file 53735

Burmese By Earor

Essential Myanmar

Reference textto accompany the audio

Burmese By Earor

Essential Myanmar

ByJohn Okell

Available for free download fromhttp://www.soas.ac.uk/bbe/

The website ofThe School of Oriental and African Studies,

University of London

Burmese By Earor Essential Myanmar

First Published in England in 2002 by Audio-Forum, Sussex Publications Limited, MicroworldHouse, 4 Foscote Mews, London W9 2HH. ISBN1 86013 758 x

Audio-Forum relinquished publication rights in2006, after which the course was distributed bythe author.

From 2009 it has been available for downloadingfree of charge from the website of SOAS, Uni-versity of London.

Acknowledgements

The author gratefully acknowledges theassistance of Daw Khin Mya Swe and Daw YinYin May, both of whom read the draft course foraccuracy. He is also grateful to the following forfinding time to come to the studio and con-tribute to the recordings:

U Khin Daw Khin Mya SweU Nay Tun Daw Mo Mo KhaingU Nay Win Daw Saw Yu WinU Pe Than Daw Tin Htar SweU Than Lwin Tun Daw Tin May Aye

The recordings were made at The School of Ori-ental and African Studies in the University ofLondon by Michael Baptista and BernardHoward. Some vital late-stage electronic editingwould have been impossible without the capableand generous help of Dr Justin Watkins, Lec-turer in Burmese at SOAS. And SOAS providedfacilities for computing, printing, copying, tape-editing, faxing, phoning, email and so on.

The author

John Okell, a graduate of The Queen's College,Oxford, was Lecturer in Burmese (Myanmar) atthe School of Oriental and African Studies,University of London, until his retirement in1999. Since then he has undertaken short-termteaching engagements in Thailand, the USA andLondon, and is active in developing materialsfor the study of Burmese.

Okell has made numerous visits to Burma(Myanmar), is the designer of the Ava Burmesefont for computers, and acts as consultant forvarious Burma-related activities. He is aResearch Associate at the School of Oriental andAfrican Studies, and Chairman of the Britain-Burma Society in London. He was awarded theTuttle Grand Prize for 1996 for his work onBurmese By Ear.

In addition to articles on Burmese grammar,linguistics, and lexicography, Okell haspublished Burmese/Myanmar: a dictionary ofgrammatical forms (with Anna Allott, 2001),Burmese: an introduction (4 vols, 34 tapes, 1993),First steps in Burmese (1989), A guide to theromanization of Burmese (1971), and A referencegrammar of colloquial Burmese (2 vols, 1969).

CONTENTS

begins on: page n tape nIntroductory:

About this course 5About Burmese 8

Part 1. Foundations1 Statements and questions, numbers 1-9999, and prices

14 1A2 Going to do, want to do, please do, and counting

31 1B

Part 2. First needs3 Language help 43 2A4 Cafs and restaurants 47 2A5 Taxis 55 2B6 Shops 70 3A7 Taking photographs 79 3A8 Asking the way 83 3A

Part 3. First conversations9 Your visit to Burma 88 3A10 Asking names and ages 104 3B11 Asking about work 112 4A12 Asking about family 118 4A12+ Parents, brothers and sisters 125

Part 4. Review 4BOn the tapes, the Review sections are all placed together onTape 4 Side B, following the end of the Lessons. In thebooklet each Review section is located immediately afterthe group of Lessons it reviews.

AppendicesOutline description of Burmese

1 pronunciation 1272 script 1363 grammar 1444 the number system 1625 Topical vocabularies for

5.1 food and drinks 1735.2 sites and placenames 1785.3 kin terms 1825.4 you and I 1845.5 this, that and what 1865.6 traditional Burmese clothing 187

6 Further reading 1897 General vocabulary English-Burmese 193

The audioThe audio for Burmese by ear, six hours of playing time, was

originally issued on four cassette tapes, distributed as follows:Side at start 1A Lesson 1.1 begins1B Lesson 1.6 continues2A Lesson 2.2 continues2B Lesson 4.5 continues

Side at start 3A Lesson 6.1 begins3B Lesson 9.2 continues4A Lesson 10.4 continues4B Reviews for all Units begin

For the web edition the audio has been converted to mp3 format.Neither the text nor the audio files have been changed to reflectthe transfer from tape to mp3. So when you read or hear areference to a particular tape, please understand it as referring tothe corresponding track on the mp3 files. The new format makesit easier to find your place on the audio as each Lesson and eachSection has its own track:Track 1 Lesson 1.1Track 2 Lesson 1.1 pronunciationTrack 3 Lesson 1.1 numbersTrack 4 Lesson 1.1 numbers pron

Track 5 Lesson 1.2Track 6 Lesson 1.2 pronunciationTrack 7 Lesson 1.2 numbersTrack 8 Lesson 1.2 numbers pronetc

BURMESE BY EAR or ESSENTIAL MYANMARThe language has two names: Burmese and Myanmar.

See About Burmese below.

To start using the courseSimply put Tape 1 in your player and follow the instructions youhear. The tapes carry all the teaching and all the practice forBurmese by Ear, so you can learn everything in the coursewithout using the booklet at all. The booklet is provided forreference and backup only. For more detail see About thiscourse below.

Help yourself to learn: two vital steps1. After each Exercise, wind back the tape and repeat the exer-

cise until you can speak the answers without hesitating.2. At the end of each Unit, insert Tape 4 into your player and

work through the Review Sections on Side B. Wind back andrepeat each Review until you can answer fluently and accu-rately.

Why wind back?This is a highly compressed course. In order to squeeze all thematerial into the narrow compass of four tapes we had to leaveout much of the review and repetition that a longer coursewould have given you. This means that you yourself have toprovide the repetition you need to fix the new material in yourmemory. Hence the importance of the two steps above.

EF

Burmese By Ear 5

ABOUT THIS COURSE

BBE is a systematically graded foundation course inmodern colloquial Burmese. It aims to give you a confident andenjoyable start in speaking Burmese, focussing on what you aremost likely to need when you visit Burma: survival languagefor cafs, taxis, shops, and so on, and social language forgetting to know people and making friends. You will find thatBurmese is a much easier language to learn than many peoplethink.

BBE has several advantages over the conventional trav-ellers phrase book. First, it begins by giving you a grounding inthe rudiments of Burmese grammar, concentrating exclusivelyon the high-frequency elements you need for survival and socialpurposes. So instead of having to parrot-learn lengthy and un-memorable phrases, you learn how to make up your ownsentences and say what you want to say.

Secondly, you take a speaking part in the exercises anddialogues in BBE, so you have active practice in talking, andwhat you learn takes root.

Thirdly, because you take in the whole course through yourear you achieve an accurate pronunciation effortlessly from thestart instead of having to try and make sense of bafflingromanized spellings and inadequate written descriptions ofsounds.

Fourthly, you can listen to the tapes when your eyes andhands are occupied, so instead of having to find time in the dayto sit down and study, you can learn Burmese while yourewalking or washing or travelling or driving.

Course structure

The course is divided into four Parts. Before you can feelat all confident with a new language you need to get to know the

6 Burmese By Ear

common sentence types how to make statements, how to askquestions, and so on so Part 1 of BBE concentrates on just that.You can get by in Burmese with surprisingly few sentence types,so the focus of the lessons soon changes from sentence types tosituations: talking to waiters, talking to shopkeepers, and so on.

Also built into Part 1 are lessons on the Burmese numbersystem and counting, and separate sections on pronunciation.Many of the sounds of Burmese are the same as the sounds ofEnglish, so if youre a speaker of English it wont be hard to getthose sounds right. However, there are other sounds in Burmesethat English speakers often get wrong, and if you do, the resultscan be quite serious: you can find youve said something quitedifferent from what you meant to say sometimes disastrouslydifferent. The separate sections for pronunciation training arethere to ensure that you dont fall into that trap.

Part 2 is about first needs: the kinds of things yourelikely to want to say and understand soon after you arrive inBurma talking to waiters and shopkeepers, asking the wayand so on; and Part 3 is about meeting people socially: introduc-ing yourself, making friends, and finding out about each other.

Part 4 is the Review Section. Most of the course is made upof short lessons: each one introduces you to two or three newwords or phrases or structures, and gives you some practice withthem. Every now and again the tape will advise you to listen tothe relevant Review. The Review runs through all the languageyouve learned in the last few lessons, giving you an overview ofwhat youve covered, and reminding you of any words andstructures that may be slipping from your memory.

Another way you may find the Review Section helpful iswhen some weeks or months have passed since you workedthrough the lessons, and you just want to brush up what youlearned. The Review Section lets you have some practice with-out having to listen to the explanations in the lessons all overagain.

Burmese By Ear 7

In some of the practice dialogues you will find as youwill in real life that the Burmese speaker says something youcant follow. These passages are put in deliberately. They arethere to acclimatise you to the experience (so you wont panicwhen it happens for real) and to give you practice in makingappropriate responses: Could you say that again?, Im sorry: Idont understand, and so on.

Whats in the book

All the explanations and practice of the course are on thetapes. The book is an unnecessary extra. It provides

1. a summary, for each lesson, of the new structures and wordsyou have learned from the tapes, helpful if you want a quickoverview of what you learned last time, or a reminder of somewords or structures youve forgotten

2. a written reminder of the orally presented material, helpful forthose who can memorise language more easily if they see itwritten down but dont let the romanization mislead youinto producing strange pronunciations

3. notes and explanations that are too detailed for the tape4. in the appendices, for reference purposes, a brief outline of

Burmese grammar, of the pronunciation, of the script, and thenumber system; and a vocabulary.

In the book, Burmese words and phrases are written bothin Burmese script and in a romanization. There is no widelyaccepted system for romanizing Burmese. Some methods fail tomake all the distinctions you need to make in pronunciation, andother methods are awkward to read, so no one system has yetbeen devised that satisfies everyone. The system used in thebook is just one among many. Rather than relying on a roman-ization it is better to learn words by ear, or to learn to read thescript.

8 Burmese By Ear

ABOUT BURMESE

Burmese and Myanmar

The indigenous population of Burma is made up of severaldifferent ethnic and linguistic groups. Just as the United King-dom has its Scots and Welsh and English inhabitants, so doesBurma have Karens, Shan, Kayah, Mon, Kachin, and others. Thelargest of these groups is the Burmese, who account for nearly70% of the total population.

The Burmese name for themselves and their language hastwo forms: you use Myanmar in formal contexts (e.g. in booktitles or the names of university departments), and Bamar ininformal conversation. The name of the country in otherlanguages English, French, German, Thai, Japanese is basedon the informal version. The difference between the two forms israther like the way speakers of English talk informally aboutgoing to Holland but address letters to The Netherlands.

In 1989 the government announced that they wantedforeigners to stop using the words Burma and Burmese.Instead they wanted the world to use Myanmar for the coun-try and its indigenous people, and Bamar for the majorityethnic and linguistic group. So members of the ethnic minorities Karen, for example would be Myanmar by nationality andKaren by race; while the majority group would also be Myanmarby nationality, but their race would be Bamar. Previously, thesame distinction was made by using Burmese for the national-ity and Burman for the race.

The language you learn from this course is the language ofthe Bamar, but as it is recognized as the national language ofthe country and is used as a lingua franca by the Karen and Shanand other ethnic groups, the government refers to it asMyanmar.

