Other languages, such as Shan (which is similar to Thai), use a different script from Burmese altogether. Some minority languages in Myanmar, such as Chin and Kachin, were only spoken (not written) until the 20th century, and now use Roman script. Here is an example (giving street directions in the town of Bogale): Script and naming conventionsĪ written language that is over one thousand years old, Burmese employs a Brahmic script and alphabet quite different from neighbouring countries, which scans from left to write and does not require spaces between letters. This does not (necessarily) mean that you have got your pronunciation wrong it is simply that many locals find it very funny that any foreigners should speak even a small amount of the language. The answer might be:Īlthough it is not an easy language to learn, in Burmese nouns are sometimes borrowed from English, for example common words such as mì-nù (menu) and bi-ya (beer) and coffee.īe warned that if you do learn some basic Burmese phrases, you may hear fits of laughter in reply. For example, to ask at a restaurant if they have rice, you would say htamin shi la?.
![english myanmar language english myanmar language](https://i1.rgstatic.net/publication/266467244_Improving_Phrase-based_Statistical_Myanmar_to_English_Machine_Translation_with_Morphological_Analysis/links/54ba456b0cf253b50e2b1645/largepreview.png)
![english myanmar language english myanmar language](https://www.asiapearltravels.com/language/images/rising-tone.jpg)
![english myanmar language english myanmar language](https://d3i71xaburhd42.cloudfront.net/b5b19163455668596cf71d0ff210059676eda2f0/7-Table3-1.png)
There are over 100 languages and dialects used in Myanmar. Also, because there is only one word for ‘road’, ‘street’ and ‘lane’ in Burmese ( làn), English-language maps in Myanmar tend to be inconsistent in their usage of the three English words. But if you bear this in mind, it is not too difficult to work out, as it is usually only one or two letters that are different. Spellings sometimes vary in Myanmar this inconsistency is most challenging for visitors when it applies to hotels and road names. On this website, the locally-used name is the one that is used first – if a place has alternative names, we also provide them. However, in Myanmar, almost everyone uses the name Myanmar. Burmese is the main language, but English is spoken by many people in cities and tourist areas (to varying degrees of proficiency) most hotels and bigger restaurants have some staff with a working level of English.īecause of Myanmar’s diversity and its colonial past, most places have two or more names that you might find used in newspapers, on the internet, on maps and in literature – the most prominent being the name of the country itself, which is referred to as both Myanmar and Burma. Myanmar is a hugely diverse country with many different ethnic and language groups. Embassies, holidays & other useful info.Cultural differences & adapting to Myanmar.Community, charities & social enterprise.
![english myanmar language english myanmar language](https://i.pinimg.com/236x/c8/82/90/c8829014dd31c569db6a7f4e100aa761--language-lessons-burmese.jpg)