BURMESE GRAMMAR

BY

JANES E.(BRIDGES M.A.,

LATX INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE.

.
.

RANGOON :

BRITISH BURMA PRESS .

1915.
Olen
PRICE Rs. 3 .
 PL3933
B 681

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

PART 1 - Alphabet and pronunciation.

Page.
Vowels .. ii -ziv
Consonants V - viii
Compound Consonants viii -xi
Permutations ... xii - xix
Burn ose Names of Letters and Symbols ...
XX -- xxiii
Conjunct Consonants 00 xxiii
Tones xxiii -- XXV
Procunciation of Burmese XXVI -XXXV
Punctuation XXY
Abbreviations XXXVI -XXsvii

PART 11 -Modern Burmese .

Articles 1
Nouns 1
Proper Nouns .. 2
Adjectival or Verbal Icons
Gender 3-4
Number 5
Declension 5-6
Personal Pronouns 6-12
Reflexive Pronouns 11
Reciprocal Prououps 11
Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs 12
Indefinite Pronouns and Adrerbs 13
Relative Pronouns 15-16 .
Adjectives 16-17
Comparative
.
:

17
Superlative
:

18
Demonstrative Adjectives 18
Possessive Adjectives 19
Indefinite Adjectives 19
Distributive Adjectives 20
Cardinal Numbers 21
Ordinals
22
Fractions 23
Weights 23
Measures of Length 23
::::

1 .
:

Measures of Capacity 23
Numeral Affixes 24-29
: : : :

Money 30
:::

30
 ( ii )
Page.
Indicative Mood 31
Imperative Mood 31-32
Plural of Verbs ... ... ... 33
Infinitive 33-34
Present ... ... 35
Imperfect ... ... 35
Futuro ... 35
Perfect 36-37
Causative Verbs 37
Transitive Verbs ... ... 37
Passive Voice 38
Compound Verbs .. 39
Pali Verks ... +++ ... 40
Affirmation and Negation . ... . 40
Negation .. ... 41-43
Interrogation t! 43
Idiomatic Use of Burmese Verbs 45
Verb to be ' and ' to bave ? 4.0 47-49
Adjectival Verbs 49
Auxiliary Verbal Affixes . ... 50-55
The Honorific Affix ... ... 55
Honorific Verbs and Voups ... 55--57
Adverbs ... ... ... 57-61
The Adverb hmya ... ... 62
Prepositions ... 03-06
Secondary Nouns .. ... ... 66-68
Co-ordinating Conjunctions ... 68-70
Subordinating Conjunctions 70-75
loterjections 75
在

Noun clause as subject or direct object 75

化 而

... ...

Noun clause in the possessive ... 77

Noun clause with words spoken 10 . 78-80
Nouu clauses with hpyit and shi ..1 80
General remarks on poun clauses ... 1 . 81-82
Time ... 83-84
Dates .). 84
Compound Nouns ... ... 87-92
Construction of the Burmese Sentence 93
Burmese Correspondence ... . ... 91-97
Idiomatic Use of Burmese Words 93
Appendix 1I - Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs 100
Appendix II - Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs 102
Appendix Ill - Conjunctions ... 104

PART III - Literary Language.

Decleusion ... ... 106
Persona ! Pronouns ... ... 118
Toiselle
 ( jij
Page.
Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs 108
110
Relative Pronouns
110
Adjectives 111
101
Numeral Affixes .

1.12
...
Verbs. Tepse Affixes
113
Interrogation 114
Negation 114
Verbal Affixes 115
Emphatic Affixes 116
Adverbs 19 .

116
Prepositions ...

... 117
Conjunctions 117
Nous clauses
118-128
Pali Words
128-129
Pali Prayers
PART IV - Col oquial Language.
Declension 130
131
Pronouns
131
Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs 133
Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs ...
Relative Pronouns 134
134
Adjectives ...

134
Demonstrative Adjectives 135
Numbers
Verbs ... ...
135
136
Interrogation 136
Negation
Verbal Affixes 137
137
Emphatic Affixes 138
Conjunctions
Adverbs 1.1 139
139
Propositions 139
Noun Clauses ..

Colloquial Forms 1. 141-146

 BURMESE MANUAL .
PART I.

The Alphabet and Pronunciation .

BURMESE is aa tonal language belonging to the Mongo
lian family like Chinese and Siamese . It is a monosyllabic
language, but in the course of time some syllables have lost
their meaning and become amalgamated with others. With
the spread of Buddhism into Burma, Pali became the reli
gious language of the people and many words of more than
one syllable were introduced into the language.

!
i BURMESE MANUAL,

( i ) The alphabet is derived from the square Pali and con

sists of 42 letters of which 32 are consonants and 10 vowels .
( ii ) The vowels are :

INITIAL FORM . Symbol or form

of vowel when
combined with Value .
Generally in In Burmese consonants to
Pali words. words . form words .
2

2 3 4

non a

is
သော ၁ or *
i
ထူဖ/8

e or- ဥ | t.

.
။
C
8အ0သ

အ င်း း
-

or
ဩ ၁ aw
S(
(2)

တော် aw

အံ an
)"

Q
ဤ“

on

Note.- ) is used instead of 3 with the consonants loll G!! 31 Olli

and Oll as the use of ) with these letters would lead to confusion by
making them resemble other letters, thas o wā might be mistaken for
ထ
 URMESE LA.VUAL . iii

The vowels are only used in the form given in column

1 (except 30 .a 30 ) ā and go è :) when the vowel itself
forms a word or is placed at the beginning of words of Pali
origin ; thus ca i soft, gi this, 2 u egg, @@
@ awozā
relish . They are more generally combined with the vowel
30 as shown in column 2 .

Burmese grammarians include 38 an amongst the

vowels. It is al nasal letter called in Pali anuthwara and
in Burmese 600
G20 :00 :00 € te : -the : -tin ( from 00:00:
the :-ihe : ' small ' or 'minute ' and one tin ' to place
on ' ) .
The vowels are only written in their original character
when they form distinct words or are part of a compound
word . When combined with consonants to form words,
they are always represented by the symbols given in
column 3.
 iv BURMESE HANLAL.

The sound and transliteration of each vowel are as

follows :

Repre.
Vowel. Pronuncia . SCOld in
Symbol. tion . * Example trarsliter
itioa by

a in rural
88

300sasa a
none
a in amiss ора อ
300 bor ) a in far 30 % =
ара
or 33 i in pig S = mee i
yor 38 i in machine me i

e or 3 or 3 o in boot 1 20
= 10 U

doo
8 or 39 1 oo in pooh 8 :02 = 00
Too
Cor 630 ay in say 6o = may e
30 nearly as ai ū = pe è:
in fair
O orCS5 C - or G-1 av in lax Go ' = pas aw

OT 632

or coos --S or c- ar in drawl col = paw ai

an un in dun só = an

hs Wé:-an
o in holy &=po
38 i
O

o in pot,knor Gus = ४
Pyok
or in cone g =yon on
8
.

an should be pronounced without lecting the tip of the tongne touch the
roof of the mouth . ( f. S. K., page i .)
• It is exceedingly difficult to gire the erace sound of Burmeso vowels
in English as thoy correspond more to contigenial than to English romela,
30" 305 381 38X CI :30 :38 Are the Froach vowels & or e, d , is é
o,
and d and 11 39 is the German or Italian L.
 BURMESE MANUAL . V
(iii) Consonants.-When not combined with
any other letter every consonant has the sound of the
vowel 30 inherent in it , thus ( = ka . O = sa.
The consonants are :
( 1 ) Gutturals . ka a hka o ga eo ga c nga .

(2) Palatals . osa 20 hsa US @ za 9 za 20 nya.

(3 ) Cerebrals .* ta hta
şda wo da cv na.,
(4) Dentals. o ta o hta 3 da o da şna.
Y

(5) Labials . Opa o hpa o ba tba 6 ma,

(6) Liquids . 1a
w ya qiya wla & la.
(7) Semi-vowel. o wa.
( 8) Sibilant . tha ( sometimes pronounced
hard as th in thirst and
sometimes soft as th in
thee, thine) .
(9) Aspirate. o ha .

In the consonants bracketed together, the aspirated letter has the

same sound as the non -aspirate.
* Cerebals and & la are not of frequont occurrence and are only
found in words of Pali origin .
† The tendency of modern Burmese is to substituto for a when.
erer possible and is then pronounced hpa.
This letter is commonly pronounced ya , but in Arakan and in a few
words , especially those derirod from the Pali , it is pronounced ra.
& Hard this transliterated th and soft th is transliterated th.

s.
vi BURMESE SASCAL .

The sturlent should be careful to pronounce the Bur

mese unaspirated consonants k , s, t, p without any aspira
tion whatever. This is somewhat dificuit as these conso
nants are aspirated in English * ; thus the aspiration is
clearly heard in such words as king.catard still more in
the German kann and somewhat less in sea , tem.e. pire.
These unaspirated consonants should therefore rot be
pronounced like English consonants , but like French corso
nants in such words as comment, scroir, toujours pourroir
in which no aspiration at all is heard.
The student will have no difficulty in prosourcing the
Burmese aspirated consonants as it is only necessary to
exaggerate somewhat the aspiration of ihe same English
consonants,
The only other consonant which requires rotice is r.ga
which is aa guttural sound, pronounced wit.cu: aloxirgite
tongue to touch the palate. At the end of a word , it has the
sound ng as heard in hang.

က က ကki ကီ ကု ကူ ကေ က်
က kā က် ကေ ၁ ကေ ၌ ကံ ကို က
ka ki ku kū ker he : kas kai kan ko
ခ ခါ 8 33
ရ ၃ ခေ ခံ ခေါ ခေါ် ခံ ခို 1.
hka hkā hki bki hku hkū hke hké : hkaw baw hkan hiko
ဂ ဂါ 8× ×8 ၇ ဂူ ဂေ ^ ´^ ?
ga gā gigi gu gū ge gè : gay sau gan go
C ငါ 8 8 ဥ
nga ngā cgi rigi ngu ngūrige rgè : ngaw rgaw ngaa ngo
လ 8 8 ပု လူ စေ Ò Goo com စံ ပို
sa sã si si su sū se sè : sax sa san SO

ဆ ဆ ဆီ ဆီ ဆု ဆု ဆ ဆ ဆ ဆ ဆံ သို့
hsa hsā hsi hs: Esu hsū hse hse :: hsaw hsaw hsan hso
* See Primer of Progetics by HESBY SWEET, 1 ..... $ 123, vad During
}
 BURMESE MANUAL . vii
O

© ၆၁ && & ဇေ ဇ် ၁ ၌ ဇံ ဖို

2 zā zi zī zu zū ze zè : za w zaw zan 10

ညု ည ည် ည ၁ ည် ညီ ညို
ည ည၁ ညီ ညီ ညု သူ
nya nyā nyi nyi nyu nyū nye nyè: nyaw nyaw nyan nyo

တ တ တိ တီ တူ တူ တေ တ် ၁ တ် တံ တို
ta tā tè:
ti ti tu tū te taw taw tan to

00ထ
ထ ) ထိ ထိ ထု ထူ ထေ ထ
ထ
htè :
ထ ထေ၌ htထံan hto
htaw hta w
ထို
hta htā hti hti htu htū hte

3 ဒါ ပို { ဒေ ဒေါ ဒေါ် ဒီ ဒို

da dā di di du dū de dè : daw daw dan do
mer

၁ နို ၃ ရုံ နေ န် နေ ခ နေ ၌ နှံ နို

.na nā ni ni ad ng ne ne : naly naw nan 10

၀ ပါ 8 8 ပု မှု ပေ ပဲ ပေါ ပေါ် ပံ ပို

3-
တာ
ထတ
pa pā pi pi pu pü pe pè : paw paw pan po

:S 8 8
5 ပူ ဖေ ဖ် ဖေ ၁ ဖော် ဖီ ဖို
hpa hpā hpi hpi hpu hpū hpe hpè: hpaw hpaw hpan hpo
ဗီ ) 8 8 ဗု ့ ဗေ ဝဲ ဗာ၁ ဗေဒ် ဗီ ထို
ba bā bi bi bu bū be bè : baw baw ban
၁ 3 မု မူ မေ ပဲ မေ ခ မေဝ် မံ မို
ma mā mi mi mu mū me mè : maw maw man

ယ ၁ ယ် ယု ယူ ယေ ယ် ယေ၌ ယံ ယို
ရ ရာ ရိ ရီ ရု ရှု ရေ ရဲ ရော ရေဉ် ရံ ရို
ya yā yi yi yu yu ye yè : yaw yaw yan yo
viij BURMESE MANUAL.

လ သလ လ လီ လူ လူ လေ လ် လေ ၁ လေဒ် လံ လို
la la i 1; lu ច le lè: law law lan lo

ဦ-း
၀ ဝါ 8 8 ၃ ပူ ဝေ ဝဲ ဝေါ ဝေါ ဝံ ပို
wa wã wi wi wu wū we wè : waw waw wan wO;

သ သ ၁ သိ သီ သူ သူ သေ သ် သေ ၁ သေ ၌ သံ သို့
tha tha thi thi thu thū the thè: thaw thaw than tho ,

ဟ သ ယံ ဟု ဟူ ဟေ ဟဲ ဟေ ၁ ယောဒ် ဟံ ဟို
ha hã hi hi hu hū he hè : haw haw han ho

(iv) Compound consonants. - Compound con

sonants are formed by combining simple consonants with
one or more of the four consonants W ya, ya, O way.
and 0 ha, which are then written in a symbolic form.

Consonant. Symbol. Combined with Represented in

က transliteration by* .
COE

ယ ya ကျ kya, gya.
ရ ya G
()8

Gya in this combination is pronounced as the English j ; ch is soft ag.

in charch . Taw Sein Ko remarks (p. 3) : “ In the combination ng kya
the k should not be pronouncod separately from the y, but both should be
Bounded together, care being taken that the k is not in the least aspirated.
This may bo accomplished by keeping the teeth together beforo attempting
the pronunciation of the combination. Thus the pronunciation of Kyaukse.
approximates more to Chaukse than to K (a)yaukse which is generally
heard amongst Europeans ."
 BURUESE MANUAL. ix:

ကျ ကျာ ကျိ ကျိ ကျ ကျူ

ကျကျ ကျေ ကျော ကျဉ် ကြုံ ကြို
ကြိ ကြံ ကြ က ကြေ ကြ ကြေ ၌ ကြံ ကြို
kya kyā kyi kyi kyu kyū kye kyè : kyaw kyaw kyan kyo .
ချ ာ ချိ ချီ ချူ ချူ ချေ ချာ ချေ ၌ ချီ ချို
ခြ cha
cha chi
ခြူ ခြေ
ခြံ chuမြ chū
ခြ B chi ခြံ ခြေ ခြေ ၌ ခြံ ဒို
che che : chaw chaw chan cho

မျှ ၂၁ q / ပေါ့ ၁ ယျဒ် ပျံ ပျို

ပြ ပြ၁ 8 ပြ © ပြောပ
ပြေ ပြြ ပြခ် ပြီး ပြို
pya pyā pyi pyi pyu pyū pre pyè : pyaw pyaw pyan pyo
ဖျ ၁ ဖျ ဖျ ချေ ဖျာ ၌ ဖြူ
၆ ၁ ဖြူ ဖြေ ၆ ၁
ဖြ၊ ဖြူ
ပြီ ဖြူ ဖြ
်၌ °
bpya bpyā hpyi hppi hpya hpra hpse hpyè : hpyaw hpyaw hpyan hpfo
များ သို့ သို့ Lမျှ မြူ မျိုး များ ယှဉ် ပျံ ရှိ
မြ မြ မြို့ မြို့ မြို့ မြေ မြဲ မြေ ခ မေခ် မြို့ မြို့
mya mya mpi myi mya mra mye mgè : myaw myaw mjan myo .
( v)
Combined with Represented in
Consonant. Symbol. က transliteration by
3
(3

O wa kwa

ကွ
ပသ

kwa kwā kwi kwi kwe kwè :

3

જે ခွ
ဝ

hkwa hkwā hk wi hkwi hkwe : hkwè :

အာဇပဝ

ငွေ
0
ဘ

ngwa ngwā ngwi ngwi ngwe ngwe :

 x BURMESE MANUAL.

( vi)

Combined with

Sym Represented in
Consonant.
bol . ယ or ရ transliteration by
Q and w

ယ ha hma
မှ
w ya and ယူ ရှ sha

0 ha ၂ လျှ hlya but pron , sha

q ya and
• ha C G
9୨ and 6 hmya

ည ာ ညို ညှိ ည့် ညှဉ် ညံ့ ညှိ

Chnya hnya hnyi hnya hnya hnya hnye hnyd: hnyaw hnyaw hnyan hnyo
မှု ၁ မှို မှု့ ,၁ နှံ
hna bina hni hni hnu hau hve hnè : hnaw linaw hnan hno

မှ မှာ မြ မှီ မှု ° ရွှေ မ့်

မေ နော် နှံ မှု
' hma hmă limi hmi hmu hmū hme limè: hmaw hmaw hman hmo

ယွီ မှီ ဘ သျှူး၊ ယေ ယ့် ယုဒ် ယ့်

ရှ ရှ၁ ရှိ ရှိ ရှူ ရှူ ရှေ့ ၍ ၁ရှေး ရှေ့ မှုံ ရှိ
· sha sha shi shi shu shit she she: shaw shaw shan sho

မျှ ာ မျိုး ရှိ [မျှ [ပျူ မျှ

၊ မျှ ၁ ဒ် မျှ
မြ မှာ
မ္ဘာ မြို့ မြူ မြူ မြေ မြှ မြွေ ၌ မြဲ' မြို့
hmya hmya hmyi hmyzhmyu hmyū hmye hímyè:hmyaw hmyaw hmyau hmyo
 BURMESE MANUAL , xi

* လျှာ လျှံ လျှံ လျူ လျူ လျှာ လျှ၌ လျှံ လို့

: sha sha shi shi shu ska she she : shaw shaw shan sho

( vii)

Combined with Represented

Consonant. Symbol . in translitera
qand tion by

Wya and
O wa ကျွ
.

(3)ညီ

kyua, gyua
q ya and
CS

O wa

ရ la, O Irra
9

and os ha ( ပြု hmyua .

)3 8

ကျွ ကျွေး
8

ကြွေး
kyua kyue: kyue :
సాయ

ခွေး
ခွေး
chua chuā chue : chuè :
၃၂

109

မွေ ) ရွှေ
မြွေ
hmyue hmyue : shwe shwe :
* Tho correct pronunciation of this combination is blya, but in the
spoken language, it is generally pronounced sha .
 xii BURMESE MASUAL .

(viii ) Permutations of final Consonants.

We have seen (sii, that tvery consonant in Burmese has
the sound 30 a inherent in it, but many consonants at the
end of words do not end with the sound a and are then
1

marked by the sign Scalled ' athat'3000S that which

kills.' Such final consonants change their sound and the
vowels and the semi-vowel o wa which precede them
also change tóeir sound ; these changes are called permuta
tions and are shown in the following tables :
( is ) When the rowel 30 ais combined with the follow.
ing final coasonants ine combination is pronounced as tol.
lows :
as

င် S OS or S $ or s ယ်
ng : cor P n or n y
8

-
('දි

et in it īte,in ore at 30 છે.

Burmese wos os coasStai 2018

coအော် tat c$ : pan : 000 la
example. let win sit prin cos lat Es hpan :
3e 2

p.se
cosso le:
Forelpro fee
nounced sin
met sin sin fat fat fair
as in Ecs sar
lish ton . fair

Vje. - Finsl Consans are propvanced in Burmese withou : ang escape .

of brea:bt - ibus rut in Burmese would be pronounced like pat in ' put down
and tae in rais like cin actise .
C

* S: Primer of Phonecics of Merry Street, Y ... § 143.

+10 : I. - 1: is onls practise wnica will teil the student which of the
foursouris has ; sometimes a circular dot is placed over as when it has
the sound in thiscis agin. The wand è: is unis used in colloquial language
 BURMESE MANUAL . xiii

တက် ကင် ကစ် ကည် ကတ် ကန် ကပ် ကမ် ကယ်

ket kin kit ki kat kan kat kan ke

ခက် ခင် ခစ် ခည် ခတ် ခန် ခပ် ခမ် ခယ်

hket bkin bkit hki hkathkan hkat hkan hke

ငက် ငင် ငစ် တည် ငတ် ငန် စပ် ငမ် ငယ်

nget ngin ngit ngi ngat ngan ngat ngan ngè

ဝက် စင် စစ် စည် ပတ် ဝန် စပ် စမ် ဝယ်

set sin sit si sat : san sat san se

တက် တင် တစ် တည် တတ် တန် တပ် တမ် တယ်

tin tit tī tat tan tat tan tè
tet

ကျက် လျှင် ကျပ် ကျည် ကျော် ကျန် ကျပ် ကျယ် ကျယ် ”

kyet kyin kyit kyi kyat kyan kyat kyan kyè

ချက် ချင် ချက် ချည် ချက် ချန် ချပ် ချပ် ချယ်

chet chin chit chi chat chan chat chan che

မြက် မြင် မြစ် မြည် မြတ် မြန် မြန် မြန် မြယ်

myet myin myit myi myat myan myat myan myè

ဌက် ၎င် ၄ စ် ပြည် ဇွတ် မြန် ဇွပ် ဇွမ် ငြယ်

hnget hngin hngit hngi hngat hngan hngat hngan hngè

ရှက် ရှင် ရှစ် ရှည် ရှတ် ရှန် ရှပ် ရှမ် ရှယ်

shet shin sbit shi shat shan shat shan she
xiv BURMESE MANUAL ,

( x) When the voirel 38 iis combined with the fol

lowing final consonants the combination is pronounced as
follows :

os
of or S $or sS
a
t or P n or m

eik ein

Burmese example. 80s peik ခန့် ein.

လိပ် ] eik လိမ့် 1ein.

Vowel pronounced as vein

English word.

ကိတ် စိဘ် စိပ် တိတ် တိပ် ရိတ် ရိပ်

keik keik seik seik teik teik yeik yeik

ကိကိန် ကိမ် ခန် ခမ်း

ခမ် စိန် စိမ် တိန် တိမ် ပိ8န်န် လိမ်
kein kein hkein hkein sein sein tein tein pein pein:

ကျိတ် ချိတ် ကြိပ် ခြိပ် ရှိန်

kyeik cheik kyeik cheik shein
 BURMESE MANUAL , Wy :

(xi) When the vowel 32 u is combined with the fol.

lowing final consonants the combination is pronounced as
follows :

of or S |Şor ºorF မ်
t or P n or

ok on

Burmese example .
ယုတ် yok ထုန် hton
လုပ် Jok ကုမ် kon
Vowel pronounced as bone
in English word.

ကုတ်
kok
ကုပ်
kok
စုတ်
sok
စုပ်
sok
ထုတ်
tok
ထုဒ်
tok
ရုတ် ရုပ်
yok yok

ကုန်
kon
ကုမ် စုံ စုမ် တုံ တုမ် ပုန် ပုမ်
kon son son ton ton pon pon
မှုံ

ယုန် ရုံ လှန် ဂုံ ဟုန် ကျုံ ချုံ

yon yon lon won hon kyon chon hnon .

ကျုတ် ကျုပ် chok

ချုပ် ပြုတ် သြတ် ပျူပ်
pyok chok pyok
kyok kyok
Note.- When preceded by q ya combined with a con-
sonant the vowel o is short as in knot, pot, lot.
xvi BURMESE MANUAL ,

(xii ) When the diphthong c300 aw is combined with

the following final consonants the combination is pro
nounced as follow's :

က် င်
3
* ng

auk aung

Burmese example က် kauk cmE: kaung:

Vowel pronounced as COW

in English word.