Burmese By Ear 9

Not everyone accepts the change of name. Internationalorganizations like the UN have naturally acted on notificationfrom the government; and the international business community,who need to avoid governmental displeasure, have adopted thenew name without reservation. Foreigners and Burmese expa-triates who oppose the miltary government, and contest its rightto rule, deliberately persist in using the old names Burmese andBurma as a symbol of their opposition and defiance. A thirdgroup, which includes the author of this course, continue to usethe old names on the grounds that those are the names theiraudience is familiar with, whereas there are still many peoplewho dont yet know the new name Myanmar.

Speakers of Burmese

The population of Burma is estimated at around 45 million.Of these, around 70% are mother tongue speakers of Burmese,and most members of the ethnic minorities learn Burmese atschool or in the course of trading and travelling. Outside Burmathere are groups of speakers in Thailand and Bangladesh, manyof them refugees fleeing persecution. There are also quite largeexpatriate groups in Australia (particularly Perth), the US, theUK, and Japan.

You will find many people in Burma who can speakEnglish well, and others who remember a bit from schooldays.All staff in immigration, customs, tourist shops and most hotelsare English speakers. However, it is useful to learn to speak atleast a little Burmese for two reasons. One is that you will findthat English speakers are less common once you are off thebeaten track. The other reason is that a foreign speaker ofBurmese is still a rarity, and it gives genuine pleasure to manyBurmese to find that you have taken the trouble to try and learnthe language. And you will receive a warmer reception as aresult.

10 Burmese By Ear

The Burmese language

Precise relationships among many of the languages relatedto Burmese are not yet fully worked out, but the following familytree will give an idea of current thinking among specialists.

Sino-Tibetan

Sinitic Tibeto-Burman

Bodic Baric Burmic Karenic

varietiesof

Chinese

TibetanKanauriGurung,TamangLimbu

(N India,Nepal,

Himalayas)

Kuki-ChinNaga

MeitheiJinghpaw etc

(Assam,Manipur, N

Burma,Yunnan)

Lolo-Burmese

otherlangs

varietiesof Karen

(E Burma,W

Thailand)

Loloish:Lolo (Yi), Lahu, Lisu

Akha(Yunnan, N Burma,Thailand, Vietnam)

Burmish:Burmese, Maru,

Atsi(Burma, Yunnan)

Table adapted from data in A guide to the languages of theworld by Merritt Ruhlen (1987) and The major languages of

East and Southeast Asia by Bernard Comrie (1990, London,Routledge).

The sound system and structure of Burmese and its rela-tives differ from English and the more familiar Europeanlanguages in several striking ways. The phonology of Burmese

Burmese By Ear 11

includes a three-way contrast (voiced, voiceless and aspirate, e.g.g-k-kh) at five points of articulation, it has six pairs of plain andbreathed continuants (e.g. l-hl), and distinguishes four types ofsyllable by means of a combination of pitch and voice quality(high vs low, creaky vs plain). Notable features of Burmesesyntax are that the verb is always final in the sentence, that allsubordinate clauses precede the main clause, that relative clausesprecede their head noun, that markers corresponding to Englishprepositions follow the noun, and that the counting system usesclassifiers.

The two styles of Burmese

When Burmese speakers write a letter to a friend they writejust as they speak. However, when they are writing somethingweighty, like an academic article or an application to a govern-ment department or a notice to display on the wall, they use amarkedly different style. The normal conversational style isusually called the colloquial style, and the formal one is calledthe literary style. The difference lies almost entirely in thegrammar words: the words for if, but, when, from, and, and so on.You use one set of grammar words in the colloquial style and adifferent set for the literary style. For example:

The Burmese for: from because but pluralIn colloquial style: ga lo daw dweIn literary style: hma ywe mu mya

Apart from a few exceptions, all the other words nouns andverbs and so on remain the same in both styles.

The contrast between the two styles can be seen mostclearly in fiction. All the narrative in the text is written in literarystyle, but the dialogue, when the characters are saying things toeach other, is all written in the colloquial style.

What you learn in this course is all in the colloquial style.To study the literary style you need to learn to read the script.

12 Burmese By Ear

Burmese script and literature

Burmese has its own script. It was adapted for Burmesearound 1100 AD from the script used by the Mon people for theirlanguage, and that in turn was derived ultimately from a scriptdevised and used in India between 500 BC and 300 AD. Many ofthe languages of India and South East Asia are written in scriptsderived from the same source, so, although at first sight thecharacters of Burmese, Thai, Javanese, Khmer and the rest maynot look much like each other, they do share many commonfeatures. You will find an outline of the Burmese script systemin Appendix 2.

The earliest texts in Burmese are stone inscriptions record-ing the foundation of monasteries and pagodas, and donations ofland to the Buddhist religion. From around the 1400s and 1500swe have long poems on Buddhist history and teaching, andothers in praise of the king and his exploits. There are also earlyprose texts on law and history. In succeeding centuries therewere several innovations in literary creation, of which the mostmomentous was the introduction of fiction in the early 1900s.Contemporary Burmese publishing covers much the same rangeas any modern culture: newspapers and magazines, novels andshort stories (historical, thriller, detective, courtroom, propa-gandist, allegorical, romantic, comical, social, psychological, etc),comic strips, plays, poems, memoirs, travelogues, biographies,autobiographies, essays, educative writing and manuals andstudies of literature, history, economics, technology, religion,medicine, business, etc. There is also an active film and videoindustry. All publications in whatever medium are subject tostrict state censorship.

Romanizing Burmese

People who cant read and write Burmese script have tofind a way of representing Burmese words and names in otherwriting systems. Ever since the first days of contact with visitorsfrom the West people have attempted to write Burmese words in

Burmese By Ear 13

the roman letters, but not many agree on how the sounds ofBurmese should be spelled in the alien alphabet. Youll find thesame sound romanized as Me or May or Mei or Mey or Mae, andmany other sounds have just as many variants.

The problem is that Burmese has several sounds for whichthere are no obvious characters in the roman alphabet. The bestyou can hope for is that any one book should be consistent frombeginning to end, and that the letters it chooses to represent thesounds of Burmese are not too implausible. Remember that anyromanization system, however carefully designed, cant avoidusing some letters that stand for one sound in English andanother in Burmese. So you need to make a conscious effort toproduce the sound you hear on the tapes, not the sound youthink you ought to hear when you read the romanization.

Body language

Every culture has its set of conventional signs and gesturesthat show respect or cause offence. Things to remember inBurma:

Treat older people and Buddhist monks with respect. AlsoBuddha images and other religious objects.

Dont tower over people senior to yourself: lower your head alittle if you have to pass close in front of them.

Dont point your feet towards a senior person.Dont touch people on the head.Behave modestly: dont wear revealing clothing, and avoid

hugging and kissing in public.Use both hands to hand something to a person senior to

yourself, and to receive something from them.Take off shoes and socks before entering a house or the

grounds of a monastery or pagoda.Keep calm and courteous in all situations.

For a full account of whats polite and whats offensive inBurmese society, see Culture shock Burma, by Saw Myat Yin(details in Appendix 6).

14 Burmese By Ear

Pronounce ei as in vein, ai as in Thailand, ou as in though, au as in Sauerkraut.

SUMMARY AND NOTESFOR THE LESSONS ON THE TAPES

REMINDERAll the essential information this course contains is on thetapes, along with all the practice in talking and listening.

This booklet only contains summaries, additional notes, andreference lists. On its own it will not help you learn to

speak Burmese.

PART 1. FIRST WORDS AND SENTENCE TYPES

UNIT 1. STATEMENTS AND QUESTIONS,NUMBERS 1-9999, AND PRICES

1.1. IT IS , ISNT IT?

New wordspu-deh pty\ to be hot, it is hote-deh eA;ty\ to be cold, it is coldkaun-deh ekac\;ty\ to be good, it is goodya-deh rty\ to be all right, it is all right

SentencesPu-deh-naw? pty\ena\" Its hot, isnt it?E-deh-naw? eA;ty\ena\" Its cold, isnt it?K aun-deh-naw? ekac\;ty\ena\" Its good, isnt it?Y a-deh-naw? rty\ena\" Its all right, isnt it?

NotesSuffixes. Any word which is attached to the end of other words

is called a suffix. For example, in English -ing is a suffix:you add it to talk to make talking, to fill to make filling and soon. Suffixes are very important in Burmese, because they arethe bits that carry almost all the grammar: ideas like did,dont, will, in, if and many others.

-naw is a suffix that you add to a statement when you wantsomeone to agree with you. You can think of it as meaningright?, but its often more appropriate to translate -naw with

Unit 1: First words 15


phrases like isnt it?, dont you?, wont they?, and soon.

-deh is a suffix that has two functions:1. It is used to show you are making a statement, as in:

Pu-deh. Its hot.E-deh. Its cold.

2. It is used when you are talking about individual Burmesewords, as in:

Pu-deh. To be hot.E-deh. To be cold.

For a summary of essential Burmese grammar see Appendix3.

Adjectives. Although we have to translate pu-deh, e-deh and theothers with the English adjectives: hot, cold, and so on, interms of Burmese grammar they must be classified as verbs:to be hot, to be cold, etc.

It. Burmese does have words for it, but when its obviouswhat youre talking about you normally leave them out. So inthe question

K aun-deh-naw? Its good, isnt it?all you are actually saying in Burmese is Is good, right?

Writing and pronouncing Burmese. Burmese is normally writtenin its own script, which is what you see in the central columnabove. Learners who havent yet learned to read Burmese scripthave to use a romanization a method of representing Burmesesounds in roman letters. That is what you see in the left handcolumn. As Burmese has some sounds which are not used inEnglish, and a romanization has to try and represent them withfamiliar roman letters, not all the letters stand for the sounds youmay expect. That is one of the reasons why it it is far moreeffective to learn through your ears from the tapes rather thanfrom the printed page. Guidance on pronunciation is given onthe tape in each of the first eight lessons. Always follow thepronunciation you hear on the tape, and dont try to read newwords aloud from the page. At the end of this booklet you willfind a description of all the sounds of Burmese, a note of which

16 Burmese By Ear


roman letters we use to represent them, and an outline of theBurmese writing system.

Pronunciation pointsPronunciation points that need attention are mentionedon the tape as they occur in the first few Lessons. For anoverview of the sounds of Burmese, and the romansymbols used here to represent them, see Appendix 1.

Plain P and aspirate P:pan-deh, pan-deh pn\;ty\' Pm\;ty\" to spurt, to catch

Plain K and aspirate K:koun-bi, koun-bi. kun\p^' Kun\p^" Its all gone, Its

started jumping.High tone and low tone:

pu-deh, pu-deh pty\' p;ty\ to be hot, to bestuck together

Numberst iq hniqthounle ts\_Ns\_quM;_el; 1234

For figures in Burmese script see Appendix 2 (outline of Burmesescript).

Pronunciation pointsPlain T and aspirate T:

taun-deh,taun-deh

etac\;ty\'eTac\;ty\

to ask,to thump

Plain N and breathed N:na, hna na' Na sore, noseniq, hniq ns\' Ns\ sink, two

Glottal stop:t iq, hniq, cauq ts\' Ns\' eKak\ one, two, six

For a summary of the Burmese number system see Appendix 4.



1.2. YES, IT IS.

SentencesS1 stands for Speaker 1, and S2 for Speaker 2. We use thisconvention to show when one sentence is a response to another.

S1 Pu-deh-naw? pty\ena\" Its hot, isnt it?S2 H ouq-keh. Pu-ba-deh. hut\k." ppty\" Yes, it is.S1 E-deh-naw? eA;ty\ena\" Its cold, isnt it?S2 H ouq-keh.

E-ba-deh.hut\k."eA;pty\"

Yes, it is.

