From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is the
pronunciation key for
IPA transcriptions of Burmese on Wikipedia. It provides a set of symbols to represent the pronunciation of Burmese in Wikipedia articles, and example words that illustrate the sounds that correspond to them. Integrity must be maintained between the key and the transcriptions that link here; do not change any symbol or value without establishing
consensus on the
talk page first.
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 b ɛ́]
b at
d
ဓာတ် d aʔ]
d ye
dʑ
ဂျင် dʑ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
j ump
ð
[a]
အညာသား [ʔəɲàð á]
th is
ɡ
ဂုဏ် ɡ òʊɰ̃]
g ate
h
ဟုတ် h oʊʔ]
h one
j
ယား j á]
y ield
k
[b]
ကုန် k òʊɰ̃]
sk ate
kʰ
[c]
ခုန် kʰ òʊɰ̃]
K ate
l
လုပ် l oʊʔ]
l ay
l̥
လှုပ် l̥ oʊʔ]
pl ay; like a clear /l/ but
voiceless
m
မတ် m aʔ]
m uch
m̥
မှတ် m̥ aʔ]
wormh ole
n
နမ်း n áɰ̃]
n ot
n̥
နှမ်း n̥ áɰ̃]
unh appy
ɲ
ညစ် ɲ ɪʔ]
cany on
ɲ̥
ညှစ် ɲ̥ ɪʔ]
None; like /ɲ/ , but
voiceless
ŋ
ငါး ŋ á]
sing
ŋ̊
ငှါး ŋ̊ á]
Shangh ai
p
[b]
ပဲ p ɛ́]
sp at
pʰ
[c]
ဖဲ pʰ ɛ́]
p at
ɹ
[d]
တိရစ္ဆာန် [təɹ eɪʔsʰàɰ̃]
r ock
s
စာ s à]
gas
sʰ
[c]
ဆာ sʰ à]
monksh ood
ʃ
ရှာ ʃ à]
sh oe
t
[b]
တတ် t aʔ]
st op
tʰ
[c]
ထပ် tʰ aʔ]
t op
tɕ
[b]
ကြဉ် tɕ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
itch
tɕʰ
[c]
ချင် tɕʰ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
ch ew
θ
[e]
သတ် θ aʔ]
th in
w
ဝါး w á]
w ield
ʍ
လက်ဝှေ့ [lɛʔʍ ḛ]
wh at in some conservative dialects;
voiceless /w/
ɰ̃
[f]
ခံ [kʰàɰ̃
(see footnote)
z
ဇာ z à]
z oo
ʔ
အုတ် ʔ oʊʔ
uh- oh, Cockney bott le
Vowels
IPA
Burmese example
English approximation
a
နား [ná
fa ther
aɪ
နိုင် [nàɪ ɰ̃]
migh t
aʊ
[g]
နောက် [naʊ ʔ]
mou th
e
နေ [nè
Scottish English ma te
eɪ
[g]
နိပ် [neɪ ʔ]
may
ɛ
နယ် [nɛ̀
me t
ə
[h]
ခလုတ် [kʰə loʊʔ]
comma
i
နီး [ní
mee t
ɪ
[g]
နင်း [nɪ́ ɰ̃]
mi t
o
နို့ [no̰
Scottish English no te
oʊ
[g]
နုန်း [nóʊ ɰ̃]
mow
ɔ
နော် [nɔ̀
o r
u
နှူး [n̥ú
moo t
ʊ
[g]
နွမ်း [nʊ́ ɰ̃]
coo k
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.
Comparisons Introductory guides