ကောက် စောက် တောက် ရောက် ကောင်

kauk sauk tauk yauk kaung

လင် တောင် ပေါင်

saung taung paung

ကြေဝက် ခြောက်
ခြေ ၁က် ချောင် ကြောင် လျှောက်
kyauk chauk chaung kyaung hlyauk
(shauk)
ရောက် ရှောင် )
shauk shaung
 BURMESE MANUAL, xvii

(xiii) When the diphthong 38 0 is combined with the

following final consonants the combination is pronounced
as follows :

က် င်
k ng
%

aik aing
Burmese example လိုက် laik ကိုင် kaing
Vowel pronounced as
in English word . lyre

ကိုက်
kaik
ဝိုက်
saik
တိုက်
taik
ရိုက် ကိုင်
yaik kaing
ပိုင်
saing taing paing
တိုင် ပိုင်
ကျိုက် ခိုက် ပြိုင် နိူင် လှိုင် လှိုင် ချင်
kyaik chaik Pyaing hnaing hlaing kyaing chaing
(xiv) When the semi-vowel o wa is combined with
the following final consonants the combination is pro
nounced as follows :

of or s န်$ or Sor •
t or P or m

ut un

Burmese example
လွတ် Jut 8 $: mun :
Vowel pronounced as bull
in English word .
xviii BURMESE MANUAL .

ကွတ် တွတ် ကွန် ဝ့် လွန် ပွခ် ရွံဌ် နွမ်

kut tut kun sun lun put yun nun

နွံ မွန် လွတ် ချွတ် လွှတ် လွှမ် ပြွန်

nun mun lut chut blut hlur pyun

(xv) o wa combined with q ya also takes the sound u

ရွာ ကျွ
yuā yue kyue :

(xvi ) of t and S p $ in and S mor n combined with a

wa are pronounced not at and an , but ut and un .
ဝတ် ဝပ် ဝန် ဝမ် ငံ နှံ့
wut wut Wun wun Yan nun

It is absolutely necessary that the student should learn

by heart the vowels, their symbols, the consonants and the
compound consonants, he should copy them out until he
knows them thoroughly and then practise writing them
out without looking at his book.

It is not however necessary for the student to attempt

to learn the permutations by heart, it is sufficient if he will
remember that the permutations are arranged according
to vowels and he can look up the permutation of each word .
as he comes across it ; thus in woş hsan,cood lat, 2008
thi,şos nè the vowel is a and the permutations will be .

found in 9 (ix); in 808 seik and 805 yeik the vowels is i

and the permutations will be found in $ ( x) .
 BURMESE ANUAL . xix

In the permutations the roseis are changed as fola

lors :

a = a, i, e, in or è :
2

= oor o (when preceded by ya combined with a

consonant.)
i = ei.
= ai.
all au .

wa = u (before t, P, a, m , or when combined with ya) .

The following table of permutations may be found
useful for easy reference.

COMBINED WITH

Final Consonant. 30
a
38 sq 158 C3 )
al
O
wa

osk et aik auk

Eng in aing ! aung
2018

စ်
...

it
o

Soy i, e, in, e :
oft or SP
...

at eik ok ut

n or Sm ad eia on un

oss
...

è yok yu
 .

BURMESE MANUAL .

BURMESE NAMES OF LETTERS AND

SYMBOLS.

Consonants. - 9128: byi :

m = mB: ka-gyi : great ka.

cu
2 = 262 : hka-gwe : rled up hka .
Gutturals." = OCဂငယ်
OS ga-ngè little ga.
లు - లు
28: ga-gyi : great ga.
= G nga.

o = ccộ: sa-lon : round sa.

20 == 20038 hsa-lein : twisted hsa.
Palatals. G = eg za.gwè: split za.
qq == 9938:38
drawn za .
za-myin :-zwè: line.
le
ည = ည nya
ę = çoic qe: fof ta-than-lyin:-gyeik
iron -hook ta..

g = ဌgoဝမ်းs:adဘဲ hta-wun:-bè:duck
: hta.
Cerebrals. ? = 27 & cmos dă-yin-gauk crooked
breasted da .

v = ucagrof dă-ye-hmok water-dip

pe da .

CHO = 3 : na-gyi : great na.

=
 BURMESE MANUAL. xxi

oက = 008:4 ta-wun:-bū pot-bellied ta

00 == 0000 & oq: hta-hsin-dū : elephant
fetter hta .

Dentals. 3 = 360: da-dwe : youngest da.

Q = ဓ c3p
အောက် OS da - auk - chaik con.
0SBခြိုက်
cave-bottom da .

ş = scos na-nge small na.

0 ပက် pa - zauk steep pa.
con
o = 08 :09S hpa-ok-htok capped bpa
=

COD .
Labials.
ဗ = ဗ ထက် ခြိုက် ba-det-chaik
cave -top ba.
p သော = 00mş: ba-gon : hunchback ba.
ma.

wunscons ya- pet- let supine ya

ယq = 9cmos
S
ya-gauk crooked ya.
Liquids
= la .

Semi-vowel . O = 0 wa.

Sibilant . 2 - 2 tha.
W=
Aspirate. Os Os ha.

Liquid . & = & 03: la-gyi : great la.

xxii BURMESE MANUAL.

Vowels. - 209 tha-ya

The vowels have no names but their symbols are
named as follows :

sor ) o cha placed down.

-
09: 08:05 € lon:-gyi :-tin large circle
placed on.

= လုံးကြ
c ;: 08 ီးတင် $ 308 Ion:-gyi:-tin-hsan
:05 &woဆန်ခတ်
hkat large circle placed upon and
kernel put in.
oscype :ca tă-chaung:-ngin one line
drawn .

= $8cą ? &:chnă-chaung:-ngin twolines

drawn,
= 200008: thă-we-hto : thrust out.
= Gppobud nauk-pyit thrown backward.
-

G - 5 or 6- ) aoco8:
a 9 thá-we-hto :-cha thrust out
and placed down.
or
G - S or G - T = 2008: 799 sthă -we-hto :-cha-she
C

hto : thrust out, placed down, and

thrust forward

သေးသေးတင် small or
= 600:00 :00 € the:-the:-tin
minute ( thing) placed on,
တ : &:c & ton :-gyi ::-tin
co: 08 :05 € 0.00
tă-chaung :-ngin large circle placed
on and one line drawn.
 BURMESE MANUAL . xxiii

i 600 :00 : 05E06ąp? & :c £ the :-the :

tin-ta-chaung: -ngin small or minute
( thing) placed on , and one line drawn .
>

Consonant symbols.
၂=ယပင့် ya-pin ya lifting up"
G =978 ya-yit ya encircling.
o = oog wa-hswè : wasuspended.
j =Jvor: ha-hto : ha thrust out
Conjunct consonants.-- In many Pali words two
letters of the same class are written one above the other
and the top letter is a final consonant, thus 2085, this-sā.
Sometimes double consonants are found in Burmese
words. These are not, however, conjunct consonants , but
are merely placed over each other to save space in writing.
thus 027: = w05: thă-mā; and 28 := 28:ină -mi:
The final consonant E: is occasionally placed over the
initial consonant of the next syllable ; thus 308ą for 30 €:
ein:-gyi jacket, 3cošo for W ? :copɔ thim :-baw ship
The & used in this way is called me:8: kin :-zi :
Tones . (J. $ 37-39. L. $ 51 ) . There are three tones
in Burmese, the simple, the checked and the heavy. The
checked tone is denoted by a small round dot called on
GS auk -myit ' the understop ’ and is placed below a letter
thus 60 me ' to forget.' The heavy tone is denoted by two
oosondag:
round dots called ဝတ်စ - : or
နှစ်လုံး wut-sa-hna-ton
oculos she-pauk they are placed after a letter thus
CO : me : to ask . '
xxiy BURMESE MANUAL ,

In the simple tone the word is pronounced with a

rising inflexion of the voice ; in the checked tone the voice
is suddenly checked or ariested ; in the heavy tone the
sound is prolonged with a falling inflexion .
Taw Sein Ko ( P. 3 ) advises the foreign student to use
the following table to accustom himself to the correct
utterance of the tonal inflections :
က က ၁ S ကို ကြီး ကျ ကျ
ka va a ; ki ki ki : ku kū r

ကေက ကေ } ကယ် ကို က် ကေ ကဒ်

ke ke ke : kekè kè , : kaw
A kaw kaw
ကံ ကြံ့ ကံ
kan kan kan :
There are many Burmese words spelt alike and dis
tinguished only by these tones, so that the student should
notice them as much as possible , thus :
co taung - hill, south.
နှင့် stiff
coo& : basket, to demand,
6000 € htaung- prison, to set a trap, to place upright
coooc to bend
co £ : to pound .
မြင် myin—to see.
မြင့် high.
မြင်း : pony..
GE
cm ye -water.
cq: to write .
Co၁ kyā-—- water lily, long..
@to ' to hear,,space between,.
 BURMESE BAXUAL . XXV

oo să letter.
03: to eat .

coba saung -- coverlet.

Codę to watch , wait for.
cogę : harp , to be on one side .
cw e air, wind .
Co to practise .
co: bow ( 17.), four , beavy .
oş pan — to ask leave , beg .
oş: flower, tired.
c ) ngā -1.
cl: fish, five.
q ? hpyä -mat.
Qo: tever,
pya — to show
go ashes, blue.
go: lat, level .
Cyne - sun , to stay.
6 day .
come-to forget.
C6 : to ask.
CO we-to divide.
CO : far .

200 thā-pleasant .
25: son .
xxvi BURMESE MANUAL.

Pronunciation of Burmese.
Hard consonants are softened when they come in con
tact with vowels or nasal sounds in the same way as in
many other languages, but in Burmese the change only
takes place in pronouncing the word and not in writing
and the consonant is affected by the letter which precedes
it and not by the one that follows it, thus 8: kyi: large
and 60 : hkä - le : child when joined to such words as
qqiū man and w&: min : king, ruler, are pronounced as
>

if they were written (8: gyi: and Occ: gă-le : but the
writing remains the same.
S:iu-gyi : elder.,
လူကြီး
qocco : lu-gă-le : boy.
GE:8: min-gyi : great ruler.
WE: MCw: min -gă -le : little ruler.
The rule regarding these phonetic changes may be
stated as follows :--
( 1 ) When two words or syllables, the first of which
ends in a vowel or nasal sound ( ng, ny, n or n ) are placed
side by side so as to form a new word or convey a single
idea, the initial of the second word or syllable, if it is a
hard consonant is changed into a soft consonant , thus :
m ka or a hka becomes o ga.
o sa or 20 becomes © za .

o ta or @ hta becomes 3 d.
o pa or o hpa becomes y ba.

ကျ kya or qj cha becomes qj gya.

naj
w tha (hard ) becomes o tha (soft).
* These rules are taken from different grammars (see Judson, $$ 33.
36 and $ 78, Lonsdale $$ 47-50 and $ 193, notes ( 1) and (2) ; Taw Sein Ko
Pp. 60-62 and 66–67).
 BURMESE MANUAL . xx vi:

Note.— This rule generally applies to single words ol

more than one syllable in which the etymology of the parts
has been lost ; thus : 001: să-bā : paddy, omy: să -gā: word
but it does not apply to verbal nouns and other nouns
beginning with 30 a , thus : 3004 : a-kyo : advantage,
30cmɔE: a -kyaung: fact,35m2: 3000 $: a-kū: a-than:
trading.
It also applies to auxiliary verbal affixes, 325 thi
thā, 3&&& hso-baing.
It does not apply to synonymous or nearly synony :
mous verbs, but it often applies in the case of compound
verbs, especially when the etymology of the second part
has been lost, thus :

Scoobę po-hsaung to convey.

Gop
ရောင်&းချ
:ql yaung:-cha to sell off..
နေထိုင်e ne -htaing to reside..
opo&
nusmo kwè-kā to protect.
go pya-tha to show .
Gwaq: the-hson : to die.
goad pyaw-hso to speak.
D :goshson :-hpyat to decide (case).
in which no phonetic change takes place.
xxviii BURMESE MANUAL ,

28:07 ]&: nkIn :-gyin : to arrange.

REO? $: taing-dan ;: to complain.
cobɔ :0 $ taung :-ban to entreat.
ရှာဖွေ sha-bwe to search for.
OS :28 : hpan :-zi : to arrest.
in which the phonetic change occurs.

(2) Nouns and pronouns immediately followed by the

ase affixes oko 3ɔɔ: c နှင့်
30 ā : @ တွင် twin
pę kyaung ozę
go hmã or Cl : (suppressed) are always pronounced with
the abrupt tone.
Note. — This rule applies to compound nouns or pro
nouns in which the first part of the compound is really a
genitive with a : suppressed .
ap: 3şcooS (your lordship’s royal slave = 11) is
pronounced : hpă-ya -kyun -daw ,
oop: OS: (headman of the law = Judge ) is pro
nounced tă-ya-thă-gyi :

(3) When the first word or syllable ends in E ng or

ş nor a hard consonant and the second word or syllable

begins with > nam or a soft consonant , then of the
first word or syllable is assimilated to om or the hard
consonant changed into » n.
 BURMESE MANUAL . xxix

8$:0 mein :-ma woman,is pronounced and often written

8g meim :-ma
pocoso thin:-baw ship, is pronounced thim :-baw
poso nit-nā to suffer, is pronounced and often written
papo nin -nā
63050dco auk-me to regret, is pronounced and often
written c3ɔɔ & :c aung:-me
6$ou myan-mā Burmese, is pronounced and often
written Geo myă-mā (coll.owo bă-mā ).
belgə: hkin-byā : Sir or Madam, is pronounced and
often written ə &qp: hkim-byā :
goS8 hmat-mi, to remember , is pronounced and often
written g$8 nman-mi
980 pod-ma paragraph, section, is pronounced qşo
pon-ma
C
( 4) Many words ending in long ' a ' or ' u ' often
shorten in pronunciation their first and second syllable
when another word or syllable is added to form a compound
word.
ool: să-bā : paddy .

ou7:02 să-bă-gyi granary. .

 XXX BURMESE MANUAI

om : să-gā ; word.

omɔ: să-gă-bon proverb.

məl: ( pron . 001:) tă-gā : gate .
037 : tă -gă -ni red gate.
005 : mă-yā ; wife.

wwɔ:(:
သား mă-yă-gyi
- chief wife.,
OS mă -ya --ngè lesser wife.
ww " :Cငယ်
cl : ngā ; fish .

8 ngă • pi fish paste:

clic @ oos ngă-chauk dried fish.
opo : thū-gyi : or thă-gyi : headman.,
BORS: myo-thă-gyi : town headman ,
cogar : hle-thä-gyi : boat owner.
Op:27: tä-ya-thă-gyi : Judge .
Note . On the analogy of this rule when more than
two words are joined together in pronunciation, the accent
is thrown on the last syllable and the long vowels of the
other words or syllables are shortened.
 BURJIESE MAXUAL . XXX )

qop : 31 cooSoHo of the face of the slaves of

your lordship = i ) is pronounced hpa-ya-kyun -daw -myo :

coob q &opon: 0008 codą 1896,ispronounced.

htaung- shit- ya -ko :-ze -chauk -hku.

( 5) The 33 or 30şan of an initial syllable is dropped .

OEhsa -bin hair.

oval: tă -gā : door.

:

o $ :oşlgo: pă-gan -byā : plate.

oöcl tă-ngā fisberman.
$20 tă -zā ornament, tool.
ပန်း 08S
uş: ထိ pă -dein jeweller.

uş: ‫ن‬ò pă- bè: blacksmith .

Ş003: tă -dā : bridge.
(6) The u or ū of the first syllable of a word is often
elided .

op : hpă.yā : lord .
xxxii BURMESE MANUAL.

27 3: thū-gyi : or thă-gyi : headman .

029 & bă-yin king.
802op: mi-bă-yā : queen (consort).
qor: pă-nto : pagoda.
Rò thă•ye: soldier.
Rss:tha -hte : merchant.
072: thă-hko : thief.
သူငယ် thd-ngb, child.
40&: pă-hso : waist cloth .
( 7) Many words are softened in pronunciation by the
insertion of y.

od pyit to throw (generally written g8)

မည် myi to name.
was
of myi future affix.
VERS: pyis-si : property.
oups tă-byſ (coll, tă-bè) pupil, disciple.
ch i tense affix becomes à yê in colloquial..
 BURMESE MANUAL.

(8) Initial consonants are aspirated.

8 hmi to reach (often written 8).
zos hnok to draw (often written gos)).
gE hnaing to be able (often written 38).
wê hmin ink (often written 9€).
Socyş a-hlun very (often written 3oys ).
co : hkă-le : child ( often written 2000 :
(9) When the relative pronoun is suppressed,
of the relative clause is softened if preceded by a v
a nasal , thus :

Bookdantvloop: , achso-ba-tă-vă-hkan the

mentioned in the plaint.
, the 3008: cl: pos $ 38S a-hpo:-nga:-ya-dan
house worth Rs. 500.

soo cooaSäpetition
အ nhlwā jan dcgလွှာo a -yu --daw -gan
сogလျှောက်
of appeal .
: poluges: hko:-ya-ba-pyis-si:stolen p
009 ပြတိုက်dacoit uses:
ထား :pyis
Gorospul dă-mya-taik
-si : ed property.
( 10 ) When the same word is used as a verb
noun, there is generally a difference in pronunciatio
0907:0028 sā-ye ;-thſ to write a letter.
03cq : să -ye : clerk.
Xxxiy BURMESE MANUAL .

399008:2028
သည် a-hmu-htan::-thſ to serve Govern
ment (military ).
:
394008: a -hmu-dan : soldier, constable.
GE:horse,
08ş: 2038 myin :-htein :-thſ to look after a
GE: 08 $: myin -dein : groom, syce.
GOR &: 0028 mye-taing :-thị to measure land.
CGRE: mye-daing : a surveyor.
( 11) In many words derived from Pali, letters used in
the original spelling are retained although they are not
pronounced in Burmese, thus we find many silent conso .
nants at the end of these words and many silent vowels in
the body of these words :

30 &glos a-deib-bè meaning, from a-dip-pā-yo.

308 pos an -dă -yò evil, from an-ta-rā-ya.
solos a-pè state of punishment , from a-pa-ya.

culos u-pè stratagem, from w-pā-ya.

eq08 u-bok performance of duties of religion, from
u - paw -thå-hta .

ဥzuges
ယျ ည့် ) u-yin garden, from u -ya -na .
puppies
 BURMESE MANUAL . XXXV

mqES ku-tho religious merit,from ku-tha-la

mus ko body, from ka-ya.
veo38S pă-dein -nyin assent, engagement, from pa
hti-nyā - nan.

&5 hpo profit, reward, from hpa-la.

1

& os do military officer, from ba-la .

smo pã-dā treasure.
pos: mo : sky, rain, from me-hga.

&& mo ( mount ) Meru, from me -ru .

PRE thi-ho Ceylon, from thi-hala.

Bolqof thin:-gyo to perform funeral rites, fromų hin
ga -ya .

Punctuation (L. $ 411-414).

The stops used in Burmese punctuation are 1 , llII and
I 1.

The first mark I called { Sm.co:paik-hkă-le: is now

seldom used, v being substituted for it.
The second mark o is used when we would use a
comma, a semi- colon or a full stop.
The third mark y u is used to divide paragraphs. :
Xxxvi BURMESE JIANLAL ,

ABBREVIATIONS .

for cည့် ၊ }

ဉ် ည်
a ၌

၍ yue

foshnaik..
ည့်

သည် thi.
မှ မည် (pron . မျည်) myi.
လ် လည်း li :
၎င်း or င်း COS:am abbrev
&: lă -gaung: (only written
in its iated form when it is
a demonstrative adjective, not
when it is a conjunction ).

င်း GmE: kaung :

1

နှင့် ကြောင့် gyaung

Gor CG COO ) thaw ,
 BURMESE JAVL'AL xxxvii
o

for က် with , န 5 nauk. *

အနက် anet
စ5

naps kyā-nok
ကျုပ် kyok. for ကျွန်ုပ် kyun-nok
na kyă -ma
ကျုပ် မ kyok-ma for ကျွန်မ kyun-ma
}
နံက် နံနက် nan - net
ယော , ယောက် ကျ yault-kyi:
လုင် လုလင် lā-lin
လာ လက်ယ let-ya
သတ် 20 € :copy thim :-baw
+

သေ ခံ }
caz:c0058 thwe :-thauk
* In modern Burmese this abbreriation is also employed after other
vowels — thtis qos yet day is often written & the q is then often suppres.
sed with numbers and ' alone remains , thus ၅ is written for 990563
the fifth day .

3
o orer a number means ' rupee ' and is probably an abbreviation of
Eg money ; Ò over the number anna ' and is an abbreviation of
à auna ; င် over a numlier = pie and is an abbreviation of pie : 1115
8-9-- would mean Rupees four, annas five, pies three.
 PART II.

:
In these grammatical notes and the exercises which
follow, an attempt has been made to deal separately with
Burmese as it is written and spoken by educated people in
modern days , excluding the more complicated and often ob.
solete literary forms as well as the slip- shod and elliptical
forms of the colloquial which may be described as slang.
The examples given in the exer ises have been taken
chiefly from Burmese Petitions, * so that the students may
have the opportunity of using the sentences separately and
then as a connected text,
THE PARTS OF SPEECH .
Articles.

There is no definite article in Burniese aad the indefia

nite article is sometimes expressed by the use of one ' and
a numeral affix .
Nouns.
Collective nouns are generally formed by using several
words together.
kyuè : -nwā: (buffaloes + bullocks ) cattle.
sit - thi-bo-bā (soldiers accompanied by officers ) army.
Collective nouns are also formed by using a general
and a particular word together :
ko -let (body + hand) body.
a-wut-på-hso : ( clothes + waist-cloth ) clothes.
hnit-la (years + months ) many years,
la- yet ( months + days ) many days.
Burmese l'etitions by J. E. Bridges, University Press, Oxford, 1907.
2 BURMESE MANUAL.

Proper Nouns,
There are no family names in Burmese and words
generally indicating relationship are prefixed to names
which usually have a meaning, such as hpyū white, ni red,
Maung (Mr.) Hpyū, ma ( Miss or Mrs. ) Ni.
The words used before proper names often indicate
the relative rank of the speaker and the person spoken to
or the estimation in which the person is held. The words
prefixed to the names of men are :
Ngã indicating inferiority, Ngũ Hpyũ.
Maung (brother) indicating equality, Maung Hpyū.
Ko ( ě -ko elder brother) indicating superiority, Ko
Hpyū.
U : (uncle ) indicating superiority or age, U : Hpyū.
la Upper Burma petitioners and suitors always spoke
of themselves as ngă and were so addressed by Upper
Burma officials. In English times this distinction is seldom
observed and ngă is seldom seen or heard in our courts,
The words prefixed to the names of women are :
Mi (a-mi daughter ) indicating inferiority, Mi Ni.
Ma (ă- ma elder sister ) indicating equality, Ma Ní.
Mè ( a -m3 mother) indicating superiority, Mè Ni.
A-yi : or daw or a-dāw (aunt) indicating superiority
or age, A- yi Ni or Daw Ni
shwe golden, royal, is often placed before a name to
indicate respect or the estimation in which the speaker is
held.
Names of countries, towns, villages, rivers, etc., are
never used (except colloquially ) without the word country,
town, village, river, etc., being placed after them . The
 BURMESE 34.4.XUAL .
3

capital of a country has the word myo-daw, royal town,

placed after it. Mandalay was always spoken of as the
golden royal town. The principal town of a township
( country) has the word myo-ma (chief town) placed
after it.

Adjectival or Verbal Nouns.

[L $70] Verbal nouns are formed from verbs or
adjectives by pre -fixing a or adding chint: or chet, a.
Kaung : or kaung : -gyin : goodness, a-hson : or hson : -gyin ,
extremity, a-pyaw or pyaw - gyet speech.
chet comes from a.chet ' subject, matter,' and is
generally used to form puuos from verbsmeaning , ' to
speak, think ,' etc.
Gender.

