Thai language learning. You will be able to speak Thai in
no time I
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Allow 2-3 woekMfor delivery.
Welcome to the fa sc in a tin g w orld o f Burmese language 4
■
a n d culture! L earn in g Burmese can help you discover
the mystery a n d beauty o f one o f Southeast A s ia ’s most
e n ch a n tin g countries— a p la ce o f m ajestic rivers,
gleam ing stupas a n d charm ing people.
BURMESE FOR BEGINNERS...

teaches all four language skills—speaking, listening, reading & writing,
is effective for independent self-study n r classroom use.
offers clear, easy, step-by-step instruction, building on what has been previously learned,
introduces ybu to Burmese culture, geography and much more,
is written in a brisk, interesting style with beautiful Burmese fonts.
Burmese for Beginners is the perfect language guide for your journey into
the Golden Land—Burma (Myanmar)!
Hands on writing practice Useful vocabulary Realistic conversations
G ene M esher is a fo rm e r Fulbright

scholar w ho studied the com m unications
industry in Southeast Asia. He has been
visiting and w riting about the region for
fifteen years. Dr. Mesher has travelled
e xtensively in M yanm ar and currently
lives in Bangkok, Thailand.
Gene Mesher, Ph.D

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н и м

Paiboon Poomsan Publishing Paiboon Publishing

Cover and graphic design by Randy Kincaid

Printed by Chulalongkom University Printing House

Burmese is the largest member of the Tibeto-Burman language

Burmese for Beginners teaches you four basic language skills:

Each lesson also includes a section on how to read and write

Grateful thanks also go to the many native Burmese speakers in

Thanks also to Nance Cunningham for her many excellent

To all o f the above and others, I am truly thankful.

The Burmese tones can be shown schematically as follows:

/9/ 9 [33] likeainabout; asinhtg-min: coySs (cooked rice)

/in/ in Gq 8 in □qS in: 33S; a short i, as in win 08 (enter)

/on/ on 3 g ^ on on: as in: yan-gon (Rangoon)

/un/ un 3g ^ un 3 g ^ un: og^S as in: zun: <g^t (spoon)

/ain/ ain 3^8 ain 3^8 ain: as in: hsain s ^ S (store)

/aun/ aun• 6 3 3 0 8o aun G330 8 aun: G3 3 0 8t r\

Stopped Final Vowels (stopped tone only)

/a ’/ 33081 338 as in hpa’ 008 (read)

/e’/ 3308 as in je ’ g c S (chicken)

/iV 338 as in hni’ <^S (year)

/o ’/ 3^081 3 g 8 as in sa-o’ © 03go (book)

/u 7 3 jcS as in lu’-la’ CgcScoS (indej

/aiV 3^>o8 as in lai’ 0^08 (follow)

/ei’/ o 8c 6 i 388 as in o-yei’ 3 3 ^ 8 (shadow)

/auV 6 3 3 0 cS as in nau’ 6 <^Oc8 (next)

ti’ oo8(one) ts-hse ooSsooS(ten) to-ya oo8cp(100)

A more detailed discussion o f weakening is given in Lesson 7.

lb/ O 1 OO as in baby; be OOaS (left)

Id/ 3 1Q as in doll; da: QOS (knife)

/dh/ OO like the voiced th in this; pan:-dhi: o^soSs (apple)

/g/ O as in gold, gi-ta 800 (music)

/h/ OO as in honey; ho’-ke, cpcSob (yes)

similar to ch in chin, but with no aspiration and

formed using the flat o f the tongue (often

/j/ 9 | 1 [§ as in English jaw , but formed using the flat o f the

tongue (often transliterated as gy or gj); ¿3-pan

Ik/ OO as in skate (i.e., unaspirated); ka: OOOS (car)

/ng/ C as in ringing: ngaVcli (fish)

/ny/ 03 like n in pinata; nya 030 (right)

/p/ 0 as in pink; pai’-hsan y c S s o (money)

/r/ €| as in. red (used in loan w o rd ^ re-di-yo 6 C|§oij) (radio)

/s/ 0 as in soup; sa-o’ © 0300 (book)

/sh/ C^j as in shark; shi-de ^OOoS (to have)

N co same as the unaspirated t in standard; te’ OOcS

(be able to)

/w/ 0 like w in woman; win-de 08000S (to enter)

/y/ 00 1 as in you; yei 6 G| (water)

Izl O' I <S^| as in English zebra; zei: 6 <^|t (market)

/7 081810818 glottal stop as in lock, but w/o the puff o f air at

the end (final consonant only); w e’ o o S (pig)

Aspiration means the speaker breathes out heavily while making a

ch same as English ch as in chew, but more aspirated

hk 9 like k in kill, but more aspirated (paired with 00);

hm O like m but aspirated; -hma <jO (at)

hn like n but aspirated, hna <^0 (nose)

hs 90 same as s but aspirated (paired with ©); hsei: G90S

ht OO as t in tense but more aspirated (paired w/ 00); hti: cSt

Glottal stops and nasal n ’s are formed by adding a “killer” mark