Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Burmese
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents the Burmese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters.
See Burmese phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Burmese.
Consonants
|
IPA |
Burmese example |
English approximation
|
b
|
ဘဲ [bɛ́] |
bat
|
d
|
ဓာတ် [daʔ] |
dye
|
dʑ
|
ဂျင် [dʑɪ̀ɰ̃] |
jump
|
ð[a]
|
အညာသား [ʔəɲàðá] |
this
|
ɡ
|
ဂုဏ် [ɡòʊɰ̃] |
gate
|
h
|
ဟုတ် [hoʊʔ] |
hone
|
j
|
ယား [já] |
yield
|
k[b]
|
ကုန် [kòʊɰ̃] |
scan
|
kʰ[c]
|
ခုန် [kʰòʊɰ̃] |
can
|
l
|
လုပ် [loʊʔ] |
lay
|
l̥
|
လှုပ် [l̥oʊʔ] |
play; like a clear /l/ but voiceless
|
m
|
မတ် [maʔ] |
much
|
m̥
|
မှတ် [m̥aʔ] |
wormhole
|
n
|
နမ်း [náɰ̃] |
not
|
n̥
|
နှမ်း [n̥áɰ̃] |
unhappy
|
ɲ
|
ညစ် [ɲɪʔ] |
canyon
|
ɲ̥
|
ညှစ် [ɲ̥ɪʔ] |
None; like /ɲ/, but voiceless
|
ŋ
|
ငါး [ŋá] |
sing
|
ŋ̊
|
ငှါး [ŋ̊á] |
Shanghai
|
p[b]
|
ပဲ [pɛ́] |
spat
|
pʰ[c]
|
ဖဲ [pʰɛ́] |
pat
|
ɹ[d]
|
တိရစ္ဆာန် [təɹeɪʔsʰàɰ̃] |
rock
|
s
|
စာ [sà] |
gas
|
sʰ[c]
|
ဆာ [sʰà] |
monkshood
|
ʃ
|
ရှာ [ʃà] |
shoe
|
t[b]
|
တတ် [taʔ] |
stop
|
tʰ[c]
|
ထပ် [tʰaʔ] |
top
|
tɕ[b]
|
ကြဉ် [tɕɪ̀ɰ̃] |
itch
|
tɕʰ[c]
|
ချင် [tɕʰɪ̀ɰ̃] |
chew
|
θ[e]
|
သတ် [θaʔ] |
thin
|
w
|
ဝါး [wá] |
wield
|
ʍ
|
လက်ဝှေ့ [lɛʔʍḛ] |
what in some conservative dialects; voiceless /w/
|
ɰ̃[f]
|
ခံ [kʰàɰ̃] |
(see footnote)
|
z
|
ဇာ [zà] |
zoo
|
ʔ
|
အုတ် [ʔoʊʔ] |
uh-oh, Cockney bottle
|
|
Vowels
|
IPA |
Burmese example |
English approximation
|
a
|
နား [ná] |
father
|
aɪ
|
နိုင် [nàɪɰ̃] |
might
|
aʊ[g]
|
နောက် [naʊʔ] |
mouth
|
e
|
နေ [nè] |
Scottish English mate
|
eɪ[g]
|
နိပ် [neɪʔ] |
may
|
ɛ
|
နယ် [nɛ̀] |
met
|
ə[h]
|
ခလုတ် [kʰəloʊʔ] |
comma
|
i
|
နီး [ní] |
meet
|
ɪ[g]
|
နင်း [nɪ́ɰ̃] |
mit
|
o
|
နို့ [no̰] |
Scottish English note
|
oʊ[g]
|
နုန်း [nóʊɰ̃] |
mow
|
ɔ
|
နော် [nɔ̀] |
or
|
u
|
နှူး [n̥ú] |
moot
|
ʊ[g]
|
နွမ်း [nʊ́ɰ̃] |
cook
|
|
Tones
|
IPA |
Burmese examples |
Explanation
|
`
|
ငါ [ŋà] |
Normal phonation, medium duration, low intensity, low (often slightly rising) pitch
|
´
|
ငါး [ŋá] |
Sometimes slightly breathy, relatively long, high intensity, high pitch; often with a fall before a pause
|
˷
|
ငါ့ [ŋa̰] |
Tense or creaky phonation (sometimes with lax glottal stop), medium duration, high intensity, high (often slightly falling) pitch
|
|
- ^ Varies between [ð~ɾ̪͡ð~ɾ̪].
- ^ a b c d Unaspirated, like /p t k/ etc. in Romance or Slavic languages.
- ^ a b c d e Heavily aspirated.
- ^ A marginal consonant in Burmese, /ɹ/ occurs only in foreign words, and even there is often replaced by /j/ or /l/.
- ^ Varies between [θ~ɾ̪̥͡θ~ɾ̪̥ʰ].
- ^ The vowel before the /ɰ̃/ is always nasalized, and if a consonant follows /ɰ̃/, then the /ɰ̃/ becomes homorganic with the following consonant.
- ^ a b c d e The sounds [aʊ], [eɪ], [ɪ], [oʊ], and [ʊ][citation needed] are allophones of /ɔ/, /e/, /i/, /o/, and /u/[citation needed] respectively, occurring in closed syllables, i.e. before /ɰ̃/ and /ʔ/.
- ^ Only occurs in minor syllables, i.e. open non-final syllables without tone.
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Comparisons | |
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Introductory guides | |
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