(L $ 82 . i $55-56.) There is no grammatical gender

in Burmese, the natural distinctions of the sexes alone
makes the gender of nouns as in English . ma is the sign
of thefeminine gender .
In the case of rational beings different words may be
used to express the masculine and feminine geoders or the
affix ma may be joined to the niasculine form to denote the
feminine gender.
Masculine. Feminine.
a-hpe father a- me mother
maung brother hna - ma sister
bă-yin king mi-băa- yā : queen (consort)
lin husband mă.y : wife
minhtha : prince min -thi - m : Princess
tha-hte : merchant thä -hte :-ma merchant's wife
ă.ko elder brother å.ma eldir sister
* chlin comes from a- chin : ' act : or ' ceed .'
 4 BURMESE MANUAL.

Masculine. Feminine.

nyi younger brother ( o! nyi-ma younger sister (of

men) women
hpå-htwe : urcle, father's a-yi : aunt, a father's younger
sist
younger brother or step er
father
ū :-yi:; uncle , mother's bro: gyi :-daw aunt , mother's
ther sister ( elder)
Sometimes the words tha and thu are u: ed to denote
the two genders. ( L $85 . )
a-nya- thā : a man, native a- nya-thū a woman , na
a-htet-thā : S of Upper a- htet-thū tive of Upper .
Burma. Burma .
auk thā : a man , native of auk - thū a woman , native of
Lower Burma Lower Burma
ein-thā male member of a ein- thū female member of a
household household
yua - thä villager yua-thū villager (woman )
When the inhabitants of a country, town, etc., or the
inmates of a house are spoken of generally, the masculine
and feminine nouns are used together.
pye-thù pye- thā' the people of the country. myo-thu
myo-thā the townspeople. ein- thū ein-thā the inmates
of the house.
When birds are spoken of hpa or hpo is generally used
to express the masculine.
kyet-hpa cock. kyot - ma hen.
ngan : -bo gander , ngan : -ma goose.
For animals hti : is used for the masculine.
hkwe : -di : dog. hkwo : -ma bitch
wet-hti : boar. wet - ma sow.
nwa : -di : bull, ox . na- ma cow.
 -
BURMESE MANUAL . 5
Number.
( L $73-81. J $ 57.) Nouns form their plural by add
ing myā : or to to the singular: myā : is an adjective
meaning ' many ' and is generally used in connection with
inanimate things and to in connection with persons
or animate things, but this rule is not strictly adhered to.
Plurality in the sense of universality is expressed by
the reduplication of the noun and prefixing a to the re
duplicated form a - pye - bye countries, a -myo-myo alltowns.
When the noun consists of two words or syllables either of
them my be reduplicated, a -nain -ngan -naing-ngan or
a-naing -naing-ngan all kingdoms ( T.S, K. p. 64. J $ 59 ).
Some grammariaos consider these forms as adverbial [L.
$ 451 ( viii) J. $ 126 ( 5 ) ] :
**
Word orders - The plural affix is placed immediately .
after the noun lū-do -thi,the men , yuā-myā :-hmā, in the
Millages

Declension

( 987-98. J $59-71.). There is no true declension

in: Burmese, as nouns are not inflected, and the so - called
cases are formed by adding to the nouns certain particles,
many of which have now lost their separate meaning,
The chiefcaseparticles are :
Nom thi* or hmāor ka, lū-thiorlū-hmā or lū -ga,man
Gen. i lu - i or lu, man's.
Dat ko, lu -go, to man.
Acc. ko, lu - gor-man .
Nominative. thi is the true nominative particle.
* In short simple sentences and in clau998 where the noun is placed
close to its verb, the nominativeaffix thi may be omitted ( L $ 91 (ii)] .
 ESE AL
63 BURM MANU .

hmā is emphatic and generally has the meaning of

' as to,' ' as for,' ' concerning ', ' in regard to, ' or is used to
call attention to that about which one is going to speak
and then means ' as follows. ' It is also the affix used in
noun clauses.
ka is chiefly used, with verbs of saying, telling, think
ing, considering, etc., but is often used instead ofthi.
Genitive. The genitive always precedes the noun to
which it refers like the English possessive in 's.
The particle i is generally omitted and the noun or
pronoun standing in the genitive is pronounced with the
checked tone or if it ends in ã or ū, the vowel may be
shortened thu-hkwe :: his dog, nga-a-hpe my father.
native. - The accusative particle ko is used also for
the dative and the ko belonging to the noun in the accu
sative is then left unexpressed, hxă - le -go ye-pe :-bā please
give (some) water to the child.
Accusative. The accusative particle ko is often used :
instead of tho to indicate motion towards a place. $

Word order. The case particle always follows the

word to which it refers.
Personal pronouns.
( L. $ 181-189 . T. S. K. pp. 68-70. J. $77-78.) * The
personal pronouns of the first and second persons are
( a ) when addressing equals in rank .
1st person . 2nd person .
( 1) kyun - nok (m ) kyu -ma ( 1 ) thin ( m. and f.) is used
( f) kyun slave, nok in the literary lan.
small , used also in guage without any re
speaking in a fami. ference to relative
liar manner of one rank . When used col
self. loquially, it denotes
some inferiority :
 BURMESE MANUAL. 7

1st person . and person .

In modern Burmese (2) kwè (plural kwè-yo) is
kyun-nok is often used in the vocative
written kyă-nok to only in colloquial, it is
avoid the use of the placed at the end of
word kyun, ( slave ) the sentence and cor .
and thus disguise the responds to the Enge.
humiliating deriva lish " old : fellow ' ma
tion of this pronoun . thi-bu : -jä :-gwe don't
In colloquial kyun you know, old fellow.
nok is often con . ( 3 ) ko (body) is used chiefly
tracted to kyok in colloquial.
( 4 ) shin ( pron . yin ) novice
with maung ( brother)
or ko ( elder brother)
is used by women to
men younger or older :
than themselves , Хо
yin is used colloquially
by men without reference
to age.
( 5) shin , lord, master, is used
by women as a.- polite.
form of address to men
or : women ; shin -ma is.
used by... husbands to
wives ; taw is used in
the same way , but is
considered rather im .
polite.
(6 ) hkim-byā : (corruption of
tha -hkin - hpă -yā : lord
and master) is used by
men as a polite form
of address to men or
women ,
 8 BURMESE MANUAL .

(6) when addressing inferiors in rank.

180 person . 2nd person
( 1 ) ngā (m . and f. ) also ( 1 ) nin ( m . and f. ) used to
used when speaking persons considered
1.
1
to oneself, also when very inferior or to
speaking to children children, also to
or in anger to equals in anger.
equals . ( 2 ) min : or maung-min :
(m . ) ( brother. ) nyi::
or nyè or me-min:
are the feminine
forme of mir : and
maueg min :
(3) tă -gā is used by a pod.
gyi when addressing
a layman , tă-gă-ma
is the feminine of
tă -gā.
(C) when addressing superiors in rank
(1) a-kyun-nok ( m, and f. ) Burmans do not make use
(2) kyun -daw (m.) royal of the pronoun of the second
slave, kyun-daw.ma, person in addressing persons.
kyu -ma ( f. ) 3 of superior rank.
( 3) kyun -daw -myo : ( m .) of ko -daw . ( royal self) ko
the family of the daw -myat ( eminent royar
royal slaves, kyun- self) ko -daw-a- shin (lord
1

daw -myo-ma (f.) royal self) ko-daw - a - shin

hpă-yā: * ( Your Majesty , myat (lord, master ) a- shin
my lord , sir ) may be myat-hpă - gā : ( eminent
prefixed to hpă - ya- lord , master) - (all m . and f.)
kyun-daw hpa-ya- are used to members of a
kyun - daw.myo : royal family,
family , officials of : a
tă -byi-daw royal disciple royal family, officials of high
(m .) is used by a lay rank, and pongyis.
man addressing a
pongyi, tă-byi-daw
ma is the feminine.
 BURMESE MANUAL.

Personal pronouns of the third person.

thū (probably from lū ' person ' ) is only applied to
rational beings. There is no pronoun used for animals or
inanimate objects, the noun is merely repeated with a
demonstrative adjective nto, thi or lă - gaung :
thin ; and chin :: are used in a disrespectful way to
mean that thing or creature. '
6

mi-mi is used instead of the genitive thu-i. It has how.

ever a more emphatic possessive meaning than thu -i and
means ' one's own,' ' his or her own .' lu - tă -yauk - thi mi
S

mi- ein -hma htwet- thwā :-le - i a man went out from bis
own house . With this meaning of ' own ' it has come to
be used instead of thū to mark emphasis : sho-ga mi-mi
0 $-sa -go mi-mi-hpwet- yue htā :-gye- thaw , yă -hku mi
mi-os-sa -go mi-mi-hnyun- pya -byi whereas formerly he
himself hid his own property, he himself has now pointed
out his own property .
General remarks on the use of Personal
pronouns.
Personal pronouns in Burmese mark rank so slarply
their use is generally avoided except where the
espective position of the parties is clearly defined : such
As parents and child, master and servant, friends of the
same age , etc., so that people addressing others . politely
generally use nouns in speaking to others in the third pers.
son and also use nouns in speaking of themselves in the
third person .
If a person has any official position the use of a per
son's title is obligatory, and Burmese officials dislike being
addressed by their name instead of their title. In Burmese
times if a man was addressed officially by his name instead
of his title, this meant disgrace. Itisusual..toadd to the
10 BURMESE MANUAL.

title min : meaning ' a ruler,' ' an official,'> hence noble'as

nobility of office was the only nobility in Burma. myo -ok
min : thă- gyi-min : The word min : is often used in ad
dressing politely people who are not really officials ; thus
lu - gyi-min : in speaking to a village elder , she -ne -min : in
speaking to an advocate .
The wife of a man of official or social rank has the ..
word ká -dāw ( lady) added to her husband's title :
wun - gyi-kă -daw wife of a minister of state,
daw wife of any official.
min -ko - dāw
thă -gyi -kå - daw wife of a headman .
hle -zi-kă -dāw wife of a boat owner.
pwe -ka - dāw wife of a broker.

The use of the pronoun of the second person is gener

ally avoided when addressing persons politely even if infe
rior in rank ; if they have no title, it is usual to find some
title with reference to the profession of the person spoken
to or to somework of religious merit which he hasor is
assumed to have performed, such titles would be yua-lu-gyi;
(village elder) hle - thă-gyi: ( headman of a boat) , thim -baw .
thă-gyi: (headman of a ship ), pauk -hpāw ( relative, gene
rally used to Chinamen ) o- tha -gyi cook, headman of the
pots,used to Shans),kyaung - tă -gā (founder of aa monastery );
hpă - ya - tă -gā (founder of a pagoda ). - Terms of relationship
are also used according to the age and sex of people in ad
dressing them politely, a -hpe : or hpo-e ( grandfather) a.
howā ; ( grandmother) a-hpe ( father) a -mo (mother) å-ko
(elder brother) ă -ma (elder sister) nyi (younger brother)
maung or a -maung ( a woman's brother) nyi-ma (younger
sister ) tha : (son) thă -mi : (daughter) myi: ( grandson).
A pongyi speaking to a person of high rank would
speak of himselt as hsă -yā(teacher) and of the person .
addressed astă -ga -daw royal giver (contraction of da -ya
 BURMESE MANUAL . 111

kā, giver) an English 'official speaking to a pongyi would

generally address him as hsă -ya -daw and speak of himself
as tă -ga -daw .
Europeans are generally addressed as thă-hkin. This
word meaning ' lord,' ' master,' is used in the literary Bur .
mese with words of relationship : hpa -gin , lord father, me
gin lady mother-it was applied in Upper Burma to the
wives and daughters of high officials - skin - le - u : the lady
Le U : In Lower Burma it has now become the equivalent
of our word Mr.
Reflexive pronouns.
( L. $ 195. J. $ 77.) The reflexive pronoun (is formed
7
by affixing ko body, ' self ' to pronouns or nouns, and
taing is usually added to ko - nga -ko -daing lok-thi I my-..
self did it
d itpronoun mi-mi
anThe is used reflexively with ko - thi
mi-mi-ko-go a - lun -myat-thi-huhtin - i that person con.
siders himself very excellent..
Reciprocal pronouns.
( L. $200 .) a -chin - gyin : is the reduplicated form of
6
a-chin ; (fellow ) and is equivalent to each other, one
another, thù - do a -chin -gyin : yaik.kya.thi they struck
each other; one another.
( L, 9:21.) A reciprocal pronoun can also be formed
by combining ta with aa numeralaffix and reduplicating this
combination . thū -do -thi tă-yauk-ko -tă - yaux mon :-gya
thi they hate each other, one another.
Plural pronouns.
The personal pronouns are declined like nouns, they
make their plural exclusively with to
I2 BURMESE MANUAL .

Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs .

( L. $ 137-142. J. $82 83 and 87-88) . The interrogative
pronouns are formed from the adjectives myi-thi and bè ,
which mean ' what, which ,' by adding some noun to them
either expressed or understood.
The words formed with myi-thi are exclusively written
forms, generally used in business and official documents,
The words formed with bè are only used in conversation,
Modern language. Spoken language.

(1) What ? Which ? (ad- myi- thi be

jective).
( 2) What thing ? What? myi- thi(a -ya)- € 0 . bā
( 3) Towards what myi- thi (ne -ya )- be
place ? Whither ? go
( 4) On account of what myi -thi (a -ky bê-la -kyaung)
reason ? aung)-syaung gyaung
(5 ) In what place ? myi-thi (ne - ya ) bè (ne - ya )-hmā
Where ? hmā or dwin
(6) From what place 2 myi-thi
Whence ?
(ne
hma or ga-ya) bè-ga
( 7) What person ? Who? myi-thu * be -thū
( 8) AB what time? myi-thi- a -hkā bè-daw -ga
When ?
( 9) How much ? myi -hmya * bè -lauk
(10) How many ? bè-hnă (with nume- bè-hnă (with doa.
ral affix ) merai affix )
(11) Towards what myi-thi-ni; ormyje bè-ne or bo - lo
manner ? How ? thoor myi-ge
tho
( 12) What kiod of ... ? myi- thi .. Myo : be myo :

* When hnya or thū is used with myi-thi the thi is supe

pressed and the forms become myi-hmya and myi-thu.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 13

In questions relating to quantity in mass or number,

definite or indefinite, myi- thi or be is combined with hmya
and used directly after the noun it qualifies. In speaking,
bè-lauk is used instead of bo-hmya.
hmya is an adverb with the meanings ' much,' ' as much
>
as, iso much as,' '1 as many as, ' ' even .'
In questions relating solely to a definite number bem
hnă is placed after the noun it qualifies and the numerap
affix of the noun added to it (the word hnă is not the cardinal
number, it is merely a prefix to the numeral affix .):*
meral how
othe numany)
lü bê-hnă-yauk-lè (lit, menwhat afix manymen
),
myi- thi cannot be used in this manner.
Word ordeg The interrogative pronoun or adverb is
placed immediately before the verb.

Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs.

[L. $ 146-150 and 228-2350 J. 82 and 126 (8 ).] The

interrogative pronouns and adverbs are also used as indefi
Faite pionouns and adverbs - and ,the adverb hmya(cor
rupted to hma in colloquial and sometimes in the written
language) is usually added to them or the verb mă-hso (yue ):
)
which meansnot saying.' bè ...mă-hso ,signifies not
saying whatever (person, animal, or thing ) in particular
anything whatsoever.
The forms ending in hmya or hma can only be used in
.
negative sentences, whereas the forms ending in mă -hso ,
can be used in affirmative and negative sentences.
14 BURMESE MANUAL .

In negative sen In affirmative

Modera laogange. Spoken language. .tences. sentences ,

myi- thi-hmya bā-hma nothing what

ever, nothing
be- mă -hso at all anything what .
myi- thi-ma over
hso

myi-thi-go be -hma
nowhere (with
hmya motion)
myi-thi-go- bèogo-mă anywhere or
'wherover (with
må -hso hso
. motion ) :
myi- thi- a bè - gyaung:
hma for no reason
kyaung
gyaung.hmya : whatever

myi- thi-a- bè-gyaunga . for any reason

kyaung mā -hso : whatever
gyaung -ma
hso

myi-thi-hmā . bè-hmā
hmya nowhere (with .
ont motion )
myi- thi-hmäbê -hmā-mãe anywhere or
må -hise hso wherever (withe
out motion )
myi-thu-himya bè -thu -hma no one what
ever, 20- ODE
myi- thi-mă- be-thu-mă . at all anyone what
hso hso ever or whoever

& c . & ins

The indefinite adjectives tă -zon-tă-yā or tă -zon- tă

yauk, may be used in addition to the forms myi-thi-hmya ,
and myi-lhi ... mă -hso, to intensify the indefinite meaning.
Word orden - The adverb hmya is always placed
immediately after the case affix ,
 BURMESE MANUAL . 15

Relative pronouns.

[L $368-369 and 377 ( 4) J. $ 114-125 (2)] . The re

lative pronouns are expressed in Burmese by
(a) the tense affixes thi* (often changed to thaw ) cr
myi (both pronounced with the checked tone ).
ngo-thi-(or thaw ) hkā -le : the child who cries, yauk
myi mi- thim -baw the steamer that will arrive.
( 6 ) yā which is used in the same way as thaw but
often carries with it an idea of indefiniteness ..

thin-yā a -mein -go pe :-bā please give any order that

may be suitable .

(c) thi (shortened to thă ) followed by the adverb hnya

6

(hmya meaning as much as,'. as many as.' ' even ') and
)
thă-hmya corresponds to whatever ' in English .
as
shi-thă-hmya-myin :-mya :-the-thi ( the horses.
many as were there died) whatever ponies were there, died,
The relative pronoun is very often suppressed in
Burmese especially when there is more than one relative
clause :
kyun -daw -myo :-baing Than-lyinataik-shi lê.myā :
the paddy fields (which) Iown (and which) are situated in
the Syriam circle .
a -fitat - thă -din -za -htok -w3 - yā -hā Man - dă -le :-myos:
no Ma-tho-hso - thq-maim :-ma a woman - called Ma Cho
-

whooulives in Mandalay and was mentioned in the last issue

of r paper.
* The student should remember that thi or thaw.corresponds
to any case ofthe relative in English and means not only who or
which , but to whom or which, in whom or wbich, etc., thù ne
thaw -ein, the house in which he lives, kyå - nok pe i-thaw
sa -ok the book wbich I gave .
16 BURMESE MANUAL .

hko-ya -ba-pyis - si (lit. the property included in the

theft) the stolen property.
shauk -win -ba - pyis- si : the property mentioned in the
petition.
să-bā ; htaung-thon-ya-bā hle-to-zin : a boat in
which thirteen hundred baskets were contained. Some
times the relative clause is placed after the noun by using
thù.
kyun-daw -myo -a -mi a-thet-ngā :-zè-yuè-thū my
mother who is aged 50 (a person who is aged 50) .
Word order - The relative clause always precedes the
poun which is its antecedent in English . zo-hmă hsan
hko :-thaw lù - thi kyun -daw -myo - thā : hpyit-pā thi the
-man -who- stols rice in the bazaar is my son , It will be
noticed that the words of the relative clause are in exactly
the opposite order to the words in English and that the
Burmese -order is ' bazaar in rice stole who (the) man ,
meseorder i
Relative clauses ending in thă-hmya may be used be
fors or after their antecedents in English -- shi-thă-hmya
myin ; or myin :-shi-thă -hmya, whatever ponies were.
there.
Adjectives.
Adjectives have three different forms-
(a ) simple or compound adjectives like she long, myin
high, mè : black, net dark .
kyi :-myin great, eminent.
me :-net, dark, black .
a - hpo -dan, valuable .
(b))reduplicated adjectives which are really adverbs
such as mè :-mè : dark, hpyū --byū white .
(c) substantival adjectives with a prefixed such as
a -hpyū white, a-mè : black.
 BURMESE MANUAL . 17

(L. $ 105. J. $80 .) Adjectives of quality, quantity and

pronominal adjectives are connected with the noun they
qualify by means of the connective particle thaw or thi as
kaung : -thaw -lü (a) good .man, hla -thaw -pan : a pretty
flower.

Simple adjectives of this class may also be post- fixed

to a noun, no connective is then required and the two form a
kind of compound noun as lu -gaung : good man.
The connectivo particle thawor thị is really the relative
pronoun and the adjective is used as a verb kaung :-thaw -lü
is therefore the man who is good.com
* In diminutive pouns formed with hkă-le : the adjec
tive is placed between the two nouns- thus lu -zo - gă -le :
a naughty little boy, myin -byu -gă -le : a small white pony.
: 9020 Hae ! 005
55716
S odt !2 : 1998.5
Comparative.
meesko so
297
(L $158-169. J. 894) The comparative is not formed
in Burmese by changing the form of the adjective, but by
placing the prepositionhtetafterthe noun or pronoun which
forms the standard of comparison, thi-pan : ho -pan :-det
hla-thi (lit.this flower; that flowerabove, is beautiful) this
flower is more beautiful than that one.
htet comes from a -htetupper, or superior part..and
means- above ? or beyond !sto
Verbs meaning to surpass, to exceed with or without
the conjunction: yue* ( which gives the verb the force of a
participle) may be used in addition to htet. Such verbs
are :

In colloquialyue is generally omitted .

18 BURMESE MANUAL.

thā to surpass exceed to : to increase, advance.

lun to surpass, go beyond po to exceed.
thi-pan ho -pan :-det thā- ( or thā -yue) hla-thi (lit.
this flower above that flower is surpassing beautiful). This
flower is much more beautiful than that one.

Superlative.
( L. $ 170 J. $ 95 )-The superlative is formed by turning
the adjective into a verbal noun and then combining it with
2
a-hson : ' extremity, termination ' ( from hson : ' to come to
an end ' ) thi- lua-kaung :-zon :-hpyit *-thſ this man is the
best (lit. is at the extremity or utmost point of goodness).
The full expression is a -kaung :-1 a-hson-hmā, and
in forming a compound noun i and the initial a of a- hson :
are suppressed as well as the preposition hmā.
The broad practical rule is that : the superlative is
formed by placing the adjective between the a' and hson :
of a -hson :

Demonstrative Adjectives.
(L. $127. J. 982). thi, this or these, hto (ho) that
or those .

lă-gaung : is the abbreviation of li:-gaung : ' and, also. '

了

6
means the same ' or ' that same, ' lä -gaung -lu - do -thi
' the, ? ' those ir or these men , ! .
Word order . - The demonstrative adjective is placed
immediately before its noun, thi-Jū this man, hto -hkwe :
th d
at og .

* As the superlative in Burmese is really a noun it cannot be

turned into a verb by the addition of a tense afix and the verb
hpyitmust always be used with the superlative .
 19
BURMF.SE MANUAL ,

Possessive Adjectives .
There are no possessive adjectives in Burmese and
their place is taken by personal pronouns in the genitive
-my book, kyun -nok -i- sā -ok ; his pony, thu-myin :
Indefinite Adjectives.
( L. $ 122 . J. $84-85-86 ). a-lon :* (or ā: -lon:] . ' all ,
.

whole ,' and a - lon :-zon'all'are prefixed or affixed to the

noun, myin :-a -lon :-do all the hors - s .'
$
apaung : all' is really a noun signifying ' whole
sum or amount . 'Used as an adjective, it is always affixed
to the noun it qualifies. hkä :-le-apaung :-do ' all the
boys, the total number of boys.'
tă-chā : 'other' is prefixed to nouns, tă-cha: pye -mya:
hmā, in other countries. '
6 3
Other ' is also expressed in Burmese by :
(a) thù the pronoun of the third person, thu -05-sa
go må -hko :-hnin do not steal the property
of others ;

(6) tit (shortened to tă ) with a numeral affix : yuă.

tă-hku-tho to another village, thā :-tă -yauk
ya-aung pyu-daw act so as to get another
son .