S1 K aun-deh-naw? ekac\;ty\ena\" Its good, isnt it?S2 H ouq-keh.

K aun-ba-deh.hut\k."ekac\;pty\"

Yes, it is.

S1 Y a-deh-naw? rty\ena\" Its all right, isnt it?S2 H ouq-keh. Y a-ba-deh. hut\k." rpty\" Yes, it is.

NotesH ouq-keh. Literally It is so. Used like Yes in English to show

you agree with what someone has said. Also to show you arefollowing what they say you hear it a lot when someone islistening to a caller on the phone.

-ba (in pu-ba-deh etc) is a suffix people add in to show they arebeing polite. So both Pu-ba-deh and Pu-deh mean Its hot,but the first is a little more polite and courteous, the second alittle more casual, even brusque. For practice on the tape weuse the politer option []-ba-deh throughout. Note that -ba isnot needed in questions: it is perfectly polite to ask Pu-deh-naw? (rather than Pu-ba-deh-naw?)

Pronunciation pointVowels e and eh:

le-deh, leh-deh el;ty\' lty\ to be heavy, to fall overwe-deh, weh-deh ewty\' wy\ty\ to share out, to buy

Numberslenga

cauqkun-hniqel;_c;eKak\_KuNs\

4567

18 Burmese By Ear


Pronunciation pointConsonant ng-:

nga c; five

1.3. NEW WORDSa-deh Aa;ty\ to be freehla-deh lty\ to be prettysaq-teh sp\ty\ to be hot (to taste)caiq-teh kik\ty\ to like

Notes-teh. After a word ending in -q the suffix -deh (see 1.1) is pro-

nounced -teh, as in saq-teh and caiq-teh above. In the sameway after a word ending in -q the suffix -ba (see 1.2) ispronounced -pa; example:

S2 Saq-pa-deh.(not Saq-ba-deh.)

sp\pty\" It is hot to taste

These two changes are examples of the Voicing Rule. Formore, see Appendix 1. When we need to refer to these twosuffixes again, we give both the normal and the voiced forms:-pa/-ba, -teh/-deh.

You and I. Burmese does have words for you and I, asit does for it, but most of the time its quite clear from thesituation who or what you are talking about, so people simplyleave out those words. So, for example, in this exchange:

S1 Caiq-teh-naw? You like it, dont you?S2 H ouq-keh. Caiq-pa-deh. Yes, I do.

all you are in fact saying in Burmese is S1 Caiq-teh-naw? Like, right?S2 H ouq-keh. Caiq-pa-deh. True. Like.

Pronunciation pointsPlain L and breathed L:

laun-deh,hlaun-deh

elac\ty\'elac\ty\

to burn,to store away

Plain high tone and creaky high tone:ya-deh, ya-deh rty\' ya;ty\ to be all right, to itch



Numberskun-hniqshiqkotaseh

KuNs\_rs\kui;_ts\Sy\

78910

Pronunciation pointVowels o and aw:

o-deh, aw-deh Auity\' eAa\ty\ to be old, to shout

1.4. NO, IT ISNT.

SentencesS1 Caiq-teh-naw? kik\ty\ena\" You like it, dont you?S2 Macaiq-pa-bu. mkik\pB;" No, I dont.S1 Y a-deh-naw? rty\ena\" Its all right, isnt it?S2 Maya-ba-bu. mrpB;" No, it isnt.

NotesM a []-ba-bu. It isnt [] or I dont [] etc. M a- is the

negative prefix: it is attached to the beginning of a word,and conveys the meaning not; and when youre making anegative statement, instead of using the suffix -teh/-deh , youuse the suffix -pu/-bu.

-ba (in Mapu-ba-bu etc) is the same polite suffix as the -pa/-ba inPu-ba-deh etc. It is a signal that you are being polite. So youwill hear people saying both Mapu-ba-bu and Mapu-bu. Bothmean the same thing, but the first is more polite than thesecond.

No. Burmese doesnt use a word that corresponds directly toNo. When youre asked if you like something and youwant to answer No, you just say Not like.

Pronunciation pointPlain C and aspirate C:

ceq-teh, ceq-teh kk\ty\' Kk\ty\ to learn by heart, to cook

Numbersthoun-nya quv 0

20 Burmese By Ear


S1 Teh-li-poun nan-baqbeh-lauq-leh?

ty\l^Pun\; nMpt\By\elak\l"

Whats yourtelephonenumber?

S2 Le-le-kun-kun-thoun-ba.

el;el;Kn\Kn\quM;p" Its 44773.

Teh-li-poun nan-baq telephone number. Examples of Englishwords that have been adopted into Burmese. Some speakerspronounce English loanwords with a good English accent(usually British English), and others pronounce them with astrong Burmese accent.

Beh-lauq-leh what is? Literally how much?Kun. A short form of kun-hniq KuNs\ often used in saying phone

numbers.Thoun-nya zero. Take care not to confuse this word with thoun

three: apart from the second syllable nya, a major differenceis that three has a high tone (thoun) where zero has a lowtone (thoun).

-ba (or -pa after a word ending in -q ). A suffix added to asentence to show you are being polite, like the -pa/-ba in Pu-ba-deh etc.

Pronunciation pointsConsonant ny-:

thoun-nya quv zeroFinal nasal -n:

thoun, teh-li-poun quM;' ty\l^Pun\; three, telephone

1.5. NEW WORDS

na*leh-deh na;lv\ty\ to understandLiterally ear (na) goes round

ze*c-deh eZ;k^;ty\ to be expensiveLiterally price (ze) is great.

Notes*. We use the * to remind you that the negative prefix goes

before the second element, not before the first:



Na maleh-ba-bu. na;mlv\pB;" I dont understand.Ze mac-ba-bu. eZ;mk^;pB;" It isnt expensive.

You dont say Mana-leh-ba-bu or Maze-c-ba-bu.

Numberstasehhnaseh

thoun-zehts\Sy\_Ns\Sy\quM;Sy\

102030

le-zehnga-zehcauq-seh

el;Sy\_c;Sy\eKak\Sy\

405060

kun-nasehshiq-sehko-zeh

KuNs\Sy\_rs\Sy\kui;Sy\

708090

taya ts\ra 100

-seh/-zeh ten. In compound numbers (e.g. t asehhnasehthoun-zeh) -seh is voiced to -zeh except after a syllable endingin -q or in - a . Changing the pronunciation from s to z isknown as voicing. For more see Voicing Rule inAppendix 1.

t i q /t a - one. When the numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq arecombined with seh, they are shortened, so instead of t iq-seh,hniq-seh, kun-hniq-seh you hear: taseh, hnaseh, kun-naseh.We call this change from t iq to t a etc weakening. It takesplace when t iq, hniq, kun-hniq are combined with any otherword: t aseh one ten, hnaya two hundreds, kun-nat aunseven thousands, takweq one cup, and so on.

Pronunciation pointPlain S and aspirate S:

san-deh,san-deh

sm\;ty\'Sn\;ty\

to try out,to be strange

1.6. VERY, A LITTLE, NOT VERY

theiq qip\ veryneh-neh nn (or nv\;nv\;) a little

Example sentencesTheiq e-ba-deh. qip\ eA;pty\" Its very cold.

22 Burmese By Ear


Theiq caiq-pa-deh. qip\ kik\pty\" I like it very much.Neh-neh saq-pa-

deh.nn sp\pty\" Its a bit hot to taste.

Neh-neh ze*c-ba-deh.

nn eZ;k^;pty\" Its a bit expensive.

Theiq mapu-ba-bu. qip\ mppB;" Its not very hot.Theiq na maleh-ba-

bu.qip\ na;mlv\pB;" I dont understand

very much.

NotesT h e i q used with a negated verb means It is so, but notextremely; example:

Theiq mapu-ba-bu = Its not very hot,in the sense of: It is hot, but not extremely hot.

Word order. Notice that theiq and caiq-pa-deh come in that order:very much I like the opposite order from English. Therule is that in Burmese all verbs come at the end of thesentence.

Pronunciation pointConsonant t- and consonant th-:

toun-deh, thoun-deh tuM;ty\' quM;ty\ to be stupid, to use

NumbersNumbers between the round tens are made in the same way as

in English; examples:cauq-seh-le eKak\Sy\.el; 64nga-zeh-ko c;Sy\.kui; 59etc

Notice that the syllable seh (or zeh) ten is normally changed tose h (or ze h) (low tone is changed to creaky tone) whenfollowed by another number.

The numbers 11 to 19 inclusive often lose the first syllable. Inplace of

taseh-tiq,taseh-hniq, etc

ts\Sy\.ts\'ts\Sy\.Ns\' sqv\

11,12, etc

you often hear



seh-tiq,seh-hniq, etc

Sy\.ts\'Sy\.Ns\' sqv\

Variant.In place of cauq-seh-le etc you may sometimes hear cauq-seh-

neh le, literally sixty and four. More examples:nga-zeh-ko

or nga-zeh-neh ko

c;Sy\.kui;or c;Sy\n kui;

59

thoun-zeh-cauqor thoun-zeh-neh cauq

quM;Sy\.eKak\or quM;Sy\n eKak\

36

1.7. NEW WORDS

ze*co-deh eZ;Koity\ to be cheapLiterally the price is sweet

ne*kaun-deh enekac\;ty\ to be wellLiterally status is good. Ne*kaun-deh-naw Youre well,arent you? is a common greeting, like How are you?

asin*pye-deh ASc\epty\ to work out wellUsed in connection with, for example, whether your accom-modation is satisfactory, or whether you are comfortable inthe back seat, etc.

Numberstayahnayathoun-ya ts\ra_Ns\ra_quM;ra 100200300le-yanga-yacauq-ya el;ra_c;ra_eKak\ra 400500600kun-nayashiq-yako-ya KuNs\ra_rs\ra_kui;ra 700800900tataun ts\eTac\ 1000

Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken before yaa hundred, in the same way as they do before seh/zeh ten(Lesson 1.5).

1.8. IS IT? DO YOU?

Example sentencesS1 Na leh-dhala? na;lv\qla;" Do you understand?

24 Burmese By Ear


S2 H ouq-keh.Na leh-ba-deh.

hut\k."na;lv\pty\"

Yes, I do.

S1 Saq-thala? sp\qla;" Is it hot to taste?S2 Masaq-pa-bu. msp\pB;" No, it isnt.

NotesVoicing. The suffix -thala is voiced to -dhala except after a sylla-

ble ending in -q. See Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.Questions ending in -naw encourage S2 to answer Yes, whereas

questions ending in -thala/-dh ala dont attempt to push S2 ineither direction. Compare these two examples:

Caiq-thala? kik\qla;" Do you like it?Caiq-teh-naw? kik\ty\ena\" You do like it, dont you?

Earlier you learned Ne-kaun-deh-naw? Youre well, arent you?as a form of greeting. The question also occurs in three otherversions. Here are all four:1 Ne-kaun-deh-

new?enekac\;ty\ena\" You are well, aren't

you?2 Ne-kaun-dhala? enekac\;qla;" Are you well?3 Ne-kaun-la? enekac\;la;" Are you well?4 Ne-kaun-yeh-la? enekac\;r.la;" Are you well?

As greetings formulae, all four are used interchangeably. Thesecond form in this list uses the regular question ending youhave just learned. The third is a reduced version of that. Andthe fourth uses the suffix -yeh in place of the suffix -dha-: see theverb suffixes section in Appendix 3 (outline grammar).

In all four cases the answer is the same:Ne-kaun-ba-deh. enekac\;pty\" Im fine.

