Burmese

The Burmese or Myanmar script developed from the Mon script, which was adapted from a southern Indian script during the 8th century. The earliest known inscriptions in the Burmese script date from the 11th century.

Notable Features

Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet - each letter has an inherent vowel [a]. Other vowels sounds are indicated using separate letters or diacritics which appear above, below, in front of, after or around the consonant.
The rounded appearance of letters is a result of the use of palm leaves as the traditional writing material. Straight lines would have torn the leaves. The Burmese name for the script is ca-lonh 'round script'.
Burmese is a tonal language with three main tones (high, low and creaky) and two other tones (stopped and reduced). The tones are indicated in writing using diacritics or special letters.

Used to write:

Burmese/Myanmar (ဗမာစကား), a member of the Burmese-Lolo branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family spoken by about 21 million people in Burma (Myanmar).

The Karen languages, a group of languages related to Burmese and spoken by around 4 million people in Burma and Thailand.

Mon, a member of the Mon-Khmer group of the Austroasiatic languages spoken by about 200,000 people in Burma and Thailand.

Consonants

Burmese consonants

Vowels and vowel diacritics

Burmese vowels and vowel diacritics

Regular Rhymes

Regular Burmese Rhymes

Numerals

Burmese numerals

Sample Text in Burmese

Sample text in Burmese (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Hear a recording of this text by Lynnie T. Htoo

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

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