*The Adjective a-lon : is also used to express the whole. If

is then follows a numeral affix preceded by tā and drops its a ,
tă -hnit -ion : the whole year, tă-ne-ion ; the whole day, thim
baw -tă -zin -ion ; the whole, the entire ship, nwa- ta - gaung
ion ; the whole bullock.
When a-lon : is affixed to a plural noun, it also drops its a or
changes it to sä and sigoifies all the number ' denoted by the
numeral attached to the noun , hnă -ein -ion : (or hnă - ein -ză
lon :) both houses, thon -ein -lon ;. ail the three houses.
20
BURMESE MANUAL.

tă -cho ' some * ! is prefixed to nounsor affixed, tă -chn

hkă-le :-do thi or hkā -ie : tă -cho -do -thi ' some children ,
ni : ' few ,'> inot
6 many;' " little ' is seldom used in that
not many;'
form except as a verb ; it is more usually found in the
adverbial orsubstantival forms. ni :-ni : [ nè-ne] a-nt: or
a -ni :-nge.
mya: ' many ' is used as the plural affix of nouns and
is therefore not used in this form to mean many ' ex
cept as a verb. It is usually found in the forms a -myā :,
myā -zwā, mya :-myā : to express 'many'_thus lū myā ;
men, lu - a -myā : many men .
a-myauk - a -mya : ' many, a large number and mya
byā : abundant ' are often used instead of mya :.
(23) Distributive Adjectives. *
(L. $ 124). , taing: every ; lū-daing:, every person, ne
daing : every day, hnit -taing : every year.
a-thi: a - thị: or athi :-thi: several (when attached
to a verb a - thị :-this is an adverb and means ' severally .) ?
Indefinite Adjectives. DUO
(L. $ 123. J. $ 101 ). tă -hku -gu, tă -yauk -yauk, tă
gaung-gaung any one, some out of several :
tă-nku-ta-le, ta -yauk - tă - le, tă -gaung - tă -le , few ,
here and there one."
•ču tă -zon -tă -yā , tă -zon -tă -auk tă - ū :-tå -yauk , tă -zon
tă -hku, some..
one *T * :.
1911
These adjectives are used in the samemanner as nume
ral affixes (see p . 24) thus those ending in yauk apply
to rationalbeings, those ending in kaung to anžmals, etc.
* Word order. These indefinite adjectives are placed
after the noun without any connective.
** Some, when used as a partitive adjective, need not be
translated or is translated by ne -ne ; htă -min : (or ne - ne pe :
bā give (me) some rice. Some .. others? is expressed by re
peating ta -choosin perde 02 Dusstationer
on ngbigaisur 2000 dilengt
 BURMESE MANUAL.; 21

Cardinal Numbers .
tit one (shortened to tă both in
writing and pronuncia
· tion when followed by a
numeral affix , or another
number);
hnit two ( shortened to hnă in pro
nunciation but not in
writing when followed
by a numeral affix or
another number ):
thon : three
le : four. Mapokezinde
nga : five,
chauk six,
hkun -hnit seven ( shortened to hkun -hnă,
eisibi in same way as halt
two ).
sittet "shit
ko 300 is eight:27
sittengalanine-1074 1.
viz yoints
09 **** tă -hsetten 3 ** (generally shortenedto
way
• 1979 od 18. atsititi i kaohse when followed by a
* 0 gier o trhu se numeral affix or another
24239 a venir aantoux number): 1 US
2 YX BILI
5 sar Sh e- tits
hse.t it eleven . 2011-12
hse -hnit twelve
hnă -hse twenty
thon : -zes thirty . ateissa
le : -zè stat forty. vise
ngā : -ze fifty. cf-108 .
chauk -hsè , sixty :sr-sning
hkun -hnă - hisè seventy :Airi-sen
shit- hsegyta eighty.7 *
ko:-zee ninety.am -se
* kyeik ,tea, is often used instead ofhse in numbering rational
beings, lū tă -gyeik'ten men, lu thon :-gyelk thirty men.
22 BURMESE MANUAL

tä-yā one hundred

hnä - ya two hundred .
tă - htaung one thousand.
tä - thaung : ten thousand.
tä -thein : one hundred thousand (one laklı ).
tä - than : one million .
tä-kä-de ten million ( one crore ) .

a -seik , a quarter (of 100) , is often used in colloquial ina

stead of 25 .

tă-beit-thā ( one viss) , hnă- peit -thā ( two viss) are

often used in colloquial instead of 100 or 200 when speaking
of rupees, as the rupee weighs one tical and there are 100
ticals in a viss (3 65 lb. ) .

Ordinals.
(L. Sro8. J. 9102). The ordinal numbers are formed
by adding myauk to the cardinals followed by their numeral
affixes, thus thā ; hnă -yauk -myauk, or hna -yauk -myauk
thaw thā :, the second son . 1
Pali ordinals are however .
generally used instead of Burmese ordinals from one to ten
and they are prefixed to nouns without any connective
particle, pă-htă-ma-ne the first day, pyin -sä -ma hsä - yā
the fifth teacher .

pă-htă-ma first.
du - ti - ya second.
ta - ti- ya third .
să-dot-ta fourth .
pyin-să-ma fifth .
hsa -htä -ma sixth
tha - tă -ma seventh
a -hta -ma eight:
na -wärma ninth.
da - thi- ma . tenth ,
 BURMESE MANUAL.: 23

Fractions.
The words used to express fractions are :
2-wet, htă -wet or tă-wet, half.
a - seik quarter .
a -paing :
a -pon share, portion.
a- su
thus tā-wet half.
thon :-zeik three-quarters.
hna -pon tä -bon half.
hna-paing : tă -baing : half.
thon ;-zu hnä -su two-thirds.
le : -bon-thon : -bon three quarters.
Weights. Doney.
one pe irth of a tical i anna .
two pe = I mü ; 2 annas .
four pe = I'mat 4 annas .
four mat = i kyat (tical or tola ) I rupee ,
100 kyat = 1 peit- thä * (viss = 3:65 lb.) 100 rupees.
Measures of Length .
a -thit .
r's breadth .
let -thit
8 thit
aa finge
}Imai k.
12 thit I twa.
2 twa = 1 taung ( cubit ).
4 taung = ilan ..
7 taung = r tā .
1000 tā = i taing (about 2 miles).
Measures of Capacity .
să -lè = ath of a tin : (bushel).
4 sä -le pyi.
4 pyi I seik .
2 seik = I hkwe .
2 hkwè Ei= I tin : ( bushel ).
* With multiples of ten hk wet is used instead of peit -thā .
24 BURMESE MANUAL.

Numeral Affixes.
(L. 9109-111 . J. 896-98 ). When numerals are attach
ed to nouns, certain words called ' numeral affixes ' are
attached to the numerals and are used to describe some
quality of the noun mentioned, thus ' five men ' is expres >
sed in Burmese by 'men five rational beings.?--'two eggs
by'eggs two round things '-'two boats ' by boats two
long things.'
Some of the numeral affixes ' in most common use
are :

yauk
Wahea d} in speaking of human beings..
thă -hte : tă -u : a rich man.
yauk -kyā ; hnă - yauk two men .
meim-ma ngā : -yauk five women .
pā : in speaking of pon -gyis and persons of high social
or Official rank, also of immaterial objects.
yà -han thon :-bā : three pon -gyis.
min : tă -bā : a ruler,
min - gyin tă -yä : hse -bā : the ten rules observed
by rulers.
hsù : of Buddhas , pagodas, images and pă -yă -balks
.

( native books ).
hpă-yā : le :-zū four Buddhas, pagodas, or
images.
pă -yə -baik hna -hsū two pă -yə -baiks.
hku inanimate objects which have no distinguishing
quality.
să -bwè tă-hku a table
kä-là-htaing thon :-gu three chairs .
 BURMESE MANUAL. 25

si : to ride, of vehicles and ridiog animals,

yă -htă ; hnă-sī : two carriages.
myin : tă-zi : one pony.
hsin thon:-zi ; three elephants,
hlò le : -zi: four carts.
hkun : from a - hkun : sound, voice, of words.
3

să -gā : hnă-hkun : two words.

yat, item, of words, customs.

să -gā : hnă - yat two sayings,
hton :-zan tă-yat one custom.
sin : elongated, of things whose length considerably
exceeds their breadth.
hle tă - zin : one boat .
da : hnä -sin : two swords .
hlan thon : -zin : three spears.
chaung : from a -chaung : a bar, of things straight and
stiff.
dok tä -chaung : one stick.
hmin -dan le :-gyaung : four penholders.
kaung from a -kaung brute animal, of animals.
myin ; chauk -kaung six poniesi'
hsin hkun -hnă -kaung seven elephants.
ngā : hna -kaung two fish,
pyā ; flat.
paik -hsan tă-byā : a pice.
pyin thon-byā : three planks..
pă -gan shlt-pyā : eight plates.
chat, flat and thin.
sek -kū tă - chat one sheet of paper.
pyin hnă-chat two planks.
26 BURMESE. MANUAL ..

lon ; round or cylindrical.

0 ; ngā ;-Ion : five pots.
u hkun -hnă - lon : seven eggs .
hsaung building.
ein tă-hsaung a house .
kyaung : tä-hsaung a school .
taik thon :-zaung three brick buildings.
saung from a-saung, collection of writings, of writ
ings, letters, books .
sa tă -zaung one letter,
sa -ok le : -zaung four books.

kwin : froin a-kwin : what is circular, of rings.

let-sut tă-gwin : one ring.
pin a tree, applied to any thing long as thread, hair:
on : le : -bin four cocoa -nut trees,
hsan ko : -bin nine hairs.
chi chauk-pin six threads.
htè from a -htè, cloth .
ein :-gyi hnă -hte two jackets.
på -wă chauk -htà six handkerchiefs,
thă -gă -lat le :-dè four pieces of flannel,
tweed.
let, hand or arm, of weapons, tools, things carried
in the hand.
thin-nat nga : -let five guns.
hti : hnă-let two umbrellas.

tan from a -tan, intervening space interval, of

nouns denoting what occurs at intervals of time
or space.
a -kyo : le :-dan four rewards.
a-tat hsè-shit-tan the eighteen sciences,
 BURNIESE MANUAL . · 27

The words used for pairs are :

son from a-son : ' what is complete '

myin : tă-zon : a pair of horses.
shin : from a-shin, pair of beasts of burden .
nwā ; tă-shin, a piir of bullocks.
hpet from a -hpet, one of a pair.
hpb-rật tặ - hpet one sandal.
let hnä -hpet two hands.
chi tặ-hpet one fcot.
kan : tặ -hpet one bank ( of river ).
yan from a -yan, a pair, of things which go in pairs..
nă -daung : tă - yan a pair of ear-rings.
Word order.- ( L . $ 77 ) Numerals with their numeral
affixes follow the nouns they qualify,
The plural affix may be added to nouns with a numeral
affix, but it is generally omitted. Jū hnă -yauk -to or lū
hnă - yaux two men ,
(L. $ 114. J. 599 ) When a noun has no numeral affix
of its own, it is repeated after the numeral, myo hnă -myo
two towns, pye kna -pye to countries.
Sometimes the noun is substituted for its proper -affix,
ein ngā :-ein for ein ngā :-zaung ; min ; le :-min : for min :
le-bā four rulers
: .
(L. $115.) Nounsdenoting measures of length, capa
city or weight, have no numeral affixes and are repeated
after
bushelthe numeralpe ngā : -be five feet, tin ngā :-din : five
s.

The word denoting the measure of length , capacity or

weight is howevergenerally omitted in frontofthe numeral
when the thing measured is mentioned.
28 BURMESE MANUAL .

a - lyā : ngã :-be five foot length.

să -bā; ngā : -din : five bushels (baskets) of paddy.
lă -hpet chauk -chin : six baskets ( panniers) of green
tea .
hsī hnä - pait - thā two viss of oil
nă-no tă -beit - thā one viss of milk .
(L. 9116.) Nouns denoting time have also no numeral
affixes and the numerals are prefixed to them ngā :-yet five
days ; hnă -hnit two years, chauk nā-yi six o'clock.
( L. 9119. ) In certain compound nouns, the last ele
ment of the compound becomes the numeral affix by the
simple insertion of the numeral between the elements,
thayet-pin mango tree, thă-yet-ngā :-bin five mango trees ;
sa -ok book, sā -ko ; -oknine. books ; kun -yuet betel leaf,
kun :-hna -yuet two betel leaves .
!.(L . 9112 J. 897.) When the number is an exact
multiple of 10 the numeral affix is omitted .
myin ; hnă -hsè twenty ponies.
nwä ; thon :-zè thirty oxen.
II When the number is exactly 10 the numeral affix
may be used or not.

myin tă -hsè or myin ; hsè -gaung ten ponies..

u tă -hsè or u hsè - gyat ten eggs.
III With all other numbers the noun is placed first and
the number with its numeral affix immediately after it.
hpyā ngā :-gyat five mats.
yă -han : le :-bā : four monks .
da : hse -hna -sin : twelve knives.
myin : hna -hsè-ngā :-gaung twenty - five ponies.
nwa ; hsè-le:-gaung fourteen oxen ,
 BURMESE MANUAL . 29

The following words are often used in addition to

numeral affixes :

(a) ye * (from a-yé number) preceded by a numeral affix,

lu-ū:-ye bkun -hna - yauk seven men.
lu-ū:-ye tă -hsè ten men .
nwā : kaung -ye ngā :-gaung five oxen,
nwā : kaung - ye tă-hsè ten oxen .
(6) paung : or a -su - zu -baung : meaning total number.
lu -baung : ngā ;-yauk five men .
lu -baung : tă -hsè ten men.
lu -baung : thon :-zè -le : -yauk thirty - four men.
nwa-baung : hkun -hna -kaung seven oxen,
nwa-baung : hnă-hsè twenty oxen,
.

(c) chein from a-chein ' weight. ?

hsi-gyein tă -hsè ten viss of oil .
In the case of measures of weight and dates the numeral
affix used varies according as the number is an exact
multiple of 10 or an intermediate number.
Dates.- In dates pyi (full, complete) is used with io or
an exact multiple of 10. Aku ( individual thing) with all
numbers
other .
tă -htaung shit-ya-chauk -hsè-byi-hnit 1860 ..
tă -htaung shit-ya-chauk-hsè-thon :-gu- hnit 1863.
- .. !

Weight:--In speaking of weight tă-hkwet (from hkwet

a cup) and peit -thā (a viss ) areused in the samemanner.
ngā :-beit- thā = 5 viss, a -hkwet tă -hsè or hkwet
ta -hse = 10 viss .
* The numeral affix yauk is not used with ye.
30 BURMESE MANUAL ;

Money.
In speaking of money ngwe (silver) or ngwe din :-gä;
(coined silver ) or kyat-thon -din :-gā: (current coin ) are
used and the numeral affix is Kyat (a tical) or pyā : ' what
is flat.'
ngwe ngā :-gyat or ngwe ngã-byā : five rupees.
ngwe tă-hsè ten rupees.
ngwe hna -hsè -le -gyat twenty-four rupees .
hnă-pè: or tă-mū: = 2 annas.
le : -bè or tă-mat : = 4 annas.
ngā : -mu : 8 annas (there are 10 small mū
in one rupee).
tă -gyat mat - tin : = 12 annas (lit. one rupee minus
4 annas. )
tă-gyat mū :-din : = 14 annas ( lit, one rupee minus
2 annas. )
The words used for the smaller coins are :
pè ; for anna ( tath of one rupee ).
paing for pie ( iath of one anna).
pais -hsan for pice (3 pies or quarter for one
anna ).

Thus four rupees five annas three pies would be ngwe

le :-gyat ngā :-bè : thon :-baing.
Verbs
(L $285-286. J $ 108 , 100, 111 ). Verbs have no personal
inflections; they have two moods, the indicative and the
imperative, and three tenses, the present and the past ( which
are in the same form ), the future and the perfect. Other
tenses are mentioned by grammarians but they are merely
formed by using different conjunctions with the verbal roots
and they are not tenses properly so called. The most
important particles in forming tenses and moods are :
 BURMESE MANUAL . 31
PAI
Indicative Mood.

Present and past-thi (or : )-- thū pe :-thſ (or :) he

gives or he cave.
Future --myi ' or leim-my-thū pe :-myi (or leim
myi) he will give.
Perfect or pluperfect-- pyi :-byi or pyi-thū pe : -pyi :
byi he has (or had) given.
Note- leim -myi is a contraction of le, euphonic affix,
and an, literary future affix, and carries an idea of possibi
lity or eventuality.
Word order.The tense particle always follows the
verb..

Imperative Mood .
(L. $ 297-301. J. Q111-112 ). This mood is formed by
using the verbal root alone or the verbal root with taw.
The verbal root alone or with taw forms a very strong
and peremptory command . It is used only by persons in
authority to their inferiors or by those who through anger
or displeasure assume a tone of authority over others.
In addition to taw the following affixes are also used :
che
le
laik * } imperious.
pā
polite .
On :
san :
}
‫کر‬

The polite affixes are very often used with the more
imperious to soften down the harshness of an order or two
of the polite affixes are used together.
* Laik is almost entirely confined to colloquial speech .
32 BURMESE MANUAL.

thwa :
thwā : -daw
thwā :-Jaik go (very imperious).
thwā : -le 3n
thwā :-ba-daw
thwā :-laik -pa
thwā :-aik-san : please go (imperiousbut polite ).
thwa :-on :-daw
thwā : -bā
thwā : -ba- on: please go (very polite ).
thwä : -zan :-bā

The affix hie is used to imply motion towards the

speaker
hno :-hlè come and awake (me) .
hke (L. p. 193) is used in the sameway with the verbs
yüto take,lá to come, hikaw to call.,
yū-ge bring here .
lä-gè come here.
hkāw -gè call here.
With other verbs hké iadicates that the doer is to go
and come away from a place after doing the action indicat
ed by the verb.
kyi-jè look (and go or come away).
sa -ok -ko pe :-gè give the book (and leave ).
The affix so is used to express ' let us ; it is a collo
quial affix
thwā :-gya -zo let us go .
se implies a direct command given to a second person
but affecting athird person , thwā ;-ze make ( him ) go. The
insertion of pā or pâ-le between this affix and the verbal
root changes the command into an entreaty addressed to a
 BURMESE MANUAL . 33
person on behalf of a third person, thwā :-bā-ze or thwä :
bă-le-zs (you) please let ( him ) go. By placing ya between
pa and be the third person is changed to the first person,
thwā :-bă-ya-ze please let (me) go.
se or pā -ze (J. $ 113) when prefixed to thaw and
following a verbal root expresses a wish , thin -kaung :-sa :
bā-ze-thaw may you be prosperous ! thin a-thet she-ba
ze-thaw may your life be long !
Plural of Verbs.
(L. $ 361-363. J. 116 ). Verbs form their plural by the
addition of kya . When the subject in the plural is express
ed, the plural affix may or may not be used with the verb.
When the subject in the plural is left unexpressed , the affix
must be used ; if not, the verb will show that the subject is
in the singular .
Word order ,-The plural affix is always placed imme
diately after the verb except in the perfect when it is
placed between pyi : and byi.
thu-do thwā :-gya (or gyā-bā)-thi they go (or went).
thū do thwā : -gya- myi they will go.
thu-do thwā :-pyi :-gya -byſ they have (or had) gone.
thwā :-gya - daw
thwä ::-gya-laik go ( very imperious ) .
}
bā -day
thwa:-ya-Taikap please go (imperious but polite).
thwā : -gya -bā
thwā :-gya -ba -on : } please go (very polite).
Infinitive .
[ L. $288 310-312. ). $ 123 and 125 ( 2 and 3)]. There
is no infinitive proper in Burmese but there is an infinitive
of purpose or gerund which is formed by combining a ver
bal root with yan or hpo
* In many cases where we use the infinitive, Burmese use
auxiliary verbal affixes, the use of which will be explained here
after, ya-le - thi-he wishes to get -:

2
34 BURMESE MANUAL.

This gerund is used to express :

(a) end or purpose :
thu- thi lyi-yan lä-thi he came to look.
yaung : -yan (bo) kon -mya : goods to sell .
po :-yan ( bo ) lā -thi he came to give .
(6) necessity
a - lok - lok -yan shi-thi I have work to do.
kyue :-myi -pe : -yan a-ni : -ngè - hmya ':
shi-bā -thi ( 1 ) have only a small debt to pay.
End or purpose may also be expressed by :
(a) a verb in the future tense in myithū- thi yaik
myi lā -thi he comes to beat.
(b) the conjunction aung ( L. $401 . J. $ 109) mean
6
ing that,' in order that.'
(c) a verb used adverbially ; ( L. $ 307) thù-thi mi-mi
nyi-go a-ky -a - shut jā -thi he comes to see his younger
brother .
kyun -nok -ko ein -hmă a - saung -htā : -gè -thi ( he) left
me in the house to watch .
yan is often used to form a verbal noun : 2 -ye -baing
min -thă-hkin -hpă-yā : shauk -yan petition to his honou
the Deputy Commissioner: myă -ma-să - gā ; thin -kya :-yan
hket- thă -la : is it difficult to learn the Burmese language ?
Other Tense Affixés,
There are a number of affixes used in forming tenses
in addition to those already mentioned.
* Sentences ending in myi are really sentences with words :
spoken in which hu has been omitted, thus the sentence given.
means he came saying I will beat.'
+ Stevenson ( D. p. 1) states that this is a colloquial form .
 BURMESE MANUAL. 35

Present.
The affix hsè : * indicates present time and requires
the insertion of shi or hpyit between it and the verbal
affix,

yä-hku a-hkā yon -daw -dwin sit-me : shin :-lin :-ze :

shi-thi ( the case ) is now being inquired into and settled in
court.

Imperfect.
(L: $ 329). A tense corresponding to our imperfect is
formed by placing the verb ne (to stay, remain) directly
after the verbal root kyun-nok saung-ne-thi I was waiting .
Future.

(J. $ 117 ). myi or leim -myi with the verb repeated

and kaung: after the first verb is used to denote the pro
bability of aa future action, kyun -nok thwā:-gsung:-thwās
myi (or thwā : leim -myi) I shall probably go.

* There is some difference of opinion amongst grammarians

as to the force of this affix .

Taw Sein Ko (p. 77) gives it as a colloquial affix signifying the

continuance of an act and as the sign of the progressive tense.

Stevenson (D. p. 443) states that it indicates present time, very

often with the same force as lyet and that in common usage it
denotes tbe immediate future and is often used with lu yauk - lu
yauk -hsè : on the point of arriving.
Lonsdale ( $328 (5)] states that it is used to denote an action
as on the point of beginning and regu res the insertion of shi or
hpyit between it and the verbul affix - kyun -nok sā : -ze : shi-thi
I am about to eat, thim :-baw yauk - she : shi-thi the ship is
about to arrive. When hsè : is reduplicated , ii intensifies the idea
of the immediate occurrence of an event thahsei-ze: or the
myi hse :-zè : about to die,
 ESE AL
36 BURM MANU .
1
Perfect.
(L. $330-338. J. $ 115 ) . pyi :-byi * or pyi, hnin or
le, hpū ; and hkè are alo used as past affixes.
* Loosdale states that the difference between pyi : aad pyi
is as follows : (L. $330 and 331).
pyſ signifies to be replete, perfect, full '7 thi-hkä-je : să
gā :-pyi- thi this speech of this child is perfect (1.6., clear, distinct)
Used as a tense auxiliary, pyi indicates that the action or
state denoted by the verb has begun; bot does not indicate whether
it is continued or terminated and it has no correspondiog tense in
English. lu-gă-le : htă -min-sa : -byī the boy has began to eat
rice, thū ye -cho :-by , he has begun to bat be, hkā -ie : eik -pyi
the child has gone to sleep.
With intransitive verbs of motion , the English perfeci may
be used to translate pyī, thu thwā :-byi be has gone, thu
hta -by be has risen : mi- thim -baw yauk -pyī the steamer has
arrived.

pyi : signifies to be done, completed, finished ' th 1- a -lok

pyi :-thi this work comes to an end, thi-a-lok-pyi :-myi this
work will come to ab end .

pyi : combined with pyi indicates that the action or state

denoted by the verb is completed and forms a tenso correspond
ing to the English perfect.
thū sā : -Pyi :-byſ he had finished eating, he has eaten.
When . pyi: is followed by a conjunction expressing time as
6
hlyin or: thaw when,' hma or nauk after,' it forms & tense
corresponding to the English perfect and pluperfect.
.
thù-sā :-pyi :-hlyin htwet-thwā :-le -thi when he had
eaten, he departed, thù htă-min :-sā :-bayi :-nauk eik -tat- thi
he is wopt to sleep after he has eaten. thu htă.min :-sā :-byi :
hiyin lā - leim -myi when he bas eaten rice, he will come.
Judson states ($ 108) that pyī is a verbal affix denoting the
past, sometimes the future, and is changed into pyi : when followed
by another assertive affix.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 37
hnin denotes the action to have been performed before
some other past event and is sometimes considered as form
<
ing a pluperfect ; it corresponds to our ' already, ' before
hand, in advance,' thū sā : -hnin-byi he has already eaten.

lo is used in the place of or in conjunction with hnin,

kyun.nok tà -dā :-tho yauk-hiyin mirthim -baw htwei
thwă:-le -byi (or htwet-thwā :-hnin - le -byi) when I arrived
at the wharf, che steamer was already gone.
>
hpū : conveys the idea of before,' ever,' thi-sa-ok
hpat : -hpū -byi ( 1 ) have read this book before, thi sa-ok
ko hpat :-hpū :-thă -la : have (you ) ever read this book ?
In negative sentences să is often prefixed to hpu : thi
a -thi- go mă-sā : -să -bū : ( 1 ) never ate this fruit before.

hxè denotes the occurrence of an event at a place and

time other than those of which the person is speaking or
writing, kyun-nok sā :ge -byi I ate (and left ) ; thū po :
ge-myi he will give (and leave ) .
When hke is used with the verbs yū to take, lā to come,
Akaw to call, it implies motion towards the speaker ; yü -ge
bring here, lă-ge come here, hxaw - gè call here.
Causative Verbs.
(L. $245. J. $ 118 ) These verbs are formed by affixing
80 to other verbs, thu-go lok -kaing-ze -thi ( 1) made him
work , hkä-le-go thwa :-ze-thi (1 ) made ( the) child go
sa-ok-ko kya-ze-thi (I ) caused ( the ) book to fall .