NumbersNumbers between the round hundreds are made in the same

way as in English; examples:taya ko-zeh shiq ts\ra.kui;Sy\.rs\ 198hnaya cauq-seh nga Ns\ra.eKak\Sy\.c; 265etc



Notice that the syllable ya hundred is often changed to ya (lowtone changes to creaky tone) when followed by another number.You may hear either t aya ko-zeh shiq or t aya ko-zeh shiq. Thesame tone change occurs with seh ten (Lesson 1.6).

Variant.In place of taya ko-zeh shiq etc you may sometimes hear taya-nehko-zeh shiq , literally a hundred and ninety eight. Moreexamples:

hnaya cauq-seh nga

or hnaya-neh cauq-seh nga

Ns\ra.eKak\Sy\.c;or Ns\ran eKak\Sy\.c;

265

kun-naya-hnasehor kun-naya-neh hnaseh

KuNs\ra.Ns\Sy\or KuNs\ran Ns\Sy\

720

There is a similar variant for numbers in tens and units (Lesson1.6).

1.9. THIS AND THAT

da d this (nearer me)eh-da Ad that (nearer you)

Example sentencesDa saq-thala? d sp\qla;" Is this hot to taste?Da e-dhala? d eA;qla;" Is this cold?Eh-da zec-dhala? Ad eZ;*k^;qla;" Is that expensive?Eh-da caiq-pa-deh. Ad kik\pty\" I like that one.

NotesWord order. Notice that in sentences like Eh-da caiq-pa-deh

Burmese word order is the opposite of English. In Englishyou say I like that one, but in Burmese you say That one Ilike. The rule is that in Burmese all verbs come at the end ofthe sentence. We noticed the same rule with theiq in Lesson1.6.

This and that. There is no clear-cut boundary between da andeh-da : dont be surprised if we sometimes translate da asthat and eh-da as this. The boundary is equally vague in

26 Burmese By Ear


English: compare (a) The date: this is what I want to discusswith (b) The date: that is what I want to discuss.

Other words for this and that: see the Topical Vocabulary forthis, that and what.

Numberstataunhnataun ts\eTac\_Ns\eTac\ 10002000thoun-daunle-daun quM;eTac\_el;eTac\ 30004000nga-dauncauq-taun c;eTac\_eKak\eTac\ 50006000kun-nataunshiq-taun KuNs\eTac\_rs\eTac\ 70008000ko-dauntathaun kui;eTac\_ts\eqac\; 900010000

Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken before tauna thousand as usual (Lesson 1.5).

Voicing. Taun a thousand is voiced to daun except after asyllable ending in -q or in -a. It is obeying the same rule asseh/zeh ten (Lesson 1.5). See the examples, and VoicingRule in Appendix 1.

1.10. NEW WORDS

lo-jin-deh luiKc\ty\ to want (something)hma-deh maty\ to order (e.g. a drink in a caf)atha*pa-deh Aqa;pty\ to have meat in (meat contain)

Noteslo-jin-deh. Make sure you keep the low tone on lo- good and low.

If you pronounce lo with a high tone, the word sounds like acoarse way of saying you want to have sex.

Pronunciation pointPlain M and breathed M:

maq-teh,hmaq-teh

mt\ty\'mt\ty\

to be steep,to make a mark

NumbersNumbers between the round thousands are made in the same

way as in English; examples:



cauq-taun nga-ya eKak\eTac\ c;ra 6500hnataun ko-ya nga-zeh

nga

Ns\eTac\. kui;ra c;Sy\. c; 2955

tataun hnaya thoun-zeh le ts\eTac\. Ns\ra. quM;Sy\. el; 1234Notice that the syllable taun thousand may be changed to taun

(low tone changed to creaky) when followed by anothernumber. You may hear either cauq-taun nga-ya or cauq-taunnga-ya. The same tone change occurs with seh ten and yaa hundred (Lessons 1.6, 1.8).

Numbers beginning with one thousand often lose the firstsyllable. In place of tataun taya (1100), tataun hnaya nga-zeh(1250) etc, you will hear taun taya, taun hnaya nga-zeh, etc.There is a similar variation for numbers beginning with taseh(Lesson 1.6).

Variant.In place of cauq-taun nga-ya etc you may sometimes hear cauq-

taun-neh nga-ya, literally six thousand and five hundred.More examples:

hnataun ko-ya nga-zeh nga

or hnataun-neh ko-ya nga-zeh nga

Ns\eTac\. kui;ra c;Sy\. c;Ns\eTac\n kui;ra c;Sy\. c;

2955

tataun hnaya thoun-zeh le

or tataun-neh hnayathoun-zeh le

ts\eTac\. Ns\ra. quM;Sy\. el;or ts\eTac\n Ns\ra. quM;Sy\.el;

1234

There are similar variants for numbers in tens and units and inhundreds and units (Lessons 1.6 and 1.8).

1.11. WHICH ONE?

Example sentencesBeh-ha

atha*pa-dhaleh?By\haAqa;*pql"

Which one has meat in?

Beh-ha saq-thaleh?

By\hasp\ql"

Which one is hot to taste?

Beh-hae-dhaleh?

By\haeA;ql"

Which one is cool?Which ones arecooler/the coolest?

28 Burmese By Ear


NotesBeh-ha: literally which thing? which one?. Also used where

English speakers would say which things? which ones?:Burmese does have ways of distinguishing singular andplural, but you dont always have to use them.

Questions that ask Which? What? Why? etc (in this case beh-ha)end in -thaleh (or its voiced version -dhaleh). Questions thatcan be answered with a Yes or a No end in -thala/-dhala. Com-pare these two:

Beh-ha pu-dhaleh? By\ha pql" Which one is the hot one?Eh-da pu-dhala? Ad pqla;" Is that one hot?

NumbersS1 Da beh-lauq-leh? d By\elak\l" How much is this?S2 Le-zeh cauq-caq-pa. el;Sy\.

eKak\kp\p"Its 46 kyats.

caq kyat. The unit of Burmese currency. In 2009 the officialexchange rate was 6 kyats to US dollar, but on the street youcould get around 1000 kyats to the dollar.

Update on prices in 2013This course was written in 1996. In the intervening years the cost ofliving in Burma has risen spectacularly. A cup of tea, for example, thatcost under 20 kyats in 1996 cost 300 kyats in 2013. A ball point penthat cost 8 kyats at the time of writing would cost around 1000 kyats in2013. As a general rule, 200 kyats is now the lowest denomination inuse, and the example prices used in BBE should be multiplied byabout 15 to reflect 2013 prices.

Voicing. In compounds the word caq is voiced to jaq except after-q, or after hna or kun-na. With t a- however, you say t a jaq.For more see Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.

Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken before caqkyat as usual (Lesson 1.5).

Round numbers. When a number of kyats ends in a 0, the wordcaq is omitted; examples:

tataun ts\eTac\ 1000 kyatsnga-ya c;ra 500 kyats

If theres any ambiguity, people may add a word meaningmoney: ngwe nga-ya , or a word meaning Burmesecurrency: Bama ngwe nga-ya.



REVIEW FOR UNIT 1: FOUNDATIONS, PART 1Review exercises are recorded in the Review Section, on Tape 4Side B.

Phone numbersTape Learnerthoun-cauq-

thoun-cauq-ko

36369 quM;eKak\quM;eKak\kui; 36369

t iq-thoun-nya-tiq-thoun-nya-le

10104 ts\quvts\quvel; 10104

hniq-kun-hniq-nga-nga-shiq

27558 Ns\KuNs\c;c;rs\ 27558

Tape LearnerWhats your

phone number?Teh-li-poun nan-baq beh-

lauq-leh?ty\l^Pun\;nMpt\By\elak\l"

Its 33669 Thoun-thoun-cauq-cauq-ko-ba. 33669-p"Its 11005 Tiq-tiq-thoun-nya-thoun-nya-nga-ba. 11005-p"Its 42278 Le-hniq-hniq-kun-niq-shiq-pa. 42278-p"

Prices in Burmese currencyTape Learnertajaq 1-kp\ 1 kyatshiq-seh hnacaq 82-kp\ 82 kyatthoun-zeh kun-

nacaq37-kp\ 37 kyat

cauq-ya nga-zeh 650/- 650 kyatle-daun ko-ya 4900-/- 4900 kyatTape LearnerHow much is

this?Da beh-lauq-leh? d By\elak\l"

Its 6 kyat. Cauq-caq-pa. 6-kp\p"Its 21 kyat. H naseh tajaq-pa. 21-kp\p"Its 174 kyat. Taya kun-naseh le-

jaq-pa.174-kp\p"

Its 10 kyat. Taseh-ba. 10-p"Its 530 kyat. Nga-ya thoun-zeh-

ba.530-p"

Its 8900 kyat. Shiq-taun ko-ya-ba. 8900-p"

30 Burmese By Ear


Question and answerTape Learner

S1 Youre well, arentyou?

Ne kaun-deh-naw? enekac\;ty\ena\"

S2 Yes I am. H ouq-keh. Ne kaun-ba-deh.

hut\k.'enekac\;pty\"

S1 This is all right, isntit?

Y a-deh-naw? rty\ena\"

S2 Yes it is. H ouq-keh. Y a-ba-deh.

hut\k.' rpty\"

S1 You understand,dont you?

Na leh-deh-naw? na;lv\ty\ena\"

S2 No I dont. Na maleh-ba-bu. na;mlv\pB;"S1 Its working out all

right, isnt it?A sin pye-deh-naw? ASc\epty\ena\"

S2 No it isnt. A sin mapye-ba-bu. ASc\ meppB;"

A lot and a littleTape LearnerIts very pretty. Theiq hla-ba-deh. qip\ lpty\"Its very hot. Theiq pu-ba-deh. qip\ ppty\"Its a bit cold. Neh-neh e-ba-deh. nn eA;pty\"Its a bit expen-

sive.Neh-neh zec-ba-deh. nn eZ;k^;pty\

Its very cheap. Theiq zeco-ba-deh. qip\ eZ;Koipty\Its not very hot to

taste.Theiq masaq-pa-bu. qip\ msp\pB;"

Its not very good. Theiq makaun-ba-bu. qip\ mekac\;pB;"

This and thatTape Learner

S1 Do you like this one? Da caiq-thala? d kik\qla;"S2 Not very much. Theiq macaiq-pa-

bu.qip\ mkik\pB;"

S1 Which one do youlike?

Beh-ha caiq-thaleh?

By\hakik\ql"

S2 I like that one. Eh-da caiq-pa-deh. Ad kik\pty\"



S1 Do you want this one? Da lo-jin-dhala? d luiKc\qla;"S2 Not very much. Theiq malo-jin-ba-

bu.qip\ mluiKc\pB;"

S1 Which one do youwant?

Beh-ha lo-jin-dhaleh?

By\haluiKc\ql"

S2 I want that one. Eh-da lo-jin-ba-deh.

Ad luiKc\pty\"

Which one did youorder?

Beh-ha hma-dhaleh?

By\ha maql"

Which one has meatin it?

Beh-ha athapa-dhaleh?

By\ha Aqa;pql"

Does this one havemeat in it?

Da athapa-dhala? d Aqa;pqla;"

Is this one free? Da a-dhala? d Aa;qla;"

GreetingsHow are you? Ne kaun-deh-naw?

