Transcript Slide 1

Beginning Burmese Lessons
Different tones in Burmese
• In a tone language (tonal language), different
tones (like in music) will change the meaning of
the words, even if pronunciation of the word is
the same otherwise.
• English and almost all other European languages
are not tone languages at all.
• Many East Asian languages are tone languages
such as all the Chinese languages, Vietnamese, a
small number of Korean dialects
• (From Wikipedia..)
• In a tonal language, placing different
emphasis on the vowel changes the meaning.
•
• Some Burmese words may sound identical to
untrained ears, but mean different things
because there's tonal differences.
အ အအ အအ အအ အအ အအ
အအ အအ အအအအ အအအအ အအ
အအအ
a ar ei e ou ouu ae ai awt aw arn ar:
အ
a
အအ အအအ
ar ar:
အအအ
art
အအ အအ အအအ
ei
e
e:
အအ အအ အအအ
ou ouu ou:
အအအအ အအအအ အ
awt aw aw:
Some phrases
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So good. kaun: lite ta
It’s yummy/very delicious. sa: lo kaun: lite ta
Very lovely. chit saya kaun: like ta
So cute.
chit saya lay
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•
•
Any discount? shau par ohm:
I’m full.
wa bi
It is enough.
taw bi
That’s all.
dar par be
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Come……
lar par
Come here…. de ko lar par
Here…
de… de ko…. de mhar
I am here.
Kya naw de mhar shi de
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•
•
Go…
thwa: par
Go there…
ho ko thwa: par
There…
ho…ho ko… ho mhar…
I will be there.. kya naw ho mhar shi me
counting
အအ (short vowel ) အအအအအ (long vowel) အအအအအအ (open
vowel)
khu (short vowel ) se (long vowel)
yar (short vowel ) taun (long vowel) taun: (open vowel)
1
tha khu (short)
10
tha se (long)
100
tha yar (short vowel )
1,000 tha taun (long vowel)
10,000 tha taun: (open vowel)
Some Burmese lesson sites:
Sample video –at Myanmar
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGzU9d7qH2A
Lessons from the monk:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRNVz4kTyOg
Burmese Alphabets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTAYvHE_feQ
How to write Burmese Alphabets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ejpp41JJC1w