Transitive Verbs .

(L. 9246 and 441. J. $ 106.) Some intransitive verbs are

made transitive by aspirating the initial consonant of the
 E
MES UAL
38 BUR MAN .

verb, or if it has a corresponding aspirate by changing it

for such aspirate .
kya to fall cha to throw down or put down
kyan to remain chan to leave out
nein to be low hnein to lower
nyut to be bent to stoop hnyut to bend
In the two following verbs ya-yit of the intransitive is
changed into ya -pin in the transitive .
kyaúk to fear chauk to frighten
kys to be crushed che to crush

Passive Voice.

( L. 8280-284. ) There is no passive voice in Burmese

the passive idea is rendered by using an active verb and
C
understanding the subject, thus this book was printed last
year ' is rendered ( l-we-they ) printed this book last year,
thi- sa -ok -ko mă -hnik -ka pon -hneik laik thi.
Some grammarians hold that intransitive verbs such as
kya to fall, nyut to stoop, to be bent, are used as passive
verbs and that hkan ( to bear) is used in the same way, but
in such sentences as sa-ok kya-thi the book fell, and thū
thi nga - a -yaik -hkan -thi he received (suffered ) a beating
from me, kya is merely an intransitive verb and hkan a
transitive verb.

Some Burmese verbs have a passive meaning and

others have both an active and a passive meaning :
myi to be called or nained.
hso to speak, say or to be spoken , said .
hй to speak, say or to be named , called .
twin to be named,
pyi ; to finish or to be finished .
 BURMESE MANUAL .
39

Compound Verbs.
(L. $ 443-448) are formed ( I ) by the union of noun
and a verb or (II) the union of two verbs :
( I) nā : -htaung to listen (nā : ear htaung to erect ).
wun -myauk to be glad, to rejoice (wun : belly , >
myauk to be raised , elevated).
chaung :-hso ; to cough , have a cough (chaung :
wind, passage, hao : bad ).
mye-taing : to measure ( mye earth taing : to
measure).
hkă-yi-thwā : to journey (hxă -yi: journey, thwa :
to go ) .
mi:-htun : to light (mı : fire, light, htun : to illu
minate ).
( II) Compound verbs formed by the union of two verbs
are of four kinds,

( 1) Those whose elements are synonymous or nearly

SO.

yzik - hnet to beat .

kyi-shu to look at, look after.
po - hsaung to convey .
( 2) Those whose elements though not exactly of the
same meaning are clearly allied to each other.
jok-kaing to work, do, make (lok to do kaing to
)

hold , handle) .
saik -pyo : to set seeds or plants ((saik to set pyo:
to plant.).
chet-pyok to cook (chet to cook pyok to boil).
hkwè-we to divide (hkwè to split we to distri
.bute) .
 SE L
40 BURME MANUA .

(3) Those whose elements are in no way connected in

meaning
yaung :-wè to trade (yaung : to sell, wè to buy) .
hsin-hso to repeat, issue (an order) (hsin to place
one upon another hso to speak) .
(4) Those consisting of two elements the first of
which is a verb or an adjective used as a verb
and the second a word whose meaning is ob
scure .

kyan -zi to contrive, plan .

pyet-si to perish, be destroyed.
yo - the to respect,
kè-yè to revile.
so - yein : to be anxious.
hkin : -gyin : to arrange.
taing : -dan to complain.
taung :-ban to entreat, to beg.
shā -bwe to search,
hpan :-zi to arrest.
Pali Verbs.

( L. $446). Pali verbs are formed by uniting Pali

nouns with Burmese verbs.
thi- di- ta : to be careful, beware ( thă <di atten
tion hta : to place ) .
a -ma-hkan to agree to, take responsibility, stand
security ( ā -ma affirmation, yes, hkan to bear ).
gă-di-htá : to promise ( gă -di promise htä : to put,
keep ) .
dan -pe : to punish (dan punishment, penalty pe :
to give ) .
Affirmation and Negation,
' Yes ' and ' no ' are less used in Burmese than in
English , and the ordinary way of answering a question is
 ..BURMESE MANUAL . 41

by repeating the verb, thu-do htặ - min : -sã :-tha-la - na

sa :-bā. Are they eating rice ? No.
hok- thi, hok -pā-thi, [hok-kè] mean true, it is so,
yes .
má-hok, mă -hok-pā, [mă-hok-hpū : ] mean not true,
it is not so , no, not.
Waung : -byi (it is well) means ' very well,' all right."
When addressing persons much superior in rank , the
following forms may be used for 'yes' :
hman-bä ( it is true) .
ū :-tin -bä ( lit. I place your order on my head ).
ū-hteik yuet-pā ( lit. I carry your order on the top
of my head) .
In differing from a superior , or describing anything
.connected with an inferior part of the body, the following:
words are generally prefixed :
thi-nyin : (or thi :) hkan-bā (lit. please be patient or
forgive ).
kā daw -bā- i (lit. I beg your pardon ) .
There formulas are also used amongst equals in making
an apology and the first is then used to younger people
and the second to elder people than the speaker ( S.p. 175 ).
Negation .
:
(L 341-355. J. § 120 ). In the persent and past ten
ses in thi or the negation is expressed by prefixing mä
to the verb omitting the tense affix thi or .
thū pe :-thi he gives or gave - thū mă-pe : (or ma -pe :
-bā) he does not or did not give.
The negation may also beformed by using ma-hok (is
not true) which is more emphatic than mă, thù pe :-thi
mă-hok ( lit. his giving is not true. ) .
42 BURMESE MANUAL .

In the future in myi the negation is not expressed by

mä alone but by mă-hok, thū -po :-myi mä-hok he will not
give,
The perfect affix pyi when used with a negative is
often used for the purpose of expressing intention, resolu
6
tion or promise: thū mă- lā -byi ordinarily sigoifies ' he has
not come' but may mean ' he does not intend to come. ”
In order to avoid the ambiguity attached to the use of
pyi, Burmese generally employ a verb in the negative in
the present or past tense and say ' thū mă -lā, instead of
)
thū mă-la -byī or they add ' the : ' yet, thùmă-lā -the :
he has not yet come.
The polite particle pā is generally used in negative
sentences thū mă -pe :-bā he did not give.
There are two instances in which the negative mā is
used with the tense affixes thi or myi.
(1 ) in a question thū mă-pe :-tha- (or myi) jā : does
or did (or will) he not give ?
( 2) in a noun clause, thū pe :-thi (or myi) ma-pe :
thi ( or myi)-go mā- thi-bā I do not know
whether he gave ( or will give ) or not.
In colloquial hpū : is used in the place of the particle
thſ with a present, past or future tense : thū ma-pe :-bù :
may mean ' he does not, did not or will notgive.?
$
In the imperative mood (L. $ 209. J. 9111), the nega
tion is expressed by mă with hnin ; mă-pe : -hnin do not
give - the polite particle pā is used to soften the harshness.
of an order, mă-pe':-tā-hnin , please do not give.
Word order.-mā is generally placed immediately be
fore the verb. In the perfect tense formed with pyî : the
 BURMESE MANUAL. 43

negative mă is prefixed to pyi :, thū sā :-mă-pyi : he has

not eaten ,

In the imperative the verb is placed tetween mă and

hnin .

The negative mă is placed :

(a) between the noun and the verb in compound
verbs formed of a noun and a verb : thū nā :
må -htaung he does not listen ;
(6) before the compound verb or before each part
of the compound in verbs which are synony
mous, nearly synonymous, unconnected in
meaning
thū mă-yaik-hnet or thū mă-yaik mă-hnet he did
not strike .
thu mă -lox -kaing or thū mă-lok mă-kaing he did
not work,
thu mă-yaung :-wè or thû mă-yaung : mă-wè he
did not trade .

(c) before the compound verb in verbs of which

the second part has lost its meaning - thu
må-kyan -zi he did not plan ;
(d) in honorific verbs before mū which is really a
verb, bă-yin pyon-dāw -mă-mũ the king did
not smile.

Interrogation.
(L. $340 . J. $ 110) . All interrogative sentences ter
minate in interrogative affixes which are placed after the
tense affix . The thi when followed by an interrogative
affix is often shortened to thă.
>
In questions to which the answer is simply ' yes ' or
no ' the affix lă : is used.
44 BURMESE MANUAL .

In
questions to which the answer is not simply ' yes ?
or ' no ' the interrogative affix lò : must be used.
The broad practical rule is that lè: must be used when
myi Or bè occur in the sentence and in all other cases lä :
thū po : -thă -là : does (or did) he give ?
thu pe :-myi-lā : will he give ?
thū pe :-pyi : -byi-lā : has ( or had) he given ?
be -thū-lè ; who is he ?
bè-thwā :-myi-lè : where are you going ?
myi-hmya pe :-thă-lè : how much did you give ?
bè-gyaungmä- lā -thă-lè : why did you not come ?
Word order . The interrogative affixes are always
placed last.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 45

idiomatic use of Burmese Verbs.

There are many differences in the use of Burmese and

English verbs. :

( a ) The same verb often has both an active and a

passive meaning , thus :

hū to call , name or to be called, named

myi to call, name or to be called name .
hso to say, speak or to be said, spoken.
peik to shut or to be shut.
hti to touch (strike ) or to be touched, struck
(hti -hxaik).
lo to want or to be wanting
saung to watch over or to be watched over:
ye -cho : to give a bath or to bathe.

(0) Other verbs have two different and sometimes

opposite meanings :

tnin to learn or to teach .

kyä : to hear or to inform , report.
che : to lend or to borrow,
hngā ; to rent or to hire
hkan to receive or to apply for.
 SE L
46 BURME MANUA .

(c) Two verbs are often used together when a veris

and an adverb would be used in English.

htwet - thwā : to go out and go, to go away.

pye : -thwā : to run and go, to run away .
yū-thwā : to take and go, to take away.
iwè -thwā : to carry and go, to carry away.
laik-lā lo follow and come, to come along.
yaung :-cha to sell and send off, to sell off
1

(c) The idea of place or direction or the manner of

doing a thing is often described in verbs.

hpyit to be (without any reference to

place ) .
shi - to be with reference to place.)
htā ;
- to place (generally ).
tin - to place (above !.
te
to place ( before).
hte - to put in,
hse : = to clean by water (hands,
plates, etc ) .
shaw - to wash (clothes or hair by
rubbing) .
hput . to wash (clothes by beating ) .
thit - to wash (face ).
chi - to carry (by lifting).
hsaung - to carry
B
kaing to hold, carry ( in hand ) .
the to carry from one place to
another
htan : e to carry on shoulder.
Iwe to carry on back (or in womb ) ..
· yuet to carry on head,
 BURMESE MANUAL. +47
yaik = to strike.
hkat - to strike (by side blow ) hence
applied to fanning, row
ing, and foot-ball.
pok - to strike (with hand) .
hkok - to strike (with sword ) .
hto :
- to strike ( from shoulder) with
E

fist.

htu - to strike (by pounding ).

htaung : - to strike (by pounding with the
elbow) .
Verb ' to be ' and ' to have.'
(L. 9253-260) . To be is translated into Burmese by
(a) shi when some idea of place is conveyed,
such as " is here," " is there," " is in , ” kyun
daw -myo-thā ; ein - hmä shi-bā - thi my son is
in the house .

(6 ) hpyit when there is no idea of place, thi-lū

kyun-daw -myo-thā : hpyit-pā - thi this man is
my son .

Note. When the verb “ to be ' is used with a possess

")
ive adjective in the sense of " to possess," " to own," it
)
may be rendered in Burmese by paing. Thus, “ Are
these your fields ? " would be thi-lè-mye-go paing - thă- lā ; "
To have is translated into Burmese by-
(a) shi with a noun followed by the preposition
umā "' in .' Thus I have the book " would be
)
" in me the book is.". kyă -nok -hmā sa -ok
shi- thi.
 SE L
48 BURME MANUA .

(6) pā " to accompany," " to be with ,"" " to be

contained,” “to be included,""S" “ to be mention
ed," used to render the English “ to have with
one, " " to have brought." Thus, “" have ( you)
( a ) cigar ( with you ) ? ” would be :: hse :-le‫ܙܕ‬ix pă 3
thá -lā : " Have (you) brought (a) gun ? ' thin
nat Pā-thả-ã H:
Note.-- The verb hpyit is never used with simple
adjectives of quality, because these adjectives are turned
into verbs by the addition of a tense affix.
Note.--- The verbs hpyit and shi are often under
stood especially in interrogative sentences .

Other meanings of shi and hpyit .

}
From meaning 'to be here' shi comes to mean ' to live,
to exist,' especially when used in the positive with the :
yet' or in negative sentences . min -mi-ba shi- the :-thă
là :, mă-shi-bā, are your parents still alive, they are not.
In addition to meaning ' to be ' hpyit has various other
meanings, i.e.; "to become,' ' to happen,', ' to take effect.'
9
to accomplish,' ' to be practicable. ' kyun-nok hsă- yā
hpyit-thi, I am a teacher or I become a teacher. In simple
negative sentences hpyit invariably means become
kyun -nok hsă-yä mă ma-hpyit, does not mean ' I am not (a))
teacher ' but I did not become ( a) teacher To convey
the idea of ' be '' in such a sentence the verb hok, true, 6 ,

must be used in place of hpyit as kyun -nok hsă -yā ma-hok

( lit. I a teacher not true) I am not a teacher.
When shi is used with yan it often has the meaning
of ' to have to tă -ya -hkan -do -tho kyun -daw -ma -ga
kyue :-myi-pe-yan a -ni :-nge-hmya ' shi-bā- thi. I have
only (event) a small debt to pay to the accused.
 BURMESE MANUAL , 49
Both shi and hpřit are often used at the end of noun
clauses in a redundant manner and could be rendered by
' to happen , ' but this is an idiomatic use of these verbs
and they need not be translated in such sentences. (See
Noun clauses p. 80) .
shi is also sometimes used to mean it may be that, it
is possible . ' ngā -do pyan -ya - thimu-li : shi-thi mă -pyan
ya -thi-mū- li : shi thi it may be that we return or that we
do not.
Adjectival Verbs.
(L. 9151 ( 6 ) . All adjectives of quality and two adjec- .
tives of quantity, myā : many and ni : few , little, may be
used as verbs by adding to them the tense particles thī or
myi or pyi :-byī, and these adjectival verbs form their
+

interrogation and negation in the same manner as ordinary

verbs .
thi-hk -le : hso :-thi this child is (or was ) naughty.
thi-hkä-le : hso : -tha-jā ; is or was) this child
naughty ?
thi-hkä -le : ma-hso : this child is (or was) not
naughty .
thi-hka-le : ma -hso :-thă-lā : is (or was) not this
child naughty ?
ma-hso : -hnin do not be naughty.
kaung :-myi (it) will be good.
kaung :-byi (it has been well) very well , all right.
It should be remembered that as Burmese adjectives
can be changed into verbs by the addition of the tense par
ticles, they can never be used with the verbs shi to be
(here) or hpyit, to be, to become . The following senten
ces are apparent exceptions to this rule : a -hpor- gyi :-thi
kyan :-gyan ; mā-mā shi- the :-thi the old man is still hale
and strong. min :-gyi-hsin -daw a-mè : hpyit- thi the king's
elephant is black. ' thi-pan : a -hla --zon : hpyit-thi this
flower is the prettiest, but the words which are translated
59 BURME MANUA
SE L

by adjectives in English are not adjectives in Burmese.

kyan :-gyan ; mā-mā is an adverbial form and a -mè : and
a hla -zon : are noun forms of the adjective.

Auxiliary verbal affixes.

(L. $ 360. J. $ 117 ). A large number of verbal and

adjectival roots which are used after verbs to express some
additional idea often change their original meaning when
they are so attached to verbs.

Meaning when used Meaning when following .

alone. another verb .

ū ; to begin, be first. More,' again , yet ,' also

used as a polite imperative
affix. In negative senten
6
ces, it invariably means
yet. '
As an auxiliary, it is pro
nounced on :

sa to begin, be first ( always Retains same meaning.

followed by the verb pyu
' to do . )
at to be fit, proper, suit- >
able
kaung : good
htaik to be worth, to have
a certain value .
Right, proper, ought, should.
yā fit, proper, right
lyaw suitable, proper, be
coming
thin suitable, proper, be
coming
 BURMESE MANUAL, 51

Meaning when used Meaning when following

alone. another verb .

maing or hnaing to prevail, Able to, can ( = pouvoir ).

conquer, win

tat to know, understand, ( ( 1 ) skill,knowledge( = savoir )

to be skilled ( 2 ) habit or wont
( 3) native character, essen
tial quality or property
chin (never used alone) to wish, desire, to have a
tendency to

do to desire, wish, want Retains same meaning

se to send ( 1 ) to cause to happen
4
{
( 2 ) to permit, allow, let
san : to try Used as polite imperative
particle
ne to remain, abide, stay Used to form a present or
imperfect tense
pyan to return, repeat, in- To take up or do again, to re
terpret, translate , etc. peat, resume
hpyit to be, become, etc. To take effect, be practica
ble, possible to happen ;
often corresponds to ' for
certain ,' ' without fail'
mi to get hold of, to take Implies accident or chance
>

captive negligence or inadvertence

myè: constant, permanent To continue the same,' ' as
usual,' ' customary '
52 BURMESE MANUAL .

Meaning when used Meaning when following

alone, another verb .

ya to attain , get, gain, ob- ( 1 ) implies compulsion, ob

tain ligation, necessity, duty
or ( 2 ) opportunity, pri
vilege of getting or
gaining

In negative sentences ya
when used with a verb
in the second person ex
presses, prohibition .' In
the third person it im
plies either prohibition
or absence of oppor
tunity .
laik to folloiv , accompany Implies the following out or
carrying out with com
plete effect of an action.
we easy Implies that the action is
done without difficulty
or hesitation
hle to turn round
Implies motion towards the
speaker .
wun ( never used alone ) To dare .
thā pleasant, clear Free to do , to have the
opportunity , to be proper ,
to have room .

Many of these verbs are often used impersonally in

English, but they are always used personally in Burmese .
ma-yon- thin - thaw - thu -go ma - yon -yā . It is not proper to
trust (lit, they should not) those who should not be trusted.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 53

(L. $ 357 . J. $ 118.) Other verbal affixes are parti.

cles having no particular meaning of their own but add
something to the meaning of the verb they are attached to.
che (J. $ 118). conveys the notions of :
( a) to proceed to an action , thin sā :-gye you (pro
ceed to ; eat, ngā ye:-Oye-myi I will (proceed .
to) write ;
(b) the realization of an action, thū Man-dă-le :-myo-
tho thwā :-gye -thi he (really) did go to Man
dalay.
taw (J. $ 117. ) is employed with the following mean-
ings
(a ) permissive force , thin sā :-lo-hiyin sā :-daw if you.
wish to eat, you may eat ;
(6) nearness of an event, kyun-nok thwä :-daw -myi
I will go ( immediately ), mi :-thim : -baw yauk
taw - myi the steamer is about to arrive or will
arrive soon ;

(c) finality, kyun-nok-to-hmā the- yan-thā shi-daw-

thi (as for us) we are (as a final issue ) only io .
die, or there is nothing but death left for us ;
(d) needlessness when affixed to hnin in prohibitive
sentences, hto -tho -hpyit - yue thin -dopin -ban :
yon -hmya -thă hpyit-myii mă-thwā :-gya
hnin-daw. That being so , you will merely tire
yourself, you need not go.

Note. - With taw meaning ' immediately the verbs.

hpyit and shi are often used and must be iused if- the verb
is followed by a conjunction : mi :-thim :-baw yauk -taw
myi shi-hlyin when the steamer was about to arrive.
 :54 BURMESE MANUAL.

yet (from yet-set to be cruel ) .

1

( 1 ) in affirmatory sentences implies that the agent is

cruel or unfeeling enough to perform the action
denoted by the verb, thū-thi mi-mi-nyi- yin: -go
-bin that-pit -yet - thi he heartlessly murdered
even his own younger brother.
(2) in negative sentences it implies that the agent has
not the heart to perform the action thu - tha:-go
chit-thaw-gyaung. tä - yan -tă -hkā -hmya ma
yaik - yet because he loves his son , he cannot
bear ( has not the heart) to beat him at any
time .

yit ' to stay behind , ' kyun -nok pyu - yit - thi remaining
behind I did it, thū ne-yit-thi he remained behind , thin
ne - yit you stay behind .
shā implies commiseration or sympathy on the part of
the speaker. thū the-sha-byī he is dead, poor fellow.
Note .--- The affix shā always follows the verb in
Burmese and not the noun as in English.
pā expresses politeness or deference and must be
used with the verb when an inferior speaks to a superior in
age or rank. It is also used by superiors addressing in
feriors politely. It corresponds to the English ' please' but
it may be used with any tense of the verb and not like
3
* please ' with the imperative only.
.

thu-do lā-gya-bā-thi they come (or they came ).

hpă -ya-kyun -daw a -si- yin -daw -hkan-bā -thi I beg to
report for orders ,
kyun -daw -myo : thwā ;-bā-myi I will go.
thù thwā :-pyi :-ba -byi he has gone.
.

thwā : -laik - pa
thwā : -bä-daw
thwā :-bā-on : -please go..
 BURMESE MANUAL . 55

Word order . In the present and future tenses pā is

placed immediately before the tense affix . In the per
fect it is placed between pyi : and byi.
In the imperative pā is generaily placed last, but it
always precedes taw and on :
The honorific affix.
[L. 9106 and 339. J. $ 125 (6 ) .] taw is often
found used after nouns and verbs. It signifies ' pertaining
or belonging to a deity, king or government.' It is affixed
to a noun or a verb to indicate that the thing or action de
noted by the noun or the verb is connected with divine, royal
or sacred persons or personsof high rank. hsin -daw royal
-elephant, kyaung :-daw royal monastery, thă-mi:-daw royal
daughter, yon :-daw royal court. When taw is affixed to
a verb , it is always followed by mū'to do''to perform . '
min :-gyi : pyon :-daw -mū-thi the king smiled.
min : -gyī : pyon :-daw mū-thä lā : did ( the ) king smile ?
min :-gyi : pyon :-daw mă-mü (the) king did not
smile .