Ne kaun-dhala?Ne kaun-la?Ne kaun-yeh-la?

en ekac\;ty\ena\"en ekac\;qla;"en ekac\;la;"en ekac\;r.la;"

Im fine. Ne kaun-ba-deh. en ekac\;pty\"

UNIT 2.GOING TO DO, WANT TO DO, PLEASE DO, COUNTING

2.1. EATING AND DRINKING

New wordsba Ba what?sa-deh sa;ty\ to eatthauq-teh eqak\ty\ to drink

Some foods and drinks known in Burma under their foreignnames

Cocacola, Pepsi, Seven-Up, Fanta, Sparkling, Vimto, limejuiceHorlicks, Ovaltine, Milo, cocoa, coffeebeer, whisky, rum

32 Burmese By Ear


sandwich, hamburger, hotdog, biscuit (= US cookie)

Example sentencesS1 Peq-si thauq-thala? pk\s^ eqak\qla;" Did you drink a

Pepsi?S2 Mathauq-pa-bu. meqak\pB;" No, I didnt.S1 Ba thauq-thaleh? Ba eqak\ql" What did you

drink?S2 K ouq thauq-pa-deh. kut\ eqak\pty\" I drank a Coke.

S1 H an-ba-ga sa-deh-naw?

hMBagsa;ty\ena\"

You do eat ham-burgers, dontyou?

S2 Masa-ba-bu. msa;pB;" No, I dont.S1 Ba sa-dhaleh? Ba sa;ql" What do you eat?S2 H aw-daw sa-ba-deh. eha.ed sa;pty\" I eat hotdogs.

Notesba what? is derived from beh-ha which one? Questions con-

taining ba, like questions containing beh-ha , take the suffix-thaleh/-dhaleh (see the note in Lesson 1.11).

Present and past. The suffixes -pa-deh and -pa-bu (or their voicedforms -ba-deh and -ba-bu), which mark statements, and thesuffixes -tha leh, -thala, and -teh-naw (or their voiced forms-dhaleh, -dhala, and -deh-naw), which mark questions, can refereither to the present or to the past. So, for example, Peq-sithauq-thala? can mean either Do you drink Pepsi? or Didyou drink Pepsi? Which meaning the speaker has in mind isusually obvious from the context. It is surprising how rarelythere is any ambiguity and if a sentence is ambiguous, thereare words one can use to make ones meaning clear.

Singular and plural. Burmese is similarly economical in indicat-ing singular and plural. A sentence like H an-ba-ga sa-dhala?can mean either Did you eat a hamburger? or Did you eathamburgers? Again, there are ways of indicating singular andplural in Burmese, but you dont always need to use them.

Unit 2: Eating and drinking 33


Word order. As noted earlier (1.9), in Burmese the verb is thelast element in the sentence: K ouq thauq-pa-deh I drank aCoke is literally Coke drank.

NumbersPrices in dollars. Dollars are counted in much the same way askyats; example:

le-daw-la 4-edla $4seh-nga-daw-la 15-edla $15taya kun-naseh thoun-daw-la 173-edla $173

There is one important difference. When you were saying roundnumbers of kyats you omitted the word caq, but when you havea round number of dollars you keep the word daw-la but put it infront of the number; examples:

daw-la le-zeh edla el;Sy\ $40daw-la taya nga-zeh edla ts\ra. c;Sy\ $150daw-la shiq-taun edla rs\eTac\ $8000

The same principle operates for anything else you can count. Wecall it the Round Number Rule. Examples:

seh-ko-ga-lan Sy\.kui; gln\ 19 gallonsga-lan hnaseh gln\ Ns\Sy\ 20 gallonshnaya ko-zeh nga-main Ns\ra. kui;Sy\. c;muic\ 295 milesmain thoun-ya muic\ quM;ra 300 miles

There is one exception to the Round Number Rule. Although thenumber 10 ends in a zero and is mathematically a round number,it is treated in speech as an unround number:

seh daw-la Sy\ edla 10 dollarsseh ga-lan Sy\ gln\ 10 gallonsseh main Sy\ muic\ 10 miles

and so on.

When combined with daw-la the numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniqweaken in the usual way: tadaw-la, le-zeh-hnadaw-la and so on.

2.2. GOING TO DOTo make statements or ask questions about future events, youuse a different set of verb suffixes. Essentially all you are doingis replacing -teh/-deh with -meh, but the correspondence is a little

34 Burmese By Ear


obscured. Compare the following two sets of sentences. Theyuse the verb thauq-teh to drink.

Present/past1 K aw-pi thauq-

thala?eka\P^ eqak\qla;" Did you (do you)

drink coffee?2 Mathauq-pa-bu. meqak\pB;" No, I didnt (I

dont).3 Ba thauq-thaleh? Ba eqak\ql" What did you (do

you) drink?4 K o-ko thauq-pa-deh. kuikui; eqak\pty\" I drank (I drink)

cocoa.Future1 K aw-pi thauq-mala? eka\P^ eqak\mla;" Are you going to

drink coffee?2 Mathauq-pa-bu. meqak\pB;" No, Im not.3 Ba thauq-maleh? Ba eqak\ml" What are you

going to drink?4 K o-ko thauq-meh. kuikui; eqak\my\" Im going to drink

cocoa.

Note that on line 4 in each set, -teh/-deh corresponds to -meh .You can use the polite suffix -pa/-ba with both -teh/-deh and-meh:

thauq-teh = thauq-pa-dehthauq-meh = thauq-pa-meh

People tend to use -pa/-ba more often with -teh/-deh than with-meh, which is why we use -pa-deh/-ba-deh here but not -pa-meh/-ba-meh; but in principle you can add or omit -pa/-ba withboth -teh/-deh and -meh.

In questions, before -la or -leh (lines 1 and 3), -meh is weakenedto -ma , reflecting the way in which -teh/-deh is weakened to-tha /-dh a in the same environment. For weakening seeLesson 1.5.

In the negative there is no change; so I didnt drink, I dontdrink, and Im not going to drink are all Mathauq-pa-bu.



NumbersCounting cans and bottles

loun luM; can or bottlePeq-si le-loun pk\s^ el;luM; four bottles of Pepsibi-ya taloun B^ya ts\luM; a can of beer

Variants. You may also hear people count in paln bottles.Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken before loun

can/ bottle as usual (Lesson 1.5).

2.3. WHERE, HERE AND THERENew words

beh-hma By\ma where?di-hma d^ma hereeh-di-hma Ad^ma there

Example sentencesDi-hma pu-deh-naw? d^ma pty\ena\" Its hot here, isnt it?Beh-hma e-dhaleh? By\ma eA;ql" Where is it cool?Eh-di-hma e-ba-deh. Ad^ma eA;pty\" Its cool over there.

Notes1. The suffix -hma means in or on or at. Notice that di-

hm a and eh-di-hma come before the verb in Burmese theopposite way round from English.

2. Notice that the beh in beh-hma where? (in which place?) isthe same word as the beh in beh-ha which one? (Lesson1.11).

3. Notice also that di-hma here and eh-di-hma there corre-spond to da this and eh-da that (Lesson 1.9).

4. Questions containing beh-hma, like questions containing baand beh-ha , take the suffix -tha leh/-dh a leh (see the note inLesson 1.11).

NumbersCounting by cups and glasses

kweq/gweq Kk\ cup or glasskaw-pi hnakweq eka\P^ Ns\Kk\ two cups of coffeelan-jucauq-kweq luic\;k; eKak\Kk\ six glasses of lime-

juice

36 Burmese By Ear


Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken beforekweq as usual (Lesson 1.5).

Voicing. Kweq is voiced to gweq except after -a and -q. For moresee Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.

2.4. NEW WORDS

daq-poun Dt\puM photographyaiq-teh Ruik\ty\ to hit, strike, stampdaq-poun yaiq-

tehDt\puM Ruik\ty\ to take a photo-

graphtain-deh Tuic\ty\ to sityaq-teh rp\ty\ to stop

Example sentencesDi-hma daq-poun

yaiq-mehd^ma Dt\puM Ruik\my\" Im going to take a

photograph here.Beh-hma tain-

maleh?By\ma Tuic\ml" Where you going to

sit?Di-hma yaq-

mala?d^ma rp\mla;" Are you going to

stop here?

NumbersCounting by helpings, platefuls, portions

pweh/bweh p helping or platefulor portion

piq-sh-in-chiqhnapweh

Ps\r\Ac\Ks\ Ns\p two platefuls of fishand chips

beiq-bn le-bweh Bit\Bc\; el;p four portions ofbaked beans

Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken beforepweh as usual (Lesson 1.5).

Voicing. pweh is voiced to bweh except after -a and -q. For moresee Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.



2.5. WANTING TO

[]-cin-/ []-jin-

[]-Kc\- to want to []

Example sentencesDi-hma tain-ba-

deh.d^ma Tuic\pty\" We sit here.

Di-hma tain-jin-ba-deh.

d^ma Tuic\Kc\pty\" We want to sit here.

K aw-pi mathauq-pa-bu.

eka\P^ meqak\pB;" I dont drink coffee.

K aw-pi mathauq-cin-ba-bu.

eka\P^meqak\Kc\pB;"

I dont want todrink coffee.

Ba sa-dhaleh? Ba sa;ql" What does he eat?Ba sa-jin-dhaleh? Ba sa;Kc\ql" What does he want

to eat?

The suffix -cin- is voiced to -jin- except after -q. See the examples,and Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.

Dont confuse []-jin-deh to want [to do something] with []lo-jin-deh to want [something] (Lesson 1.10).

NumbersCounting discrete items

ku/gu Ku item, unit, articlehan-ba-ga cauq-ku hMBag eKak\Ku six hamburgerssn-wc hnaku Sc\;wiK\ Ns\Ku two sandwicheshan-ba-ga thoun-gu hMBag quM;Ku three hamburgerssn-wc le-gu Sc\;wiK\ el;Ku four sandwiches

In Burmese, instead of asking for three hamburgers, you ask for:hamburger three units, in just the same way as you ask forcoffee three cups or Pepsi five bottles. Compare theexamples above with

kaw-pi thoun-gweq eka\P^ quM;Kk\ three cups of coffeePeq-si nga-loun pk\s^ c;luM; five bottles/cans of Pepsi

38 Burmese By Ear


Counting in round numbers also follows the same pattern(dollars five-tens etc):

daw-la nga-zeh edla c;Sy\ fifty dollarspaun nga-ya epc\ c;ra five hundred

pounds

Voicing. Ku is voiced to gu except after -a and -q. See the exam-ples, and Voicing Rule in Appendix 1.

Weakening. The numbers t iq, hniq, kun-hniq weaken before kuas usual (Lesson 1.5).

2.6. PLEASE DO PLEASE DONT

Example sentencesTain-ba. Tuic\p" Please sit down.Matain-ba-neh. mTuic\pn" Please dont sit

down.Di-hma yaq-pa. d^ma rp\p" Please stop here.Di-hma mayaq-

pa-neh.d^ma mrp\pn" Please dont stop

here.

NotesTo make a request or an order, you replace -teh/-deh with -pa/-ba.To ask someone not to do something, you replace -pu/-bu with

-neh. Notice the small but crucial difference between Pleasedont [] and It doesnt (or we dont etc) []:

Di-hma mayaq-pa-neh. d^ma mrp\pn" Please dont stop here.Di-hma mayaq-pa-bu. d^ma mrp\pB;" It doesnt stop here.

The -pa/-ba in Tain-ba and Matain-ba-neh is the same polite suffixyou have been using in []-pa-deh, and if you leave it out youare still making a request, but without -pa /-ba it soundsperemptory:

Tain-ba. Tuic\p" Please sit down.Tain! Tuic\" Sit down!Matain-ba-neh. mTuic\pn" Please dont sit

down.Matain-neh! mTuic\n" Dont sit down!



