Burmese language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Burmese |
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| ျမန္မာစကား (written Burmese) ျမန္မာစကား (spoken Burmese) |
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| Pronunciation | or | |||
| Region | Burma, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore | |||
| Ethnicity | Bamar people | |||
| Native speakers | 33 million (2007) Second language: 10 million |
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| Language family |
Sino-Tibetan
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| Early forms: |
Old Burmese
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| Writing system | Burmese script | |||
| Official status | ||||
| Official language in |  Myanmar |
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| Regulated by | Myanmar Language Commission | |||
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Burmese (in Burmese ba-ma-sa, pronounced /baa-MAA-saa/) is a language spoken mainly in Myanmar. It is the official language of Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia. About 33 million people speak Burmese as their first language. Another 10 million speak it as a second language.
Burmese is part of the Sino-Tibetan language family. This means it is related to languages like Chinese and Tibetan. It has a long history and many different local ways of speaking, called dialects.
One interesting thing about Burmese is that it uses tones. This means the meaning of a word can change depending on the pitch of your voice. It has three main tones: high, medium, and low. Burmese also doesn't have different forms for words based on gender (like male or female) or tense (like past, present, or future).
Like many languages, Burmese has borrowed words from other languages. You'll find many words from English and Indian languages in Burmese.
Everyday Burmese Phrases
Learning a few words can be fun! Here are some common words and sentences in Burmese.
- Hello = min-ga-la-ba
- How are you? = Nei kaun la?
- I am (name) = Cha-naw yè nan-bè ga _______
- (If you are a girl, you would say kya-ma instead of kya-naw.)
- What is your name? = Ka-mya na mei be' lo khal le'
- (You can also just say na mei be' lo khal le' without Ka-mya, which means "you".)
- Are you from Burma? = Nae ba-ma pyi ga la da la?
Countries in Burmese
To ask if someone is from another country, you just replace "ba-ma pyi" (Burma) with the country's name.
- America = A-mè-ree-ka
- France = Pyin-thit
- Britain = In-ga-lan
- Germany = Ja-ma-nee
- Russia = Ra-sha
- Thailand = Yoe-da-ya
- Japan = Ja-pan
- Chinese = Ta-yote
- Indian = in-di-yah
Burmese Script
Burmese is written using its own special writing system called the Burmese script. This script has round shapes and is used for writing the Burmese language. The oldest known writing in Burmese script is the Myazedi inscription, which dates back to the year 1113 AD.
Images for kids
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This map shows where the Sino-Tibetan language family started and how it spread over time.
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The Myazedi inscription is the oldest stone writing found in the Burmese language, from 1113 AD.
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Here are some examples of different styles of the Burmese script.
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This is the Myanmar3 keyboard layout, which is the official standard for typing in Burmese.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma birmano para niños