Honorific verbs and nouns.

Differences in social position which are sharply mark
ed in Burmese in the use of pronouns and of the honorific
particles taw and taw -mū are still further emphasized by
the use of different verbs and nouns in speaking of acts
done by or to persons of different rank.
56 BURMESE MANUAL ,

Verbs.

Ordinary people.
To To Pongyis.* Kings . * Deity .
equals. superiors.
1

to speak pyaw or Shauk haw mein

hso
to go thwā : kyua kyua shwe- de - tha
set- taw sa - yi
hpyan- hli-li
thi
to give pe : or hset + thă-nā : ..

kan : or ma
za
to die the a - neis -sa pyan nat-yuz- pă-yi-neik .
the -yaux san han - san
hson : nat-iyi 4

the-lun san
to invite hpeik pin
to eat sa :
$
thon- hpon : pwe
zaung pe : 7
daw - te!
să -dew ?
hkaw
to sleep eik kyein : set- taw- kyein :-set
eik hkaw
Pyaw
to live ne thi - din : “ san
( stay) thon :
pyaw
...

to bathe ye-cho : ye- så

be
...

to inform kyā : pyan

1. yauk I kya :
kyā :
shaul
...

to marry ein- let-htat

;

daung
pyu
...

to give in pe :-zã : htein : hsaung

marriage mya : hnin :

* When pongyis, kings or the deity are the subject of the verb, the
words given in these columns should beused.
- * hset is used to all superiors except.pongyis“ to whom tūrhluss
dan ; or kat are used .
# kyä:-yauk is the formula used in writing a letter to an equal,
kyā :-hmă is used in writing to an inferior and kyā :-aikto un
equal or ap inferior.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 57
Nouns.

Ordinary people with reference to

Equals. Superiors. Pongyis. Kings. Deity.

...
wife mă-yā : kă-daw mi- bă
meim : yā :
ma
father a- hpe hpa - gin hkă -myi;
a-hpa daw

...
Inother a-mi mi-gin me -daw
a -me

...
cooked htă -min : hson :
rice

year hnit wā (Lent)

...

word să-gā : a-mein amein

daw

Adverbs.

(L. $451 . J. $ 126). Adverbs are formed from adjec

tivesor verbs by

( 1 ) affixing swā to adjectives, kaung:-zwā or kaung :

-mun-zwā well .

(2) prefixing a to adjectives or verbs, a-lun or a

hiun very, exceedingly , from lun to exceed ;
a-myan quickly, from myan quick, In com
pound adjectives or verbs a is prefixed to each
párt a -lyin - a -myan quickly from lyin-myan
quick.
 ESE AL
58 BURM MANU

(3) reduplicating an adjective, kaung :-gaung : well,

hne :-hne : slowly. In compound adjectives
both parts of the compound are reduplicated,
thā-thā yā- yā pleasantly from thā -yā pleas
ant.

Note.- All these forms are used in modern Burmese,

but the first is literary, the second, modern and the third ,
colloquial .

Other methods of forming adverbs are by :

(a) prefixing a or ta to the first or both parts of a

reduplicated adjectival or verbal root, a
htū :-dū : diversely, particularly, from htü :
diverse ; singular, a - thi :-thi or a - thi :-a - thi :
separately, severally, from thī : to be sepa
rate ; tä -pyaw -byaw incessantly talking,
from pyaw to talk.

When the word is a compound, a or ta is prefixed to

each part; a-htū : -dū : a -hsan :-zan : extraordinarily , from
htu :-zan : extraordinary .

The adverbs containing ta imply the continued re

petition or recurrence of an action.

( b) prefixing a to the first and tă to the second part

of compound adjective or verb, a -hsaw -dă
Iyin hastily, a-lwe-tă-gū easily.

Reduplicating a verbal root and prefixing mă to the

first part and tă to the second mă-myin -da -myin almost
seeing, mă-hmi-dă-hmi almost reaching.
 BURMESE MANUAL , 59

(c) reduplicating a verbal noun formed with a and

omitting a , in the second part, a -lo -loof
one's own accord ' from a-lo'wish,' a-kyein- :
gyeln ' often ' from a-kyein ' time,' ' turn ;
a - thaung :-thaung : " by thousands ' from
a-thaung : ' ten thousand .?
6
1
(d) affixing the adverb ti : ' only ' to a verbal noun
formed with a which is changed to tă in the 6
combination, as tä-nyi- di : (only even ) all
3
together ' from a-nyi evenness,' tă-sat-ti :
( only adjoining ) ' immediately adjoining,'
from a-sat a joint, aa seam .

(e) in addition to these there are many adverbs for

which no rule can be given :

a-s0 :-da-ya authoritatively :

a-nā-dä-ya sorely, grievously.
à -hlun -da - ya exceedingly.

} unconcernedly.
a-hmat-ta-meunseasonabl
a -chein -mè y.

[ L. $ 357 ( 5) and 377. J. $ 126 ( 7 ). ] thā means

only ' when applied to a verb and the verb to which it is .
affixed is then repeated . thu-kył-thā kyı-thi he only
looked, sā :-thā sā :-bā please only eat. It is often combined
with tì ; following a numeral affix preceded by a number,
lù tă -yauk - ti :-thă lā-thi only one man came.
ti: (J. $ 103 ) also means ' only ' myin : tă-gaung- .
di : the -thi only one pony died . It is more emphatic than
thā.

thā is also used as an adjective ; it is equivalent then

to the English ' only in the sense of alone ' ( solitary ')
none but,' thu htă -min :-go- thā sā :-thi he eats only.rice ;
thu -thā hso :-thi he alone is wicked . It is sometimes com .
бо BURMESE MANUAL,

bined with hiyin which intensifies the idea of exclusiveness.

thü -thā -hlyin hso :-thi only he is wicked.

Word order.- When thā follows a noun or pronoun

in the nominative, the case affix is suppressed, ngā-thā I
alone. In other cases thā is placed after the case affix,
.nga-go-thā chit-thi ( he ) loves me alone.
>

si [J. ,9126 (7 ) .] means ' separately ,'' singly,' ' indi

vidually and it corresponds to the English each . thū-do
hmānwā :-tă -gaung -zi shi- gya -thi, they each had a bul
lock. thū -do -thi thin-nat-tă-let-sí yū -lā -gya -thi, they
each brought a gun . thu-do-go ngwe-hna-kyat-si pe :-bā,
give them two rupees each.

Word order .-- Sí always follows the numeral affix and

when possible it is used with the accusative and not with
the nominative.

hlyin
>
is used in the same way as sī and corresponds 6
to'a ' and '( per ' in such sentences as once a month ' sa
shilling per head. When the word preceded by a numeral
.relates to time hiyin may be omitted, thū- thi tă-la-tä
gyein lā -thi he comes once a month . ta -yå -hkan -thi hsi
gyein tă-hsè - hiyin ko :-gyat-ze :-hnon :-hnin hsi-gyein
tă-ya - go wè-yü-bā-thi the defendant bought ioo viss of
oil at tha rate of Rs. 9 per 10 viss.

Note .-hlyin is the conjunction ' if ' and five per cent.
is rendered in Burmese tă -yā -hlyin ngā : -gyat if one
hundred five rupees ,

a - thi - thi : ' severally ? may be used in conjunction

with si or instead of it.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 61

Note. - The verb kya ' to fall ' is often combined with
hlyin or si and means at the rate of ' yua -thā - :- do
thi tă -ein -hiyin tă - yauk -kya myo -go thwä :-ya-gya-thi
the villagers had to go to town a man per house. thū -do
thi tă -go -htyin shit-pè :-gya pe :-gya- thi they paid 8 annas
per man .

chi : means ' only, merely , nothing but ' lū-do-gyi :

men only, nothing but men thwā :-thi-gyi : he only, goes,
he does nothing but go. nga-li : let- chi : hpyit-hke- thi i
am also empty handed ( nothing but the hands ) . pon-nā :
thon :-yauk -ko thi-ni : -gyi : hso -yue taung :-daw speak to
three Brahmins in the very same manner (this manner only)
and ask them.
3
chin : (J. $ 103). Single one,' ' only, ' tă -ne- gyin ;- ,
dwin in a single day, tă -nyin :-gyin :-dwin in a single night.
the : (J. $ 115 ). Still , yet,' in affirmative sentences
means still ' thū sā ;-the :-thi he still eats, thū eik - the :
thi he still sleeps. In negative sentences, it signifies : up to
$

the present time, yet ' thū mă -sä : -the : he does not eat
yet .

Word order.--the : is always placed immediately after

the verb .

hla (J. $ 117 ) . Used as an adverb has the same . mean

ing as a-hlun 'very,' mă -ne-nya - ga kyun -daw mă-eik ya
a -hlun - pin -ban : -hja - thi last night I could not sleep, I was
very much worried. thì hsin :-yè : -hla-bā-thi le is very
poor

Word order.-hla always follows immediately the verb

or adjective whereas a -hlun always precedes it.
Note.-- the : cannot be used with the imperative in the
negative; on : is used in its place to mean ' yet'mă- thwa :
hnin -on i do not go yet .
62 BURMESE MANUAL .

The adverb hmya.

) 1 6
so
(L. $ 136 ). hmya means ' much, ' as much as, ' SO
much as, as many as, ' even . It is often corrupted to
hma both in writing and speaking.
>
Combined with thi anı hto it means as many as, ' ' as
much as,' thi-hmya - lauk lù-do lā-gya-thi as many men as
this came, hto -hmya-lauk htă -min :-go sā :-thi he ate as
much rice as that.

It is combined with bè and myi-thi in questions relat

ing to number, definite or indefinite, lū inyi-hmya shi- tha
lè : (lit. as many as what men are there) how many men are
there. htă-min : myi-hmya sā : -tha -lè : how much rice
did you eat .
It is combined with a numeral affix preceded by tă to
6
express ' even one, '>
as many as one , ' and this combina
tion is used with negative verbs and gives the idea of
>
none ' thi-hnit kyun-nok-kyuè :-tă-gaung-hma mă - the
(lit. this year so many as one buffalo of mine died not)
none of my buffaloes died this year,
It is also combined with be and myi- thi used as in
definite pronouns thū - thi bè-kyaung :-go -hma mă-thwā :
he does not even go to any school .
[ L. $377 (4).] Hmya or yue is often affixed to thī in
1
its shortened form and means as many as,' ' whatever,
myin : -shi-thă-hmya-the-thi as many horses as there were
died, kyun -nok pye :-naing -thă -hmya pye :-thi I ran as
much as I could, yă -hku kyun-nok-to tat-naing - thă - yue
să-bā:-myā :-go su -hsaung :si-hnin tho-theix-yue ntā ;
bā-thi we are now collecting and storing as much paddy as
we can. yue is seldom usedin the written language and not
at all in conversation ; it is a form generally used in the
literary language.
 BURMESE MANUAL , 63
Prepositions.

( L. $421. J. 74) . The number of prepositions prop

erly so called is very small in Bui mese , they are
$
tho'to ' ( with motion) or 5 towards . '
hnin ' with ' or ' from , ' by '
6 >

a :-hpyin or hpyin ' with , by, by means of.'

kyaung because of, on account of, owing to.'
hma or ka from .'
wè, hnaik , twin , hmā.in , at ' (without motion ).

Word order. - Prepositions always follow the word to

which they refer.

(J. $67. L. $95) . hnin means I with.' It is used to

express the following ideas :
(a) the instrument or means with or by which some
thing is done, dok-hnin yaik - thi he beats
with a :stick ,

It is also used to express the price for which a thing

is bought or sold, also the commodity for which another is
bartered,kyun -nokmyin :-ta-gaung-gongwe- hna -ya -ngā :
zè-hnin wè-thi I bought a pony for (with) Rs. 250. thū
thimi-mi-gaung :-baung:-90 -ein -gyi-tă-htè-hninhtat-lè :
thi he exchanged his gaung-baung for (with) a jacket,
hnin is also applied to nouns denoting time, Yan -gon
myo -tho hnă -yet-hnin yauk-lā-thi he reached Rangoon in
(with ) two days.
(b) company, intercourse,union kyun -nok -hnin laik
lā-thī he came with me.
64 BURMESE MANUAL .

(c) hnin expresses the exactly contrary idea when

joined to verbs implying freedom from or
separation from thū - thi mi-mi-mă-yā : -hnin
kwā-thi he separates from ( with ) his wife.
thin -do a-na-yaw -gä -hnin kin : -bā-ze may
you be free from ( with ) disease , sickness.
(d ) In the sense of being with ' or ' connected
6

with ' hrin is used with the verb tū i to be

similar ' thū myauk -hnin tū -thi he is like
(with) a monkey. The prepositions hnin -a
tù ' together with ' hnin - a -nyi, hnin -Iyaw
zwā ' in accordance with ,' even with are:
used in the same manner .

(e) cause or reason kyun -nok - thā :-thi a-hpyā :-yaw-

gä-hnin the-thī my son died of ( with ) a fever.
a : -hpyin and hpyin are literary forms used instead of
1
.
hnin when it means ' with ,' ' by ' or by means of."
kyaung ineans because of, ' ' on account of ' ' owing
to ' and is often used with verbal nouns, ye -Kyi :-gyin :
gyaung on account of floods,
hma and ka both mean ' from ' but ka is more com..
monly used in modern Burmese than hma.
ka is also used with nouns of time expressed or under
stood to express the idea of' past ir last.' thū să - ne - ne
ga yauk - la - thi he arrived last Saturday. lun -ge -thi- tå
nin :-gă -nwe-ne- ga mi : -thim : -baw htwet-thwā ; -thi the
steamer left last Sunday. nauk -la - ga mo : a -hlun - yuā
thi it rained much last month .

we is a literary form almost obsolète, but still used

in modern language in a few expressions such as let-wè,
hand
 BURMESE MANUAL . 65
hnaik is aa literary form, twin is chiefly used in writ-.
ing and hmā is the more modern form -- they have all the
same meaning of in ' or ' at'without motion .

They are also used with nouns of time to mean ' at,'
" on " in ,' ngā :-na-yi-a-chein hmā ( or hnaik or dwin) at 5
o'clock. ' hto ne-hmā (or hnaik or dwin ) on that day .
hnaik, twin hmā are however generally omitted when
applied to time .
mat - la thon :-yet-ne nan-net hsè - tă -nā -yi- a -chein
mi: -thim i: -baw hsaik-yauk-hlyin when the steamer came
alongside on the 3rd March at 11 a.m.
6
They are also used with the verb shi in its meaning of
" to have thū-do -hmă (or hnaik or dwin ) thā :-hna
yauk shi-thi ( in them were two sons) they had two sons.
twin is also used to mean ' amongst or amidst'thi-lu
ngā :-yauk - twin thū a - leim -ma -zon : hpyit- thi amongst
these five men, he is the cleverest.

Other prepositions.

(L. 1385). In addition to the prepositions already

mentioned above, there are a number of other words, gen
erally nouns, which are used as prepositions.
The mast common of the words are :
6
taing or taing -aung till, until, as far as, up to ' from
the verb taing to reach , to arrive.'
a-hti or hti " until, up to , from the verb hti ' to
touch .
6
pat-lon : " throughout, all through, beginning to end,
from a -pat circle, circuit ' and a -lon : all. ngā :-hnit
pat -lon : all through five years,
 66 BURMESE MANUAL ,

a -hpo ' for, on account of, on behalf of, for the bene
$
fit of, instead of ' from a-hpo ' share portion . The a of
hpo is often omitted : kyun-nok-thā :-bo, for my son.
a-twet ' for,' from a-twet'sake, benefit, account.
I

kè -tho
tha-be } like,similar to. 9

6
a - taing : from taing : to measure "
a -laik from laik (" to follow ' according to,
a-lyauk from lyaukto accord with agreeably to.
a-ya from ya ' to get, to obtain '
hnin-ta - gwa
hnin -atu together with, like with.
hnin -atū - ta -gwaj
-
hnin-nyi-zwā} evenly with, accordance with..
6
pyin or a-pyin from a-pyin ' an outside ' means ' be
sides ' là-gaung :-Pyin besides,
htet from a - htet ' an upper or superior part ' means.
above, beyond.
mă -ka'in excess of, beyond ' is generally employed
with htet in comparative sentences.
hma- tă -bā : ' except, apart from. '
8
hma - sa -yue ' beginning from,' often equivalent to
the English and
>
a-net from a-net'a mass, collection , a whole ' means
)

among, from among, out of.'

Secondary Nouns,
It will be noticed that there are no such prepositions
> 6
as ' on ,' ! under,' ' above,' and to supply the place of these,
Burmans have to use compound nouns denoting place or 4
space with the prepositions mentioned above, thus on a
tree ' will be in the upper part of a tree ,'ļi' under a tree '
will be in the under space of a tree? These compound
nouns are called by some grammarians ' secondary nouns:
 BURMESE MANUAL . 67

The nouns denoting place or space are connected with the

other nouns by i which is generally omitted, thus thit -pin
i-auk -hmā becomes thit -pin -auk -hmā. The compound
nouns in most common use are :

a -paw or a-htet up ein -baw ein-det, house

per part top, upstairs.
auk under part thit -pin-auk under
space of a tree .
a -pa ora-pyin out- ein-ba ein-bying exte
side, exterior rior of ( a) house,
a -hti : or a-hte i: or a ein-de : ein -dwin :, in
twin i:, inside, interior, inner terior of aa house
part of space
a - htan presence [hsi] a -me -htan -tho to ( the
presence of) his mother ; a
hpe-hton-ga from (the pre
sence of) his mother.
a-nā : side, border, myo-nā : border of a.
town
space, near (a thing)
a-ni : or a-ni :-a-pā : myo-ni:, myo -ani:-apā :
nearness, near part near part of (a) town
a-nyā upper part (of a myit-nyā upper part of
river , country ) ( a) river
a-kye lower part ( of a myit-kye lower part of
river, country ) (a) river
a-she front or fore-. ein -she front of ( a )
part house

ü : forepart, fore -end hle - u : prow of (a) boat

nauk space behind, ein -nauk back of (a)
hind part house
68 BURMESE MANUAL.

a -lè middle mye -iè middle of ( the)

ground
pat- li circuit myo-pat-li surrounding
space of a town
Note .--- Several of these words are used to form com
pound nouns , not of space , but of time :
a -htet- hnit (the above year) last year.
a -htet- (or a-htek-ka) thă-gyi : (the above head
man ) the former headman,
nauk-thauk-kyā -ne next ( or last ) Friday.
she-thaw- a-hkă in former times.

Co -ordinating Conjunctions .
Co -ordinating conjunctions are seldom used between
words and still less between sentences . They are found
in the literary language between words, but in the modern
language they are generally omitted. They are little used
between sentences because the Burmese do not like short
abrupt sentences as we do in English but connect every
6

sentence with something that goes before-thus , he came

and said ' would be in Burmese having come, he said, ' ' he
came but did not stay ' would be ' although he came, he
did not stay ; ' ' is this river deep or shallow' would be ' is
this river deep ? is it shallow ?? II do not know whether
C

he come or not ' would be ' I do not know that he came,

that he did not come.”

hnin is used to express ' and ' but it is really the pre
position with ' a -hpe-hnin a-me ( the mother with the
father) the father and the mother.
hnin is never used to connect sentences.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 69
yue is used to connect sentences ; it forms a present
or past participle and is equivalent to the English and '
between two sentences : lū-ngā : -yauk ein-go a-tin :-win
yue ngwe- chauk - yā taung :-gya-thi five men entered the
house forcibly and demanded Rs. 600 (literally having en
tered demanded). shin :-yua să : -bā :-bo :-ngwe-go pe:
Jaik -pā please settle up the accounts and pay ( me ) the
price ofthe paddy ( having settled up please pay).
tho - thaw - li : or tho- thaw or tho-yā-dwin mean 'but ;'
thūlā -thi tho -ya-dwin kyā -myin - zwā mă -ne he came but
did not remain long .

a-pyin or pyin or hma-ta-bā 'besides' hle-thă-mā :

do -ga a - hka ma-ya-thi-pyin hle - gun myā :-zwă pe :
'hsaung -ya -gya -thi the boatmen besides getting no hire,
had to pay much revenue ( = not only ... but),

li : as an adverb means 6 likewise , also, too, ' as a cor

junction it is often repeated and then means both ...... and '
and in negative sentences neither......nor ' thū-sā :-li :
sā :-thi thauk -li :-thauk - thi he both ate and drank.

6
tho -mă -hok means ' or ' :
( = tho -mă -hok - hiyin if it is
not so ). ye tho -mă-hok na -no- go thauk -myi-lā : Will
you drink water or milk :

>
Note ... The more idiomatic manner of rendering or '
is to omit it or to repeat the sentences or clauses between
which it occurs ; le :-ngā :-yet four or five days, hsè-ko :
'vet nine or ten days .

thi-myit net-thă-lā : tein - thă -lā : is this river deep

or shallow ?
70 BURMESE MANUAL .

[ J. $126 (7 ) ] . As an alternative conjunction hpyit

se means either or ' hmin-dan-go-hpyit-se hkè :
dan -go- hpyit- se yū -ge bring either a pen or a pencil.
Note.-- In noun clauses ' whether ... or ' is expressed
idiomatically by repeating the clauses : thū lā -thi mă-la
thi-go mă -thi-bā (1 ) do not know whether he came or not..

Subordinating Conjunctions.

Very few conjunctions are simple words of the

language ; these are yue. Iyet, bè : and thaw. Most of the
conjunctions are taken from other parts of speech .

Conjunctions often affect the tense affix which precedes

them ; thus thi may be suppressed or altered to thaw or
thă ; myi is always suppressed ; pyi :-byi is abbreviated to
pyi : in all cases when thi would be suppressed, abbre
viated or altered. No rule can be given regarding these
alterations and they are tabulated for easy reference in
Appendix III to which the student is referred.

Word order.--Conjunctions are always placed after the

verb at the end of their clause and the subordinate clause
must always come first, thus, " I saw this man when I went
to the bazaar ' would be in Burmese.bazaar to ( I ) went ..
when, this man ( 1) sawi ze :-go thwā :-hiyin thi-lu -go
myin-bā-thi.

When the same word is the subject of the principal

clause and of the subordinate clause, it is used in one
clause only and omitted in the other-thus 'the dog ran into
>
the jungle because it feared danger ' can be translated
 BURMESE MANUAL . 71

hkwe: -thi be :-k yauk -thaw - gyaung taw -tho win-pye : -le
thi or.be :-kyauk - thaw - gyaung hkwe: taw - tho win-pye :
le -thi.

yue expresses :
(a ) A present or past participle and is then equiva
6
.
lent to the English and between two sen
tences .

(6 ) Cause or reason and means ' because,' as , '

6

(
since, it is then equivalent to thaw gyaung.
wè -thū pā :-yue ze :-na -hnon : -ga kya -bo
shi-thi because buyers are scarce, the market
rate must fall.

(c) Contemporaneous action when it is the equiva

lent of the English present participle, thū
myin :-go-si :-yue thwā :-thi he went riding
a pony .

lyet denotes contemporaneous action and is the equi

valent of the English present participle - kyun -daw -do -ga
hkim -byā :-do-a :-lon:-go kyam :-ma -gya -ze - yan ne-zin
hsu -taung :-lyet shi-ne-gya -bā -thi we are praying daily
2

that you may all be in good health.

Iyet often means i notwithstanding that...yet' or
although
' ' especially when combined with hnin -- thin - go :
nga-thă -di-pe :-Iyet-hnin me-Iyaw - le -thi notwithstanding
that I warned you yet you forgot.
6 9
kyaung means because of,'' on account of,' ' owing :
to,' ' as,' mo :-yuā -thaw - gyaung ngā -mă -lä -bá I did not
) 6

come because it rained .