2.7. POLITE TAGS: SIR AND MADAM

Kin-bya Kc\ba Sir / Madam (man speaking)Shin rc\ Sir / Madam (woman speaking)

Example sentencesDi-hma tain-ba. d^ma Tuic\p" Please sit here.Di-hma tain-ba

Kin-bya.d^ma Tuic\pKc\ba"

(same, with polite tag, manspeaking)

Di-hma tain-baShin.

d^ma Tuic\prc\"

(same, with polite tag,woman speaking)

Burmese polite tags are like Sir and Madam in English inthat they show politeness and are tagged onto the end of asentence.

They are different from Sir and Madam in two ways:1. They are more widely used than in (British) English. For

example, people use them to strangers when they are askingthe way, and customers use them to shopkeepers.

2. In English both men and women use Sir to a man andMadam to a woman. In Burmese the gender differenceworks the other way round: male speakers use Kin-bya to bothmen and women, and women speakers use Shin to both menand women.

2.8. GREETINGS

S1 Min-gala-ba. mglap" Greetings.S2 Min-gala-ba. mglap" Greetings.

NotesMin-ga la-ba literally means auspiciousness or blessings.Unlike the European languages, traditional Burmese greetingsare based not on the time of day (Good morning, Goodevening etc), but on the situation (Where are you going?,

40 Burmese By Ear


Where have you been?, Have you eaten yet?, Youre herevery early! and so on). Min-gala-ba was deliberately created asan all-purpose greeting for teachers and pupils in schools in the1930s, explicitly matching the English time-of-day greetings.

Some Burmese speakers, pestered by foreigners for the Burmesefor Good morning, have resorted to offering Min-ga la-ba as astopgap answer to an unanswerable question, and so the phrasehas begun to spread beyond the schoolroom. You will find itused mostly to foreigners, and occasionally in public announce-ments, but very rarely between one Burmese speaker andanother unless they are teacher and pupil.

REVIEW FOR UNIT 2: FOUNDATIONS, PART 2Review exercises are recorded in the Review Section, on Tape 4Side B.

Prices in dollarsTape Learner15-edla seh nga-daw-la 15 dollars973-edla ko-ya kun-naseh thoun-

daw-la973 dollars

edla-2000 daw-la hnataun 2000 dollarsedla-4860 daw-la le-daun shiq-ya

cauq-seh4860 dollars

Tape LearnerIts 1 dollar. Tadaw-la-ba 1-edlap"Its 68 dollars. Cauq-seh shiq-daw-la-ba 68-edlap"Its 295 dollars. H naya ko-zeh nga-daw-la-ba 295-edlap"Its 10 dollars. Seh-daw-la-ba Sy\edla-p"Its 450 dollars. Daw-la le-ya nga-zeh-ba edla-450-

p"Its 7000 dollars. Daw-la kun-nataun-ba edla-7000-

p"



CountingTape Learnerone glass of

limejuicelan-ju takweq luic\;k; 1-Kk\

2 cups of coffee kaw-pi hnakweq eka\P^ 2-Kk\4 bottles of beer bi-ya le-loun B^ya 4-luM;10 cans of 7-Up Seh-bn-aq seh-loun Sbc\;Ap\ 10-

luM;5 hotdogs haw-daw nga-gu eha.ed. 5-Ku8 sandwiches sn-wc shiq-ku Sc\;wiK\ 8-Ku

Going to do somethingTape LearnerIm going to

drink coffee.K aw-pi thauq-meh. eka\P^

eqak\my\"What are you going to

drink?Ba thauq-maleh? Ba eqak\ml"

What are you going toorder?

Ba hma-maleh? Ba maml"

Are you going toorder a sandwich?

Sn-wc hma-mala? Sc\;wiK\mamla;"

Are you going toeat a pudding?

Pu-dn sa-mala? pdc\; sa;mla;"

Im going toeat a pudding(+ male tag).

Pu-dn sa-meh Kin-bya.

pdc\; sa;my\Kc\ba"

Im going totake a photograph(+ female tag).

Daq-poun yaiq-mehShin.

Dt\puM Ruik\my\rc\"

Wanting to do something and Here and thereTape LearnerI want to take a

photograph.Daq-poun yaiq-cin-

ba-deh.Dt\puM Ruik\Kc\pty\"

I want to take aphotographhere.

Di-hma daq-pounyaiq-cin-ba-deh.

d^ma Dt\puMRuik\Kc\pty\"

42 Burmese By Ear


Where do youwant to take aphotograph?

Beh-hma daq-pounyaiq-cin-dhaleh?

By\ma Dt\puMRuik\Kc\ql"

Where do youwant to stop?

Beh-hma yaq-cin-dhaleh?

By\ma rp\Kc\ql"

Do you want tostop here?

Di-hma yaq-cin-dhala?

d^ma rp\Kc\qla;"

Do you want tosit here?

Di-hma tain-jin-dhala?

d^ma Tuic\Kc\qla;"

I dont want tosit here (+maletag).

Di-hma matain-jin-ba-buKin-bya.

d^ma mTuic\Kc\pB;Kc\ba"

I want to sitthere (+femaletag).

Eh-di-hma tain-jin-ba-deh Shin.

Ad^ma Tuic\Kc\pty\rc\"

Do and dont.Tape LearnerPlease sit here. Di-hma tain-ba. d^ma Tuic\p"Please dont sit

there.Eh-di-hma matain-

ba-neh.Ad^ma mTuic\pn"

Please dont eata hamburger.

H an-ba-ga masa-ba-neh.

hMBag msa;pn"

Please stop here. Di-hma yaq-pa. d^ma rp\p"Please dont stop

there.Eh-di-hma mayaq-

pa-neh.Ad^ma mrp\pn"

Please dont takea photograph(+female tag).

Daq-poun mayaiq-pa-neh Shin.

Dt\puM mRuik\pn rc\"

I wont take aphotograph(+male tag).

Daq-poun mayaiq-pa-buKin-bya.

Dt\puM mRuik\pB;Kc\ba"

Greetings (schoolroom and foreigners)[greeting] Min-gala-ba. mglap"[response] Min-gala-ba. mglap"



At this point in the course you have covered all the essentialgrammar you need for saying and understanding a surprisinglywide range of Burmese sentences. Accordingly the focus of thelessons changes from sentence types and grammar to situationsand topics: cafs, taxis, family and so on. Some additionalgrammar points will be introduced where necessary, but fromhere on what you most need is to expand your vocabulary.

UNIT 3. LANGUAGE HELP

3.1. SORRY: I DONT UNDERSTAND.

Na maleh-ba-bu. na;mlv\pB;" I dont understand.Saw-r-naw? eSar^;ena\" Im sorry.

VariantsSaw-r-beh-naw? eSar^;pena\" Im sorry.Saw-r-beh. eSar^;p" Im sorry.

The suffix -beh adds a slight emphasis in Saw-r-beh(-naw?) butthe meaning remains unchanged.

3.2. PLEASE SAY THAT AGAIN.

Taq pyaw-ba-oun. Tp\epapAuM;" Please say that again.

New wordspyaw-deh epaty\ to saytaq*pyaw-deh Tp\epaty\ to say again, to repeatTaq pyaw-ba. Tp\epap" Please say that again.Taq pyaw-ba-oun. Tp\epapAuM;" Please say that again

(more friendly).A common variant is:

Pyan pyaw-ba-oun. pn\epapAuM;" Please say that again.

3.3. DID YOU SAY 50?

Repeat the unclear word with the question suffix -la; as in line 3in this example dialogue:

44 Burmese By Ear


S1 Da beh-lauq-leh? d By\elak\l" How much is this?S2 Nga-zeh-ba. c;Sy\p" Its 50 kyats.S1 Nga-zeh-la? c;Sy\la;" Did you say 50?S2 H ouq-keh, nga-

zeh-ba.hut\k.' c;Sy\p" Yes, its 50.

3.4. CAN YOU SPEAK ENGLISH?

S1 In-galeiq saga

pyaw-daq-thala?Aglip\ska;epatt\qla;"

Can you speakEnglish?

S2 Mapyaw-daq-pa-bu. mepatt\pB;" No, I cant.Variants

In-galeiq-lo pyaw-daq-thala?

Aglip\luiepatt\qla;"

Can you speak (in)English?

Mataq-pa-bu. mtt\pB;" No, I cant.Mataq-pa-bu is a shortened variant for Mapyaw-daq-pa-bu.

New wordspyaw-deh. epaty\ to say, speakpyaw-daq-teh. epatt\ty\ to know how to speaksaga ska; word, words, languageIn-galeiq saga Aglip\ska; English languageIn-galeiq-lo Aglip\lui in EnglishBama sagaor

Myan-ma saga

bmaska; ormn\maska;

Burmese language

Bama-lo or Myan-ma-lo

bmalui or mn\malui in Burmese

NotesYou and I. Burmese leaves out words for You and I

when it is clear who you are referring to. See the note atLesson 1.3.

Burmese. The Burmese for Burmese has two forms: Ba ma,which is more colloquial (and the form which gave the worldthe word Burma), and M yan-m a , which is more formal.Typically, you find M y a n - m a in formal writing andannouncements, and you use B a m a in conversation andpersonal correspondence. Examples:

Unit 3: Language help 45


Bama saga

= Myan-ma saga

bmaska;= mn\maska;

Burmese(Burmese

language)Bama pye= Myan-ma pye

bmapv\= mn\mapv\

Burma(Burmese coun-

try)Bama amyo-

tham= Myan-ma amyo-tham

bmaAmoi;qm^;= mn\maAmoi;qm^;

Burmese lady,Burmese woman

In 1989 the government decreed that these two forms were to begiven different meanings. Myan-ma was to be used for referringto anything involving the whole country, or all its ethnic groups(Shan, Karen, Kachin etc), and B a m a was to be used for theBurmese ethnic group only. At the same time it was decreed thatEnglish and other languages should mark the distinction byreplacing Burma with Myanmar, and Burmese withMyanmar or Bamar as appropriate. Although Burmese isthe language of the ethnic Bamar, and not the mother tongueof the other races, it is officially called Myanmar on thegrounds that it is the national language of the Union ofMyanmar. Some foreign writers have adopted the changes, andothers continue to use the old terms, either to flaunt their opposi-tion to the government, or because they believe their readers arenot yet familiar with the new names.

3.5 AND 3.6. WHATS THAT CALLED IN BURMESE?ITS CALLED thayeq-th

S1 Eh-da Bama-lo beh-lo kaw-dhaleh?

Ad bmalui By\luieKql"

What is that calledin Burmese?

S2 Thayeq-th-lo kaw-ba-deh.

qrk\q^;luieKpty\"

Its called Thayeq-th.

New wordsbeh-lo By\lui how (which way)kaw-deh eKty\ to call, to be called

46 Burmese By Ear


[name]-lo [name]-lui suffix marking end of name orquotation; like a spoken ()

NoteTake care not to confuse the -lo in beh-lo with the -lo in [name]-lo.

They are entirely unrelated words.

REVIEW FOR UNIT 3: LANGUAGE HELPReview dialogues are recorded in the Review Section, on Tape 4Side B.

The review material for this and subsequent Units in the ReviewSection takes the form of review dialogues. Here in the book-let the review dialogues are simply written out in playtextformat: Speaker 1 , Speaker 2 and so on. On the tape theformat is different. There are four phases to each exchange:

1. The prompt tells you in English what to say.2. The tape keeps quiet while you speak in Burmese.3, A speaker on the tape repeats your utterance, to confirm orcorrect what you said.4. You hear a second Burmese speaker responding to whatyou said.

For example:1. Prompt: Ask her what this is called.2. Learner: Eh-da Bama-lo beh-lo kaw-dhaleh?3. Tape speaker 1 (repeats): Eh-da Bama-lo beh-lo kaw-

dhaleh?4. Tape speaker 2 (responds): Ngapyaw-dh-lo kaw-ba-

deh.All the dialogues are set in Burma. Remember that the Burmesespeakers on the tape sometimes use words and phrases you havenot yet learned. This is deliberate: the words are there to giveyou some practice in coping with the same situation in real life.

Review DialogueScene: At a fruit stall in Burma. S1 is a foreign visitor and S2 is mind-ing a shop that sells bananas . S1 picks up some bananas and asks

Unit 3: Language help 47


S1 Eh-da Bama-lobeh-lo kaw-dhaleh?

Ad bmalui By\luieKql"

Whats that called inBurmese?

S2 Ngapyaw-dh-lokaw-ba-deh.

ck\epaq^;luieKpty\"

Theyre calledngapyaw-dh

S1 Taq-pyaw-ba-oun.

Tp\epapAuM;" Please say thatagain.

S2 Ngapyaw-dh-lokaw-da-ba.

ck\epaq^; eKtap" Theyre calledngapyaw-dh

S1 Ngapyaw-dh-la?

ck\epaq^;la;" Did you sayngapyaw-dh?

S2 H ouq-pa-dehKin-bya.

hut\pty\' Kc\ba" Thats right (+ tag).

Ngapyaw-dh-ba-beh.

ck\epaq^;pp" It is ngapyaw-dh.

Kin-byaBamasagapyaw-datheiq pi-da-beh.

Kc\ba; bmaska;epata qip\p^tap"

You speak Burmesevery well.

S1 Na maleh-ba-bu. na;mlv\pB;" I dont understand.Saw-r-naw? eSar^;ena\" Im sorry.Bama saga theiq

mapyaw-daq-pa-bu.

bmaska; qip\mepatt\pB;"

I dont speak muchBurmese.

UNIT 4. CAFS AND RESTAURANTS

4.1. ORDERING FOOD AND DRINK

S1 Ba hma-maleh? Ba maml" What will youorder?

S2 K aw-pi hnakweqpe-ba.

eka\P^ Ns\Kk\ ep;p" Wed like to havetwo cups of coffee.

S1 K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" Fine.

VariantsS1 Ba hma-jin-

dhaleh?Ba maKc\ql" What wd you like to

order?

48 Burmese By Ear


S1 Ba yu-maleh? Ba yml" What will youhave?

S2 K ouq taloun-nehSapa-kalintaloun pe-ba.

kut\ ts\luM;nspklc\ ts\luM;ep;p"

Wed like to haveone Coke and oneSparkling, please.

New wordspe-deh ep;ty\ to give, bringyu-deh yty\ to take, chooseA-neh B A-n B A and B

Notes-neh and is a suffix: it is attached to the end of the preceding

word, and doesnt stand between the two words like and. Ifyour list consists of more than two items, the suffix -n e hnormally comes after the second-last item:

A, B, C-neh D A, B, C-n D A, B, C and DK aun-ba-bi Fine. In this idiomatic expression the usual suffix

-teh/-deh is replaced by -bi /-pi , which slightly changes themeaning:

K aun-ba-deh. ekac\;pty\ It is goodK aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^ Thats fine. OK.

Very well then.

4.2. FOOD AND DRINK

The list below gives the items practised on the tape. For a fullerlist see the Topical Vocabulary for foods and drinks.

tamn-jaw Tmc\;eka\ fried ricekauq-sweh-jaw eKk\Seka\ fried noodlesasen-jaw Asim\;eka\ fried vegetablestauq-tauq-caw etak\etak\eka\ fried minced meatlein-maw-ye lim\ema\rv\ orange juicenwa-no, no Na;Nui or just Nui milklapeq-ye lk\Pk\rv\ teaye-nwe-jan ereN;km\; plain tea 1samu-sa smSa samusa 2pala-ta plata parata 3

Unit 4: Cafes and restaurants 49


pauq-si epk\s^ Chinese dumpling 4ye-geh-moun erKmun\ ice creamkeiq-moun kit\mun\ cake

Notes1. Y e-nwe-jan = plain tea, literally plain warm water. Also

called ye-nwe (warm water), lapeq-ye-jan (plain tea),acan-ye (plain infusion). A variety of tea, made weak andtaken without milk or sugar, cheap and widely available,provided free in cafs.

2. Samusa (or samosa). A patty filled with meat or potato.3. Parata. An Indian savoury pancake.4. Chinese dumpling. Steamed white dumplings, with a

savoury filling. Manapua.

4.3. DO YOU HAVE ANY ?

S1 Bi-ya sh-dhala? B^ya riqla;" Do you have any beer?S2 Sh-ba-deh. ripty\" Yes, we have.

Beh-hnaloun yu-maleh?

By\Ns\luM;yml"

How many cans wouldyou like?

A variantS1 Samu-sa ya-

mala?smSa rmla;" Could we have some

samusa?S2 Y a-ba-deh. rpty\" Yes, you can.

Beh-hnaku yu-maleh?

By\Ns\Ku yml" How many would youlike?

If there isnt anyS2 Mash-ba-bu. mripB;" No, we havent any.

K oun-dhwa-bi. kun\qa;p^" Weve run out.Saw-r-naw. eSar^;ena\" Im sorry.

New wordssh-deh rity\ to exist, to be

[somewhere], to havebeh-hna- By\Ns\- how many [bottles, cans,

cups, etc]

50 Burmese By Ear


ya-deh rty\ to get, to obtainX ya-mala? X rmla;" Shall we get X? Would

we get X (understandif we asked you forit)? Is X available?

koun-deh orkoun-dhwa-deh

kun\ty\kun\qa;ty\

to run out, be used up,sold out

NotesK oun-dhwa-bi Weve run out. For the verb suffix -bi /-pi see

Verb Paradigms in Appendix 3 (outline grammar).K oun-deh or koun-dhwa-deh. The use of -dhwa (to go) adds a

suggestion of movement: be used up + go, get used up, runout.

4.4. THEN WELL HAVE .

Dialogue. Caf waiter and customer.S1 Ba hma-maleh? Ba maml" What wd you like to

order?S2 Lein-maw-ye sh-

dhala?lim\ema\rv\ riqla;" Do you have any

orange juice?S1 Lein-maw-ye

mash-daw-ba-bu, Kin-bya

lim\ema\rv\mrieta.pB; Kc\ba"

No we havent(polite tag).

K oun-dhwa-bi. kun\qa;p^" Its run out.Pan-ta-daw ya-

ba-deh.Pn\taeta. rpty\" But we have got

Fanta.S1 Di-lo-so Pan-ta

thoun-loun pe-ba.

d^luiSui Pn\taquM;luM;ep;p"

In that case, bringus three cans ofFanta.

S2 Y a-ba-deh. rpty\" Certainly.

New wordsdi-lo-so or

di-lo-so-yind^luiSuid^luiSuirc\

in that case (this +way + say (+ if))



4.5. IS THAT ALL?

New wordsS1 Da-beh-la? dpla;" Is that all?or Da-beh-naw? dpena\" Thats all, is it?S2 Da-ba-beh. dpp" Yes, thats all.or Sh-ba-dhe-deh. ripeq;ty\" Theres more. Theres

something else.NoteSh-ba-deh. There is something.Sh-ba-dhe-deh. There is something else.The suffix -the/-dhe conveys the meaning additional, more,

further.

4.6. WHATS THAT or THIS?

Da ba-leh? d Bal" What is that?Samu-sa-ba. smSap" Its a samusa.Samu-sa-la? smSala;" A samusa?H ouq-keh. Samu-sa. hut\k.' smSa" Yes, a samusa.

NotesDa ba-leh? literally That what-question. Burmese doesnt need

a word that corresponds to is (compare Da beh-lauq-leh?How much is that? Lesson 1.11).

-ba. Remember that -pa/-ba is suffixed to an answer to conveypoliteness, and is not part of the name (see also Lesson 1.4numbers: 34119-ba. ). So the name of the object is samu-sa,not samu-sa-ba.

4.7. IS THERE A TOILET HERE?

S1 Di-hma ein-dhash-la?

d^ma Aim\qa rila;" Is there a toilethere?

S2 Sh-ba-deh. ripty\" Yes, there is.Di-beq-hma. d^Bk\ma" Its this way.

orS2 Mash-ba-bu. mripB;" No, there isnt.

52 Burmese By Ear


Saw-r-naw? eSar^;ena\" Im sorry.

NotesE in-dha (house + pleasant) = toilet. A mya-dhoun ein-dha

(many + use + toilet) = public toilet.Di-beq this direction, this way.

4.8. SETTLING UP

S1 Paiq-san shn-meh. puik\SM rc\;my\" Well settle up now.Beh-lauq

ca-dhaleh?By\elak\kql"

What does it come to?

S2 Shiq-caq-pa. 8/-p" Eight kyats.

New wordspaiq-san puik\SM moneyshn-deh rc\;ty\ to clear up, to settlebeh-lauq By\elak\ how muchca-deh kty\ to come to, to add up to

4.9. PAYING AND LEAVING

S1 Paiq-san di-hma. puik\SM d^ma" Heres the money.S2 Ce-zu tin-ba-deh. ek;z; tc\pty\" Thank you.or Ce-zu-beh. ek;z;p Thanks.S1 Thwa-meh-naw. qa;my\ena\" Goodbye.S2 K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" Goodbye.

Notes.Ce-zu-beh Thanks is a shade more casual than Ce-zu t in-ba-

deh.Thwa-meh-naw literally: Im going to go is that OK?. There

are many variants, e.g.Pyan-meh-naw. pn\my\ena\" Im going home

now OK?Thwa-ba-oun-meh. qa;pAuM;my\" I will go now.

K aun-ba-bi = Thats fine, Yes, thats all right. The standardresponse to a Goodbye phrase.



REVIEW FOR UNIT 4: CAFS AND RESTAURANTSReview dialogues are recorded in the Review Section, on Tape 4Side B.

Review DialogueScene: A caf in Rangoon. S1 is the waiter. S2 is a foreign visitor whohas gone in for a cup of tea with a friend.S1 Beh-hma tain-jin-

dhaleh, Kin-bya?

By\ma Tuic\Kc\qlKc\ba"

Where would youlike to sit?

S2 Di-hma e-dhala? d^ma eA;qla;" Is it cool here?S1 H ouq-keh. E-ba-

deh. Tain-ba.hut\k." eA;pty\"Tuic\p"

Yes, it is.Please sit down.

S2 K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" Right.S1 Ba hma-maleh,

Kin-bya?Ba maml Kc\ba" What would you

like to order?S2 Lapeq-ye

takweq-nehV in-to takweqpe-ba.

lk\Pk\rv\ ts\Kk\nbc\tui ts\Kk\ ep;p"

Give us a cup of teaand a glass ofVimto.

S1 V in-to mash-ba-bu, Kin-bya.Saw-r-naw?

bc\tui mripB; Kc\ba"eSar^;ena\"

We have no Vimto.Im sorry.

S2 Di-lo-so nwa-noya-mala?

d^luiSui Na;Nui rmla;" In that case, couldwe have somemilk?