> 6
hnin as a preposition means with , by means of,"
as a conjunction it means because ,' ' as nga-hpyā :-thi- .
hnin mă-thwā : -hnaing -bā (I ) could not go because I had .
fever ,
 72 BURMESE MANUAL .

hpyin or ā-; hpyin as prepositions mean by means of '

and as conjunctions.' by ' or because, ' ' as ' kye - e :-thă
hpyin sä - yan -ngwe tă-yā let -hkan -gya - thi as they were
satisfied, they accepted an advance of Rs. 100.
a-twet as a preposition means ' for 'and as aa con
6
junction on account of,' because . ' nauk-mo : a -ni:-ngè
nyan - thi- a - twet a - thi :-a-hnan-mya: -hmă a -aung --a
myin ni : -bā- thi because the later rains were a little scanty,
the crops are in somewhat bad condition .
thaw means ' when ' or ' if ' sometimes " as. ' It is
chiefly used in the literary language and is often preceded
by the euphonic particle lat . kā - la she-lat- thaw when
time had been long (after some time) . mo : lin :-thaw
* When dawn came .
>
hiyin means ' when ' or ' if .' mo:-yuā -hlyin kyun -nok
i mă - la -hnaing-bā if it rains, I cannot come.
6
a -kè -yue meaning certainly, indeed ' is often used
at the beginning of conditional clauses and followed by
hlyin, thus, a-ke -yue kyun-daw-myo :-do shauk-thi-a
taingia -hkwin :-mă-ya nso-hlyin if (you ) should indeed say
enat we cannot obtain the favour (permission) we ask for.
ka as a preposition means ' from ' and as a conjunction
' if.' . It is often preceded by gye. jä -hpet-ko a-lo-shi-ga
hmā-htā :-laik -pā if (you) want green tea, please inform
( me) .
hma as a preposition means ' from ' and as a conjunc
- tion after,' .if.' ' mi-mi lè-dwet să -bă :-myā ; pyi :-hma
tkyun -daw -do lā -hnaing-gya -leim -myi we shall ( only) be
able to come after paddy from our fields is finished (gar
sered) .
f
hma - tha mezzs ' only after ' or ' only if .'
 BURMESE MANUAL , 73 :
nauk as a noun means ' space behind ' and as a

conjunction after .' Yan -gon -myo -hma htwet- lā -pyi :- :

thi- nauk Kyun-dat -thị le- mya -go thựã:-yakkyi-shu
bă-thi. After I had left Rangoon , I went and looked at the
paddy fields.
bè : is always preceded by a verb in the negative and
means without,' thūma- eik -hpè : ne-thi he stayed without
sleeping. It also means ' instead of thù htă -min :-go
mă- sa :-bè : ye-go-thauk-thi instead of eating rice he
drank water.
3
kè : -tho as a preposition means ' like, ' ' similar to '
>
and as a conjunction as ' ' as ... so, ' ' like as ...... So. ' ngā .
pyaw -thă -ge-tho thin pyu-lok-ya-myi you must do as I
tell you .
lauk as a preposition means ' like ' in degree or
6
measure and as a conjunction ' as much as. ' kyun-nok - to
lo-gyin-thă -lauk ma-ya -bā we did not get as much as we
wished.

(J. $75.) a -tzing : according as ' kyun -daw hmā..

laik -thi- a -taing : according as I instructed (you). Fre .
quently the tense affix thi ar.d the a in a-taing : are omit
ted thin -hso -daing : hman-be-th! it is correct according
as you say.

taing : or a -hkā -daing : ' every time ,' ' whenever ,'
thù - thi kyun -nok -hsi-tho lā - thi- a -hkā -daing: (or jā -daing :)
kyun-nok-hnin yan-hpyit-thi whenever he comes to my
house he quarrels with me.
yā means 6 as while ' and dwin is sometimes added .
to it. ngā htă- min : -sā : -yā-dwin thū - yauk - ā - thi whilst .
I was eating rice he arrived.
yā also mear's 'when and is then the equivalent of the :
English active past participle. hpă -ya -kyun -daw tă-yə..
 74 BURMESE MANUAL.

hkan-htan ngwe-go thwā : -yauk taung :-yă mă-pe : when

I went and demanded the money from the defendant ( he)
did not give ( it) . Bod -da -bā -thā Mya -ma-lu -myo :-do
hton : -zan-shi-yä as the custom of the Burmese race and
the Buddhist religion is.
C
sin means 'while,' 'during the time that ’ and is
sometimes strengthened by the addition of twin. thă-hte :
thā : a-yat-ta -bā : thwā : -zin whilst the merchant's son
was absent ( had gone to another place . )

6
a-hkaik as a noun means ' time ' and as a conjunction
while,' during the interval that,' frequently the tense affix
thi and the a of a -hk aik are omitted , tă - ya -thă -gyi : a
chā : -tho thwā : -gaik whilst the judge had gone elsewhere.
a -hkā ( time ) kā-la ( time) and a-chein (hour) are all
nouns which are used as conjunctions and mean when .2
nzuk-tá- yet kyā-tha-kā-la when the next day had passed.
$

>
twin as a preposition means ' in ' and as a conjunction
when .'

hlyin chin : (hlyin ' when ’ and chini , con

traction of chet-chin :, instantly) used together mean
instantly when,' ' just as,' ' no sooner......than ,' ' as soon
as ,' 6
the moment that ,' sä -bā : ya-hiyin ya - gyin :a-hlun
-thi-lo -bā-thi ( 1 ) wish very much to know as soon as you ·
get the paddy.
mă mean before,' hmſ some
mã....hkin } bothhate more literary than mål.is.shkin..
mă-kyā- gin htwet- jä -bā -myi (I ) will
come before long
taing or taing-aung ( more common than taing) as a
* preposition means ' till,' 'until,' ' up to ,' ' as far as ' and has
the same meanings as a conjunction. thü yauk - taing - aung
ngā saung-ne-thi I waited till he came;
 BURMESE MANUAL . 75

thaw -li: ' though,' 'although ' thu hsin :-yè :-thaw -li :
(

a-hlun-yo :-mat-thí though he is poor, he is very honest.

Interjections .
(L. $407-410 ). Some of the interjections are :
awah ' (contentment - regret) .
hpyit-ya-le-gyin : ' alas.'
a-mè-le : " oh mother ' (pain, distress).
>
thā-du . " well done. '
o'ch ' (calling or addressing) .
yaw here ? ( take it ).
the ' you dare. '
>
ha ' eh ' somewhat disrespectful .
he ' here you ' ( implying reproof, addressed
ito inferiors ) .
hè " here you ' (disdain ).

: Noun clause as subject or direct object .

J.
(L. $ 364-367 J. 122–123 )).. Noun clauses are
sentences in which the work of a noun is done by a sen
tence and they are found in English in the form of infini
tives, gerunds, interrogative sentences, relative clauses
beginning with what ' or clauses beginning with the con
junctions that, whether or if (meaning whether). A noun
clause may be used in English as the subject or the object
of a verb, thus :
( i) Is it difficult to learn (or learning) Burmese ?
(ii) It is very long since I met you.
( iii) What you say is true.
(iv) I knew that you came yesterday.
76 BURMESE MANUAL .

These sentences would be translated into Burmese as

follows :

(i) Myă -mă-să-gāor: (b(a)) thin-

thin-thi-hmānket-thă
yan jā :
or ( c ) thin-yug
(a) lit. (they) learn Burmese is it difficult ?
In . (b) the form used is that of the verbal noun formed
with the gerundial affix yan ,
In (c) the verb with yue is equivalent to the English
present participle .
(b) and (c) are the forms more usually used.
( ii) min -go mă-twe-thit-hmā kyā -hla -byi. The
it' at the beginning of the English sentences
is not translated into Burmese as it is merely
used to bring the verb before the logical sub
ject and thus avoid infinitive or participial
sentences which are frequently used in Burm .
mese .

(I) did not meet you (or the not meeting you ) has.
been very long.
It will be noticed that turning the sentence in this.
way renders the use of a negation necessary.
( iii) min :-pyaw - thi-hm , hman-bā-thi
lit. you say is true.
(iv) min : mă-ne-sa là thi- go thi-bā-thi the whole
sentence is in the accusative being the direct.
object of the verb thi.

* Note. - The tense affix is not suppressed in noun clauses

in the negative .
 BURMESE MANUAL. 77

Noun clause in the possessive.

***
The most common construction in Burmese is to put
into the possessive case all noun clauses in the accusative 6
by using the word a-kyaung : * which means.fact ' ' cir
cumstance ,' thus the sentence given above.
I knew that you came yesterday would become in
Burmese .

I knew the fact of you came yesterday.

min : ma - ne -ga lā - thi- i- a -kyaung :-go thi-bā.thi.
A sentence of this kind is however never used in
Burmese in its full granimatical form and it is altered as
follows :

(a) the possessive particle is suppressed and thi

consequently takes the abrupt tone.
min : mă -ne - ga lā - thi- a -kyaung :-go thi-bā - thi.

( 6) the sentence is further abbreviated by the sup

pression of thi and making lā and kyaung :
into a compound noun .
min : mă-ne-ga lā -gyaung : thi-bā -thi.
The (a ) construction is more used in the literary lan
guage whereas the (6) construction is more used in modern
Burmese both in the written and the spoken language.
* Note.-- a -kyaung : (L. $523) is a verbalnoun derived from the
root Kyaung : to draw a line, and its primary meaning is therefore
' aa drawn line or anything resembling a line ' ' a long mark or streak ,
with this meaning it forms 6compound nouns sa-gyaung : a line of
writing, lan :-gyaung : 'path ' road ? ye -gyaung : " channel.'
From this primary meaning it has branched off to signify fact, circum
stance, cause, reason, purpose, object, meana, account. description, pure
port, event, subject, topic, what pertains to or concerns.
 78 BURMESE MANUAL .

Noun clause with words spoken.

" Noun clauses containing words spoken , thought or
asked are simply noun clauses in the accusative , but they
are dealt with separately as they sometimes take in Bur
mese a different construction from ordinary noun clauses .
Thus in the following sentences :
(v) he said thathe came yesterday.
( vi) he said that he would come to -morrow .
the ordinary construction with ko or a-kyaung : or
kyaung : may be used :
(v) thū-ga mă-ne-galā -thiyo pyaw-bā-thi
or thū - ga ma-ne -galā - gyaung : * pyaw -bā -thi
(vi ) thū-ga net-hpan lā-myi-go pyaw -bā-thi
or thū -ga net-hpan lä -gyaung : * pyaw -bā.thi
The more ordinary construction is to repeat the words
spoken in the original speaker's words and to place hu at
the end of the words quoted .
hu comes from the verb hü ' to say ' ' to declare ,' and is
the contracted form of hū -yue " saying, declaring,' it cor
6
responds in English to ' that''in indirect speech and to in .
verted.commas in direct speech .
The sentences given above would therefore be trans
delta into Burmese :
>
( v) he spoke saying ' I came yesterday
thù-ga mă -ne-ga lā-thi-hu pyaw-bā -th

* Note. When the construction with a -kyaung : is used in sen

tences of this kipd there is some ambiguity as the difference between
past and future is not made unless an adverb of time is used
 5

BURMESE MANUAL. 79

(vi) he spoke saying ' I will come to-morrow '

thù-ga net-hpan lā- myi-hu pyaw -bā - thi
hu is always expressed in the literary form and some
times in the modern written language but is never used in
speaking, when to takes it place .
hu is used with verbs of speaking, thinking and other
verbs which imply speaking such as praising,demanding,
questioning
hu may also be used with other verbs which do not
imply speaking ; it then means ' saying to one's self ' and
may be translated by ' intending. It is generally express
ed in the literary language, but omitted in modern Burmese.
thà -hko :-do-thi thă -nte : -10 that-myi-hu lā -gya -thi the
thieves came intending (lit saying to themselves we will
ikill ' ) to kill the merchant.
The tendency of Burmese in quoting the words of
another person is to use direct instead of indirect speech
6
as in English , thus the dog said that as he was his wife's
master, he alone was entitled io have the pup ' is in Bur
mese the dog spoke saying as ( I ) am the master and hus
band of my wife, (I ) alone am entitled to have ( it) . '
This tendency to use direct speech makes Burmese
quote words spoken where we merely indicate in English
that words have been spoken , thus the magistrate senten
ced the accused to three months' imprisonment ' would be
" the magistrate sentenced the accused saying let him
suffer three months' imprisonment ' ' He refused to give
me the pă -hso : would be he refused saying I will not give
you the pu-hso ::! The dacoits demanded Rs. 500 ' would
be the dacoits demanded saying you must give Rs . 500.'
In sentences containing oblique or alternative ques
tions the construction with hu or a-kyaung: is not used ,
thus the sentences
80 BURMESE MANUAL .

(vii) I did not know where he would go.

( viii) I did not know wliether (or if he would come.
would become :

(vii ) I did not know where will he go ? '

thū bê-thwā : -myi-lè mä-thi-bā
or thú bè--thwā :-myi-go ma-thi-bā.
(viii) I did not know will he come (or) will. (he).not
come ? '
thū lā-myi mă-la-myi-go mă - thi-bā .

Noun clauses with hpyit and shi.

Many subordinate clauses are turned into noun clauses

by the use of the verbs hpyit or shi; thus instead of say
ing ngwe-go a -htū : a - thon : -10 -tā -yue, the words under
lined are turned into a noun clause as the subject of the
verb hpyit and the sentence becomes ngwe-go aktu : a
thon :-10-thi hpyit-ca-yue. This use of the verbs hpyit
and shi is very idiomatic and it is unnecessary to translate:
them into English ; the sentence given above would be
translated, “ because ( 1 ) particularly require the money,'"
or if hpyit is translated " because it happens that ( 1 ) par-,
ticularly, etc.
When the verb shi is used the tense affix thi is gener
ally suppressed
yuā-hmā mi : -laung-thi-hpyit- yue a - yat -ka - iū
1

myā :- :-lon : kon -hson :-bā -thi because a fire broke oui
(happened to break out) the people of the place lost all
their goods .
 BURMESE MANUAL. 81

yă -ne la -byi-gyaw -hkun -hna -yet shi-kyi-hpyit-yue

because 10 -day is Thappens to be) the 7th day of the
waning
thi- a -kyan - go hkim -byā :-laik -myi-hpyit- hlyin if you
should take up (happen to follow , this idea.
It will be noticed that the nominative affix hmä is
-suppressed in all these sentences.

General Remarks on noun clauses.

The following rules may therefore he laid down for

the translation of noun clauses into Burmese :

1.-- The sentence which forms the noun clause keeps

the exact form it has as an independent sentence and the
case affixes hmā, ko apdi (suppressed ) are merely added
to it.

11. - Noun clause as subject .-If the sentence contains

an infinitive or a gerund , the verbal noun with yan or the
participle with yu may be used instead of the sentence
followed by hmä.
1

III. - Noun clause as direct object. - When the sentence

is the direct object of a verb, i.e., when it is introduced by
the conjunction that, two forms may be used.
(a ) in noun clauses with words spoken the words
spoken are quoted (generally in direct speech
ie. , as originally spoken) followed by hu (ex
pressed or understood

(b) in ordinary noun clauses the sentence is merely

followed by ko .
 S2 BURMESE MANUAL.

IV . Noun clause in the possessive:-— The clauses:

mentioned above [III ( a) (b ) ] are turned into noun clauses
in the genitive by using, instead of the construction with
hu or ko, the word a-kyaung : and pronouncing the verbal
affix with the abrupt tone (on account of i suppressed )..
These sentences are further abbreviated and turned into
compound nouns by shortening a -kyaung : to kyaung : and
suppressing the tense affix.
Case Affixes. — It will be noticed that the nominative
affix hmā is used in noun clauses instead of thi or ka.

ka (or ka-li : in the literary language ) is generally

used as the nominative affix with verbs of speaking, thinke
ing, etc.
Tense Affixes .-- In the present and past tense the affix.
thi is used and in the future myi.

The affixes į and pył : byī or pyī cannot be used in

noun clauses except in connection with hu.
The frequent use of noun clauses with ko or a -kyaung :
is due to the fact that there is no conjunction in Burmese
6
equivalent to the English that ' and ko and a kyaung =
can therefore for practical purposes always be translated.
by that .'
Word order.-See p . 93 .
Time .
Burmese Era . The sacred era dates from B.C. 543
when Gaudama is assumed to have attained Nirvana The
common era is said to have been established by King.
Thinga Raja and begins A.D. 639.
The word thek-kă- yit is. often used before dates
to mark the Burmese era (generally indicated in Engli: h by
B.E. ). This word is the Burmese rendering of the Pali
sak -ka raja, the Sakka kings, the royal race to which
Gawdäma belonged.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 83

The year begins about the middle of April and is

divided into twelve lunar months alternately of 29 and 30
days. The months of 29 days are called yet -ma -son - la ,
months of uneven days, and those of 30 days, yet-son-la,
months of even days.
The year being lunar consists of 354 days, and to make
it agree with the solar year, an additional month called
du-ti-ya wa-zo ( in Arakan ta -gu : -la - thit ) is intercalated
every third year.
The year is divided into three seasons called u-du
( season ) ya-thi ( sign of the Zodiac ) kā -la (time) or a -hkä
( time.)
nwa : -u -du the hot season .

mo :-u -du the rainy season.

hsaung :-u -du the cold season .
Months. The names of the months are :

Tå-gu : April Thă-din :-Gyu October

Kä - hson May . Tä-zaung-mon : November.
Nä- yon June. Na - daw December
Wa - zo July. Pyā - tho January .
wa-gaung August. Tä -ko-dwè : February
Taw -tha-lin : Sept. Tä-baung : March ,

The first half of the month from the new moon l'a - thit
to the full moon la-byi is called la -zan : the waxing of the
moon . From the full moon to the change is called la -zok
or la -byi-gyaw the waning of the inoon . From the disap
pearing of the moon to the change is called la-gwè ( the
hiding of the moon .)
The day of the new moon , the 8th day of the waxing
moon, the day of the full, and the 8th day of the waning
 84 BURMESE MANUAL .

moon are set apart for the performance of religious duties

and are called u-pok-ne or thä-din : -ne.
Days. The days of the week are :
Tă -nin : -ga -nwe -ne Sunday .
Tă-nin : -lā-ne Monday .
In-ga-ne Tuesday.
Bod-da -hū : -ne Wednesday.
Kya-tha-på-de : -ne Thursday.
Thauk -kyā-ne Friday.
Să -ne-ne Saturday .
There is no rd for week in Burmese -- week is
expressed by hkun -hnä - yet tä-bat, one circle of seven
days, or by tä -bat alone -sometimes tă-tha-din one
religious duty, is used .
Note .-- wā ( Pali wā-tha , rain ) is the Buddhist Lent
4

which lasts three months from the first day after the full
moon of Wā-zo.
Wā-hso means to keep Lent.
Wā-gaung from wā and gaung top, summit - the
height of Lent .
Thă -din : -gyut from thă-din : religious duty and
kyut to come to an end - the month when relia
gious duties come to an end.

Dates.

yet (a day of 24 hours) and ne (day between sunrise

and sunset) are used together in dates.
The word ne-zwè : ( = swè :-thaw-ne the day which
:

has been fixed) is often used to mean'date, ' hkim-byā :

 BURMESE MANUAL , 85

upe -laik - tha whsè-yet-ne-zwè :-hnin sa -go ya-shi-bā-byi

( 1) have received your letter, dated the 10th.
The numeral affixes used are :
pyo (full ) with multiples of ten .
hku (no particular quality ) with other numbers.
Cardinals and not ordinals are used.
Word order. The order is the reverse of the English
order -- the year is placed first, then the month -- then the
..day, thus :
thek-kă-yit htaung-hnă -ya -chauk -hsè - rigā :-gu -hnit
pya-tho -la-zok chauk-yet-ne on the oth waning ot Pya
tho 1265 B. E.
htaung -shit - ya-ko : -zè-byi-hnit zun-la ko :-yet-ne
on the oth of June 1890.
Time of day . The day is divided in Upper Burma into
four parts : ta -chet-ti: ore beat ( of the drum ) = 9 o'clock ,
{hnä -chet-ti; two beats = 12 o clock , thon :-gyet - ti : three
beats = 3 o'clock le : -gyet-ti : four beats = 6 o'clock.
In Lower Burma, English time is adopted and an hour
is called nã-yi ( the Burmese ra- yi contains only 20
minutes ); a.m. is expressed by mă-net and p.m. by nya-ne
(evening) iya or nyin ( night) or pyan .
9 am , would be mă -net ko :-n2- yi-a -chein dwin .
9 p.m. nya ko : -na- yi-a-chein-dwin.
2 p.m. na - y -byan hră-na - yi a -chein dwin .
In asking about time the old Burmese form is generally
: used bè -hră -chet ti : -byi-lè : what time has struck ? ko :
gyet ti : -byi it has struck nine, instead of bè -hră-n2-yi
: yi. hto : is also used instead
Thpyit-thă -lè , ko :-na- yi-ti -
cof ti : both tī :, and hto : mean to strike ( a drum cr gong. )
86 BURMESE MANUAL .

The half hour is expressed by hkwè : to divide length

wise, to split thon : -na-yi-gwè : half-past three.
[L. 987 ( i and ii ) .] In speaking of time hmā or t'win .
6 >
is used where we say ' at,' ' on ' or ' in ' and it is often
omitted altogether . When adjectives meaning ' past,'
' last ' are used with nouns of time the particle ka is .
frequently employed instead of hmā or twin to express the
idea of away from the present. thù sä-ne-na-ga yauk -la
thi he arrived last Saturday .
Idiomatic expressions for time. There are many idio-
matic ways of expressing time in Burmese, such as--
kun ; tă-yā-nyet-hkan about a chew ofbetel = about .
1 hour.
htă-min :-0 : tă - ion :-gyet the cooking of a pot of
rice = about hour.
kyet -u : -dun the earliest cock crow = about 2 a.m.

hsun : -gan - win time pongyis enter a town or village

to receive offerings of food= about 7-30 a.m.
hsun :-gan -byan time pongyis return to their
monasteries after receiving offerings of food =
about 8-30 a.m.
htun -don ; chut- chein time of unyoking bullocks .
from plough ( L. B . ; = about 9 a.mn.
nyi- a -ko mă-thi-da-thi-a-chein time when brothers .
hardly know each other = dusk .
thă-ngè eik-hseik-cheir children's bed time = about :
6 p.m.
lu-byo -hiè-pyan -gyein time when young men return
from courtiag = about 9 pm.
lu-gyi-teik-chein time when the huinan foot is .
silent = about 10 p.m.
 BURMESE MANUAL. 87

Compound Nouns.
The most simple compound nouns ( L. $419-422) are :
formed :

( 1 ) by adding one noun to another (the preposition :

hnin ' and ' being understood).
· ba-mi
a -hpa father = parents ..
mi -ba } aa -mi ' mother ' +
thā :-thă -mi: son + daughter = children ( with re.
ference to their parents) .
maung-hna-ma brother of a woman + sister of a man
= brother and sister.
nyi- a -ko, nyi younger brother of a man + å-lo elder
brother of a man brothers.

tä
nyi-ā-ma, nyi-ma younger sister of a woman + ă-ma..
elder sister of a woman = sisters .
nyi -a-ko mzung -hna -ma = brotliers and sisters of a.
family,
a-hswe-hkim -bun :1 friend t husband or wife inti..
mate friend,
(2 ) by a noun preceded by a simple noun which de
fines it

ngwe-hpă-lā : silver bowl, mo: -ye rain water, thit

pin tree from thit wood to a-pin plant, kyun : -bin teak tree.
from kyun : teak and a- pin plant, tree,
hkè : -dan pencil, from hkè : lead + a-tan a slender:
stick (a-tan is only used in composition ) .
hmin-dan penholder from hmin ink + a-tan.
hse :-dan pipe from hse : tobacco + a - tan .
88 BURMESE : MANUAL ,

( 3) by a noun preceded by a compound noun which

defines it :

than-gyo :-zā from than iron + kyo : rope + sā

letter = telegram .