S1 Y a-ba-deh. Beh-hnakweq yu-maleh?

rpty\" By\Ns\Kk\yml"

Yes. How manyglasses would youlike?

S2 Takweq. ts\Kk\" One glass.S1 Lapeq-ye

takweq-nehnwa-no takweq.Y a-ba-deh. Da-beh-la?

lk\Pk\rv\ ts\Kk\nNa;Nui ts\Kk\"rpty\" dpla;"

One cup of tea andone glass of milk.Fine. Is that every-thing?

S2 Sh-ba-dhe-deh.Eh-da ba-leh?

ripeq;ty\"Ad Bal"

No. theres more.What is that?

54 Burmese By Ear


S1 Da-ga kaw-byan-jaw-ba.

dk eka\pn\eka\p" Those are springrolls.

S2 Saq-thala? sp\qla;" Are they hot (totaste)?

S1 Theiq masaq-pa-bu. Neh-neh-beh saq-padeh.

qip\msp\pB;"nnp sp\pty\"

Not very.Theyre just a little

hot.S2 A thapa-dhala? Aqa; pqla;" Do they have meat

in them?S1 Mapa-ba-bu,

Kin-bya. Datheq-thaq-luq-peh.

mppB; Kc\ba"d qk\qt\lt\p"

No, they dont.They are vegetar-ian ones.

S2 Di-lo-so taku pe-ba.

d^luiSui ts\Ku ep;p" In that case, bringus one.

S1 Taku-la? Y a-ba-deh. Da-beh-la?

ts\Kula;" rpty\"dpla;"

One. Fine.Is that everything?

S2 Da-ba-beh. dpp" Thats all.S1 K aun-ba-bi, Kin-

bya.ekac\;pp^ Kc\ba" Very well.

After S2 and her friend have finished eating and drinking, S2 says:S2 Di-hma ein-dha

sh-dhala?d^ma Aim\qa riqla;" Is there a toilet

here?S1 Sh-ba-deh, Kin-

bya. H aw-dibeq-hma.Sain-nauq-pe-hma.

ripty\ Kc\ba"ehad^Bk\ma"Suic\enak\eP;ma"

Yes, there is.This way.At the back of theshop.

When S2 returns to the table she says:S2 Paiq-san shn-

meh.Beh-lauq ca-dhaleh?

puik\SM rc\;my\"By\elak\ kql"

Well settle up now.How much does itcome to?



S1 Lapeq-yetakweq, nwa-notakweq-nehkaw-byan-jawtaku. Thoun-zeh hnacaq-pa.

lk\Pk\rv\ ts\Kk\'Na;Nui ts\Kk\neka\pn\eka\ ts\Ku"32-kp\p"

One cup of tea, oneglass of milk, andone spring roll. 32kyats please.

S2 Thoun-zehhnacaq-la?

32-kp\la;" 32 kyats?

S1 H ouq-keh-ba. hut\k.p" Thats right.S2 Paiq-san di-hma. puik\SM d^ma" Heres the money.S1 Ce-zu tin-ba-deh. ek;z;tc\pty\" Thank you.S2 Thwa-meh-naw? qa;my\ena\" Goodbye.S1 K aun-ba-bi, Kin-

bya.ekac\;pp^ Kc\ba" Goodbye.

UNIT 5. TAXISThe words you learn in this Unit can also be used for bicycletrishaws, and for pony carts in Mandalay and Maymyo andother towns.

5.1. WHERE TO?

S2 Beh thwa-maleh? By\ qa;ml" Where are yougoing to?

or Beh thwa-jin-dhaleh?

By\ qa;Kc\ql" Where do you wantto go to?

or Beh-go-leh? By\kuil" Where to?S2 Satarn H o-teh

thwa-meh.sTrc\;huity\qa;my\"

Im going to theStrand Hotel.

S1 Y a-ba-deh. rpty\" All right.or K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" Fine.

Teq-pa. tk\p" Get in.or Teq. tk\" Get in (less courte-

ous).

56 Burmese By Ear


New wordsbeh By\ where toteq-teh tk\ty\ to mount, go up, get

into

NotesBeh thwa-maleh? Where are you going to? and Satarn H o-teh

thwa-meh Im going to the Strand Hotel. Notice that inBurmese you say Where are you going to go to? and Satar nH o-teh thwa-meh Im going to go to the Strand Hotel. Youuse thwa-meh not thwa-deh.

Satarn H o-teh thwa-meh Im going to the Strand Hotel. TheStrand Hotel comes before Im going to the opposite orderto English. See also Lesson 1.9: Eh-da caiq-pa-deh I like thatone, literally That one I like.

Note also that Burmese does not need to use a word correspond-ing to the English to. There is a suffix (-go/-ko ) that can beused to avoid ambiguity, but it is normal to use no suffix atall.

5.2. DESTINATIONS

The list below gives the items presented on the tape. For a fullerlist see the Topical Vocabulary for sites and places.

lan lm\; road, streetBo-jouq Lan buil\Kop\lm\; Bogyoke StreetMaha Ban-du-la

LanmhabNollm\; Maha Bandoola

StreetA naw-yata Lan Aena\rTalm\; Anawrahta Street88 Bo-jouq Lan 88 buil\Kop\lm\; 88 Bogyoke Street45 Maha Ban-du-

la Lan45 mhabNollm\; 47 Maha Bandoola

Streetpaya Bura; pagoda(also used to refer to Buddha images and the Buddha himself)Shwe-dagoun

Paya

eRWtiguMBura; Shwedagon Pagoda

Su-le Paya S;elBura; Sule Pagoda

Unit 5: Taxis 57


Nga-daq-cPaya c;Tp\k^;Bura; Ngadatkyi Pagodayoun RuM; officeMyan-ma Tareh-

beh Y ounMyanmar Travel RuM; Myanmar Travel

officethan-youn qMRuM; embassy (envoy +

office)Br-t sh or By-t -

sha Than-younbitiqYqMRuM; British Embassy

A me-r-kan Than-youn

Aemrikn\qMRuM; American Embassy

Aw-satre-lyaThan-youn

qset;lqMRuM; Australian Embassy

le-yin-youn elya\RuM; airline officeTan Le-yin-youn Tuic\;elya\RuM; Thai Airways officeB-man Le-yin-

younBimn\;elya\RuM; Bangladesh Biman

officeMyan-ma Le-yin-

younmn\maelya\RuM; Myanmar Airways

office

NotesBo-jouq : short for Bo-jouq Aun San General Aung San, the

national leader who won independence for Burma from theBritish, but was assassinated by a rival in 1947.

Maha Ban-du-la: a talented general who commanded the kingsarmies in campaigns against the British in 1824-1825.

A naw-yata: a Burmese king who reigned at Pagan 1044-1077.

5.3. CHECKING THE FARE

Before getting into the taxiS1 Beh-lauq pe-ya-

maleh?By\elak\ ep;rml" How much shall I

have to pay?S2 H naya pe-ba. 200/- ep;p" Give me 200 kyats.S1 K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" OK

Thwa-meh. qa;my\" Lets go. (LiterallyWell go)

58 Burmese By Ear


At the end of the journeyS1 H naya-naw? 200/-ena\" It was 200 kyats,

wasnt it?S2 H ouq-pa-deh. hut\pty\" Yes, thats right.

New wordspe-ya-deh ep;rty\ to have to give, to

payhouq-teh hut\ty\" to be right, true

Notespe-ya-deh: pe-deh means to give Inserting -ya- into pe-deh (or

other verbs) adds the sense of have to, must: e.g.Di-hma tain-deh. d^ma Tuic\ty\" He sat here.Di-hma tain-ya-deh. d^ma Tuic\rty\" He had to sit here.

Nga-daw-la pe-meh. c;edla ep;my\" Ill give them $5.Nga-daw-la pe-ya-

meh.c;edla ep;rmy\" Ill have to give

them $5.

Fares. Prices in Burma are subject to serious inflation. The taxifares used here were normal in 1997 when the course wasrecorded. By 2008 (the date of some minor revisions) thelowest fares around town were 2000-3000 kyats.

5.4. NEGOTIATING THE FARE 1

S1 Neh-neh mya-ba-deh.

nn ma;pty\" Thats a bit toomuch.

Shaw-ba-oun-la? elYa.pAuM;la;" Could you bring itdown a bit more?

S2 Beh-lauq pe-jin-dhaleh?

By\elak\ep;Kc\ql"

How much do youwant to pay?

or Beh-lauq pe-maleh?

By\elak\ ep;ml" How much will youpay?

S1 Taya nga-zeh pe-meh.

150/- ep;my\" Ill pay you 150kyats

Y a-mala? rmla;" Will you acceptthat?

Unit 5: Taxis 59


S2 Y a-ba-deh. rpty\" All right.or K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" OK.

Teq-pa. tk\p" Get in.

New wordsmya-deh ma;ty\ to be a lot, to be too muchshaw-deh elYa.ty\ to reduce, to bring down

NotesShaw-ba-oun-la? Could you bring it down a bit more? Adding

-oun-la to a request has the effect of being more persuasive,more like coaxing:

Shaw-ba. Please reduce it.Shaw-ba-oun. Please reduce it further.Shaw-ba-oun-la? How about reducing it further?.

Beh-lauq pe-maleh? How much will you pay? Notice theimportant difference made by adding -ya to this question:Beh-lauq pe-ya-maleh? How much will I have to pay? Howmuch should I pay?


S1 Taya le-zeh pe-meh.

140/- ep;my\" Ill give you K140.

Y a-mala? rmla;" How about that?S2 Maya-buBya. mrB;ba" I cant do that.or Neh-deh Bya. nty\ba" Thats too little.or Di-lauq mashaw-

nain-ba-bu.d^elak\melYa.Nuic\pB;"

I cant drop it thatmuch.

S1 Beh-lauq shaw-maleh?

By\elak\ elYa.ml" How much will youtake off?

S2 Taya kun-nasehpe-ba.

170/- ep;p" Give me 170.

or Taya kun-nasehta-ba.

170/- Ta;p" Make it 170.

S1 K aun-ba-bi. ekac\;pp^" OK.Thwa-meh. qa;my\" Lets go.

60 Burmese By Ear


New wordsBya ba [short for Kin-bya: see 2.7]neh-deh nty\ to be a little, too littledi-lauq d^elak\ this much, so muchshaw-nain-deh elYa.Nuic\ty\ to be able to reduceta-deh Ta;ty\ to put at, to set at, to make it


S1 Neh-neh mya-ba-deh.

nn ma;pty\" Thats a bit steep.

Shaw-ba-oun-la? elYa.pAuM;la;" How about bringing itdown a bit?

S2 Mashaw-nain-ba-bu. melYa.Nuic\pB;" I cant reduce it.or Da aneh-zoun-beh. d AnSuM;p" Thats the lowest price.S1 Aw. Di-lo-so mas-

daw-ba-bu.eAa\" d^luiSuims^;eta.pB;"

Oh. In that case Iwont take your taxi.

New wordsaneh-zoun AnSuM; the lowest, the leasts-deh s^;ty\ to ride, travel in or on

NotesMas-ba-bu = I wont ride (in your taxi). Mas-daw-ba-bu = I

wont ride (in your taxi) after all with the implication thatyou fully intended to, but his high fare has made you changeyour mind. The suffix -taw/-da w with a negated verb conveysthe meaning no longer, not any more, not after all.

5.7. WHERE TO STOP

QuestionsDi-hma yaq-cin-

dhala?d^ma rp\Kc\qla:" Do you want to stop

here?Di-hma yaq-

mala?d^ma rp\mla:" Are we (or you) going

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