(4 ) by a noun followed by an adjective, and the com

pound thus formed having come to be used with some
special mearing :
lu-gyi : elder (lū man + kyi : big) .
8

thă- gyi : revenue collector ( thū, man + kyi : big ) .

thū-yè : soldier ( from yè : brave, bold ) .
thă -hte : merchant ( from hte : rich ) .
thă-gaung : nobleman ( from kaung : good) .
thu -hsin :-yè : one of the people (fromhsin :-yè : poor)
lu - zo : bad character, vagrant ( from hso : bad, wicked )
Other compound nouns are formed :
( a ) by uniting two nouns of which the first is really in
the genitive.
1
mi : fire, light + ein house = mi:-ein lamp, lantern .
mi : fire + yă -htä : carriage = mi :-ya -htā : locomo
tive .

yuā village + thà : offspring, inhabitant = yua-thā :

villager .
kyet fowl + *a-thā : flesh = kyet-thā : fowl flesh.

* NOTE .-- Where tbe second nouns begins with a, this a is

elided in a compouud noun ..
 BURMESE MANUAL . 89
(6) by uniting a noun with thă -mā : one skilled in, or
a-thè, trader, owner.
hse : medicine + thă-mā : one skilled in hs : tă •
mā : doctor.

mon cake, bread + a-the owner, proprietor mon

the cake seller.
hsi oil + a-the owner,, proprietor hsi- thè oil seller:
( c) by using a relative clause and omitting the noun
or pronoun which is its antecedent :

lan :-bya guide = lan : pya-thaw -thū he who shows

the road .

să-gå-byan interpreter = să-gā : pyan -thaw -thi he

who turns words ,

myin : -dein : groom, syce = myin : htein :-thaw -thu

he who tends the horse .

pyin-nya-yi wise man = Fyir -nyā - shi- thaw - thū

thù he
in whom wisdom is = he who has wisdom .

a-yā-yi officia ) (civil ) = a-yā- shi- thaw-thū he in

whom an appointment is = he who has an appointment .
a -kmu-dan official (military ) = a -kmu-htan -thaw - thū
.
he who does (carries on his shoulder) the work of
Government ).
a-so-ya government = a- 50 -ya- thaw - thü he who
has the authority .
bo-ba-baing ancestral land = a -hpo - a -hpa - paing -
thaw mye land which father and grandfather owned
a -ya -daw royal land = a -ya -daw hpyit - thay -mye.
land which is royal property (thing ).
 BURMESE MANUAL
90
(d) by using a relative clause and omitting the relative
pronoun :
lā-thū comer = lā -thaw -thū he who comes.
hko : -thū thief = hko : -thaw -thū he who steals.

we-thū buyer = wè-thaw-thū he who buys.

hko :-ya-ba-pyis-si: = hko :-ya-dwin pā-thaw pyis
si : property included in the theft = stolen property.
shauk-win-ba-pyis-si: = shauk -hlwa-dwin pā-thaw
pyis -si : property mentioned in the application .
(e) by using a relative clause and placing it after the
noun or pronoun with the relative suppressed :
hse :-leik = leik-thaw hse : tobacco which ( they have
Tolled ) is rolled = cigar.
ty- hko : hko :-ihaw thū he who steals - thief.
ne-zwè : = swè :-thaw -ne the day (which they fix )is
fixed = date .

htwet-yin : just coming out = a-yin : -htwet - thaw

which originally comes out.
(f ) by prefixing to a noun a verb with the force of a
gerund.
ne-ein = dwelling house.
hlaw - laung : = paddling canoe.
hkat-tet == oar (oar to row with) .
hlaw -det = paddle ( oar to paddle with).
 BURMESE MANUAL. SI

(9) by, prefixing verbs to the nouns a-hmu, a-yā, să

yā , a-hpwe, a-chein, a - chet, pon, a-han , and ni :
hko : to steal t ( a ) hmu business , case = theft case.
sā ; to eat + ( a )hmu business, case = eating busi
iness .

yaik to strike + (a)yā place = stroke, mark of blow.

eik to sleep + (a) yā place = bed .
[ J. $ 125 ( 3 ).] sā : to eat + să-yā (from a-lyā )
what is for să -zā - ya = food.

[I. $ 119 and 125 44) . ] sā : to eat + (a)hpwè

what is fit for -- sā :-bwe food.

eik to sleep + a-chein time = eik -chein sleeping

time.

pyaw to speaks to a-chet subject, item = pyaw -gyet

.subject of talk .
si-yin to decide, order + a-chet subject, item = si
yin-gyet judgment.
thwā; to go + pon form, mode = thwä :-bon mode of
going
hpan : to seize + (a) han appearance = way of seizing.
lok to do + ni : rule, way, manner = rule ofworking .
ye : to write to ni : rule, way , manner = method of
writing
(h) whole noun clauses may be used as compound.
nouns :

lok - ya -ban the times of having to do = lok -ya - thi

i- a -hpan .
kă-za :-ban the times of playing = ka -za -thi- i- a
hpan.
92 BURMESE MANUAL .

kyan-să-bā : -myā : -go pauk-ze : -a-taing : ya - lo

gyaung : shauk -htā :-bā - thi. I beg to say that I wish to
have the remaining paddy at current rates.
Note.--- Although the verbs in these compounds become
part of the compound noun , they do not lose their force as .
verbs and we find them with direct objects in the literary
language, taking themselves the form of the plural .
kyun-ma-do-gā ; hka- yi :-thwā : -gya-thū-di : We
are indeed travellers.

mi-ba eik -kya -ya -hnaik htā :-thaw -på-da-myā; the

ruby which had been placed in the bed of the parents,
lă -hpet-ko wè-thū the buyers of tea.
(8 ) noun clauses in which a relative clause is followed
by ne-yā place or a-yā thing .(abbreviated to yā ) and the
relative
nouns ,
pronoun is omitted, may also be used as compound
thim :-baw-tha -gyi : shi-ya -tho ( = shi-thi-ne-yā ) to:
the place where the ship captain was.
kyi : pyan -yā - tho ( = pyan -thi-ne- yā) to the place
where the crow flew ..
yā that
hman - yä hpyit-pa-ya-myi ( = hman -thi-a-yä)
a true thing may be = that justice may be done .
Synonymous compounds.
Burmans often use compound words when only one
word would be used in English - generally these compounds.
-

are synonymous, one word being of Pali origin and the

other Burmese :
nigon :-yuā - ni-gon Pali for village + yuā village =
village.
a -myet-daw -tha from a -myet anger + daw -tha
Pali) anger.
 · BURMESE MANUAL . 93

Construction of the Burmese Sentence.

( 1 ) In a simple sentence the verb with its particles
always comes last ; the subject or object inay or may not
come first as the position of the other words of a sentence
is determined by the emphasis placed on them, but
(a) interrogative pronouns and adverbs immediate.
ly precede the verb ;
(b) the relative clause always precedes the noun or
pronoun which is its antecedent in English .
( 2 ) The compound sentence is not much used in
writing as the Burmese prefer the use of subordinate
clauses. A sentence such as he came and spoke ' would
be having come, he spoke ' or ' after he had come, he
spoke. ' He was thirsty and drank much ' would be being
thirsty he drank much ' or ' because he was thirsty, he
drank much . '

(3 ) The conplex sentence.— The Rurmese style is much

more connected than the English narrative. Short abrupt
sentences are not used as in English , but every sentence is
connected with something that goes before and long in .
volved periods are often found in Burmese writings. In a
complex sentence the subordinate clauses must be placed
first and the principal clause aluays comes last.
When the same word is the subject of the principal
clause and of the subordinate clauses , it is used in one
clause only and omitted in the others.
Noun clauses. The noun clause construction is one of
the most common in Burmese and it has been dealt with
separately ( see ).
· Noun clause with words spoken . - In noun clauses
with words spoken the subject of the principal verb is
generally placed first - then the words spoken , thought or
94 BURMESE MANUAL .

asked (as originally spoken ) followed or not by hu and

finally the principal verb - thus ' he said thathe would come '
would be in Burmese " he, 1.will come, said ' thuga ngā
la -myi (hu) pyaw-thi.
Sometimes the indirect object of the principal verb
is placed first instead of the subject and a subordinate
clause may follow the subject before the words spoken .
The nominative affix ka is generally used with verbs
of speaking and thinking.
Broken construction .-- In a long sentence the writer
often begias with one construction , which he forgets in the
course of an involved period and he ends by a different
construction ,
Other remarks.A construction peculiar to Burmese
is to use a transitive and an intransitive verb together
with different subjects understood-thus po-yauk (they)
sent (him ) (and he) arrived, ya-shi (he ) got it and it) was
in his possession , po :-kan : ya-yū thon : -zwe : ( she) gave
(1) got (and ) used (it).
Burmese Correspondence.
In Burmese correspondence letters do not begin with
1
polite formulas such as Sir, Dear Sir, ' ' Dear Mr.' or
6
end with kind regards or remembrances,' 'hoping you are
well ' and your obedient servant ' yours faithfully-truly
-sincerely . There are, however, well defined ways of ex
pressing the gradation of intimacy or esteem which these
formulas imply.
The writer almost always, writes of himself in the ,
third person by his name or some title or both and also
addresses the person written to in the third person in the
same manner, Thus a paddy trader writing to a broker
will write :
 BURMESE MANUAL. 95

Paddy trader Maung Htan Myat begs to inform Maung

Shwe Hkin , head broker of the wonderful mill, Hkă-naung
to, Rangoon.
This form of address does not imply any suggestion
of formality or hauteur which it often has in English, but
is used out of politeness and consideration for the feelings
of the person addressed, as pronouns in Burmese mark
rank so sharply that their use is avoided.
The relative estimation in which the writer holds him
self and the person addressed is indicated by the use of
terms of relationship and by the verbs used at the begin.
ning of the letter. Thus a younger person or one inferior
in rank is addressed as ' younger brother or sister ' whereas
a superior or an older person is addressed as elder brother
or sister, ' ' uncle or aunt,' ' founder of a za-yat, monastery
or pagoda ' and the word 'hkim -byā ; ' sir or madam ad .
ded .

The verbs used for the same purpose are :

hmä-laix-pā-thi
kyā : -laik - pa - thi to intimate to inferiors ,
kyā :-hmā- laik -pā- thi
kyā :-yauk -laik pā- thī, to inform equals.
a -si-yin-hxan-bā-thi, to report to (or address) su.
periors.
Note .- hmā or kyā : or kyā :-hmä means to inform !
a - si- yin - hkan means ' to submit for orders ,' ' to beg for
orders .'

Pongyis in addressing laymen use the words myit

tā-yat-hkan-bā-thi.'
The formulas equivalent to our kind regards ' and
hoping you are well ' are placed at the beginning of the
 ESE AL
96 BURM MANU .

letter, thus'all my children are in good lealth and happy

' on account of the good wishes which my younger
' brother has sent, in the same manner ( 1 ) am sending gocd
' wishes and praying that ( my) younger brother with all his
' family and relations may be in good health. '
“ We are in good health and happy without any trou.
" bles or anxieties on account ofthe good wishes which the
" head broker and his family have sent (us ) . We also in the
" same manner are praying that the head broker, all the mem
"bers big and small of ( his) household, (his) children, ( his)
" relatives and connexions may be free from all trouble aud
" all kinds of unpleasant conditions, that none of the 96 dis
eases may befall ( them) even to the extent of a single
atom and that (they) may be all in good health and happy.”'
“ We are in good health and happy on account of the
good wishes which the head broker and his family have
sent us. In like manner we send ( them) every day our good
ti wishes as it ( we) were pouring out some water of libation
so that they) may be well and happy ."
The following translations will give some idea of the
style of a Burmese letter :
Ko Than writes ( this) letter, Head Clerk Ko On Dan .
If Maung Hpo Nyan and Maung San Hpe come to re
ceive the money when the paddy hasbeen measured , before
Ko Than comes, please pay.
Maung Than .
Broker Ko Hpo Htū writes and send this letter.
The facts are as follows: having settled up the broker
age on 3,109 baskets of paddy which is due as brokerage
for two weeks, please give ( it ) to the wife of Maung Kyă
U, Ma Sein Nyun , who comes with this letter. It happens
that (he ) has sent Maung Kyā U to the paddy plains,
 BURMESE MANUAL. 97

Head Cashier at the upper mill of Messrs. Steel Brothers

having settled up, please give ( the money ).
Ko Hpo Htū,
living in Pyon- gyo quarter.
The elder brother writes to Maung Aung Ban .
The elder brother and his family are well. He is
praying daily that (his) younger brother and family may be
well. ( He) has received a letter from U San Gyaung.
(He) has learnt that (his ) younger brother's father is
dead as ( it ) is mentioned in that letter. (He) writes to in
form that the price of good pure oil at Dedãyè is from
Rs. 74 to Rs. 75. Younger brother Maung Aung Ban.
Maung Hpo : Hket,
Dedãyè.
It will be noticed that all these letters are written in
the third person, and in the last the writer is probably no
relation of the person he writes to ; he is most likely an
older man writing to a younger one and therefore calling
him ' younger brother.' ' If they had actually been brothers,
the reference to the death of the father would have been
differently worded and probably more sympathetic.
It will also be noticed that all these letters are signed ,
thoughpethis would not appear necessary when using the
third rs on . It was not the Burmese custom to sign let
ters or other documents, and the signature is no doubt an .
innovation due to English custom .
The style used in correspondence resembles the
spoken language more than the literary form and short
sentences are generally used instead of the long involved
periods.
 E
MES UAL
98 BUR MAN .

Idiomatic use of Burmese words.

It has already been noticed that Burmese verbs have
often an active and a passive meaning and sometimes
opposite meanings-other Burmese words have also oppo
-site meanings :

she future or past.

nauk future or past.

hnin with or from.

a- su total or portion , share.

kye :-zü : benefit or gratitude .
100 BURMA MANUAL .

APPENDIX I.- INTERROGATIVE

LITERARY .

...
(1) What ? Which ? (adjec- a-bè
tive)

( ) What thing ? What ? a-bò(a-ya)go

(3) Towards what place ? a -bè(na -ya )go ..

Whitber ?

(4) On account of what reason ? a-bela-kyaung :)gyaung ..

Why ?
( 5) In what place ? Where ? a -be(ne-ya )hnaik or dwin or
hmä
(6) From what place? Whence ? a-bò(ne-yā)hma-ga
(7) Which? ( of more than one
tbing)

( 8) What person ? Who ? a -be -thu-( a -thū)

(9) At what time ? When ? ... a-be-thaw -3-hkā ...
(10) How much ? a -be -hmya
(11) How many ? bè -hnā ( with numerical affix ) ...
(12) Towards what manner ? a-bè (ni :)-tho( atho) or
How ?
a - be -ge-th -o
(13) What kind of ? a-bo...... myo :

ini :, manner, method . bā is a contraction of bè thā ( hã

3
times found, but it is nearly obsolete. To, colloquial for yue, lit.
corruption of hmā. • din : =thin :, this or that (thing). ' bå -bus
thū to dū ; bă -lü, further corruption by softening dū to lu !
9
form of thaw . ºne is the colloquial pronunciation of ni :
 101

· PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS.

COLLOQUIAL. MODERN YRITTEN LANGUAGE .

be ...
myi -thi
...

ba-go or bās myi-thi(a- ya) go

bè myi -thi(ne -ya )go

be-gyaung or bā -gyaung or myi-thi-( a -kyaung :)gyaung

bä-pyu-io ' or bā-hpyit- lo
bè- māsor bè-mă Yī-thi (ne-yahma or dwin

bè-ga inyi-thi(ne- ya ama or ga

bè-din : 6

be -thū or bă.dū or bă -lū ? Anyi- thu

bè-daw -ga or bè-daw myi-thi- a -hkā
be -don : -ga 8

bè -lauk or bă-lauk myi -hmya

bè-hnă (with numeral affir ) be -nnä (with numeral affix
..

bè -ne 9
or bè -lo 10 myi-thi-ni; or myi-tho or
myi-ge -tho
bè ......myo : -
myi-thi......myo :
being the contraction of a-yā, thing) ; the form ba -hā is some
6
having done what? . lit. what having happened ? mă, colloquial
-colloquial corruption of bè -thū by suppressing è and softening
be-daw ; daw is a corruption of thaw, and ton : is a colloquial
10 lo is the colloquial form of ke-tho.
.
102

APPENDIX II .- INDEPINITE

The interrogative proncons and adverbs are also used as inde

hma in colloquial and sometimes in the written language) is
not saying. a -bè ...mä-hso, signifies ' not saying whatever

LITEBABY . * COLLOQUIAL.

a -be-hmya bè -hma or ba-hma

a -be -mă -hso ...
bā -hpyit-hpyit
a -bè - go - hmya ... bè or bè-go -hma ...
a -be -go -mă -hso bè-hpyit-hpyit
a -be -gyaung-hmya bā-(or bè) gyaung-hma
a -be -gyaung -mă-hso ..

bè - gyaung-hpyit-hpyit
a -be - hma -hmya bè-hmä-hma or be-hma
a -be -hmā-mă -hso ...
bè -hmā -hpyit -hpyit
a -be -thu -hmya ...
.

ba - lq -hma
a -be - thu -mă -hso bă -du -hpyit-hpyit
&c. &c.

* A -kyin, any whatever, may be used in the literary language

The indefinite adjectives tă-zon tă-yā or tă -zon tă -yauk
in addition to the forms a -be-hmya , and a -bè ...mă -hso , to
+ In colloquial hpvit -hpyit (let it be), or the verb reduplicate
hpyit -hpyit twe, or bä du-go twe-twe, whomever you meet
over you do (it).
| The forms a -be -hmya , &c., can only be used in negative
afirmative and negative sentences. The adverb hmya is:
 103

PRONOUNS. AND ADVERBS.

finite pronouns and adverbs - and the adverb hmya (corrupted to
usually added to tbem or the verb må - h :5 (yue), which means
(person animal, or thing) in particular,' 'anything whatsoever .'

IN NEGATIVE IN AFFIRMATIVE
OFFICIAL ,
SENTENCES. SENTENCES . I

myi-thi-hmya nothing what.

ever, nothing
myi- thi-mă -hso ... at all anything what
ever.

myi- thi-go -hmya ...

nowhere (with
motion).
my7 - thi -go -mă -hso anyphere or
wherever (with
myi-thi-a-kyaung: -gyaung motion).
hmya. for no reason
myi-thi- a -kyaung -gyaung - whatever .
ma - hso. for any reason
myi-thi- hmā -hmya ...

nowhere (with
whatever .
out motion). anywhere or
myi -thi:-hmā-mă -hso
wherever (with
myi-thu -hmya no one what- out motion ).
ever, no one
myi-thu-mă-hso at all. any one what.
ever : or whoever
&c.

instead of a -bè and the next clause then begins with hto, that
may be used in the same way as a-kyin, or they may ke used
intensify the indefinite meaning.
ed, are often used instead of the forms in mă-nso. Thus bă-dü.
bè-go thwā : -thwā :, wherever you go ; bè -lo lox-lok, how

sentences, whereas the forms ending in mă-hso can be used both

always placed immediately after the caseaffix.
 APPBNDIX III.
Conjunctions often affect the tense affix thi which precedes them.
> thaw or thă. The future affix in yi is always suppressed, and

TENSE AFFIX THÍ SUPPRESSED BEFORE.

sung , in order that, so that mă...hpè,without, instond of

tmū
ch 3 - ga } if ( =nyin.)
mu-gā;: } if.
t# mi
kä -dè :-ga, from the time that, hma, after, if, on condition that,
since . provided that.
kāt ( formos present participle) hma-thā , only if
- yet or yue.
tkā -hmya -nnin , by...merely yā, as , while, when .
1

tkā -hmya -ā ; -həyin ,by..mere- ya -dwin, while, at the time

that
ly. 2
hkaik, see a-hkaik yue (or lo ],present or past parti
ciple.
chein se a - chein Because, or a3 = thaw -gyaung.
sin Present participle- !yet.
sin -dwin [yin ], when ' or ' ir!
while . tyon -hmya -hnin, by...merely.
sin-a-hita
sin -a-hkaik Iyet, present participle [ 10]
+ tá -byi.g - :, if tiyet- hnin , although .
+ ta -mu -gā ,, if hlyin, if, when ( yin]
taing : , see a - taing .: hiyina ...chin : , as soon as
taing : see a -hkā - daing : Athaw , it, when ( often preceded
(ton: ], while by euphonic affix lat).
tmă ... hmi thaw-li :, though
mä...hkin } tefore + thaw fa-aaung : (repeated )
whether ...or whether.

The forms which are purely literary are markedt ; those which
ciple is the equivalent of the English and ' connecting two sen
generally suppressed, thwā :-thwā :-gyin ; as soon as (he ) went
checked tone or is changed to tha or thaw. In colloquial thiw
often suppressed as well as a -khā , and taing : made to do duty.
>

house. In colloquial the verb with taing : is sometimes redupli

often shortened to hk ajk , and thi is suppressed. " Frequently thi
hxwe : hso-daing :, according as the dog said . "pyi:-thi is gene
tense affix may be thi or thaw before a-twet.
 105

Ne
JUNCTIONS.

s tense affix may remain unchanged, be suppressed, or be altered

ſect affix pyi : byi shortened to pyi : before a conjunction .

TENSE AFFIX THII REMAINS UXCHANGED .

hlā , when3 twin , when

-hkā daing : , every time , htet , more than
whenover . htet - mã - ta, exceedingly,3 more
ohkaiks than
-hhaik - twin while nauk , after
E :-hkaik -hneix ni : -a - tu
Bachein , when
a - taing : ' according ag
ni : -du ut als, ( like as)
hnin , because
a -twin hnin- a- tu
a-twin -dwin } while
a-pyin , besides ( that), not only thnin-tu -zwā as ( like as)
but
a - ya
golaik
$
hnin- a-tu - anyi
according as
pyin ( see a-pyini
}
hpyit se (repeated ) whether ...
a- lyuk or whether
ka.la ,33 whea
kā -12 -pat-lon : , through -out, tm
mä a -ka, not only ... but
all ite while that, is long as thma-tärbā ;, besides (that), no $
taing only but
taing --aung)) until lauk , ils s

TENSE APPLX THI CHIANGED TENSE AFFIX THI.CHANGED

TO THAW BEFORE . TO THA BEFORE.

8
a-twet, on account of, because gê -tho [ lo] , as ( like as).
à i-hpyin, by ( by means of hpyin, by means of (that), be.
that), because. Cause

kyaung, because [ lo] + yue or hmya, as much as

are colloquial are in brackets. ' Yue as a present or past parti ..
tences which have ihe same subject. ? In colloquial hiyin is
3

* thi before a-hkā or kā-la is usually pronounced with the

a-hkā becomes taw -ga or taw often preceded by pyi : * thi is
as a conjunction : ein tho lā daing is every time he comes to the
cated lā-daing : la-daing is every time he comes. sa-hkaik is
and the a of a-taing : are suppressed for the sake of brevity
rally used before naux and in colloquial thi is suppressed . The
 100

PART III.

Literary Language.
The lietrary language is used in religious writings,
histories, newspaper leaders and school books. It is
seldom used in speaking except in translations from Pali ;
but it was the language of formal conversation at the
Mandalay court and is still heard in dramatic performances.
It differs from the modern form of the language less in
the words used than in its particles and affixes, but it differs
widely from colloquial both in the words used and in its
particles and affixes.
The principal points in which the two forms of the
language differ are given in the following notes.
Declension .

Nom , thi or ka or hmã or kā : or thaw - gā ; or mū-gā :

sometimes mū alone .
Gen. i (or shortening of vowel).
Dat. ā : or a-lo-hngā
Acc . ko

Nominative. (J. $60 L. $91 ) thi, is the ordinary affix

.
of the subject, but li : also' is often used in its place. ka
which often has li : ' also ' added to it is used with verbs of
saying, telling, thinking, considering, etc.
hmā is emphatic and generally has the meaning of,
& > 8
6
as for : ' concerning ' in regard to it is often
as to '
used to call attention to that about which one is going
to speak and then means ' as follows ' nga-hmā-pyan
NE
107

thwä :-ya-myi (as for me) I shall liave to return . It is

sometimes joined to mū to render it more emphatic thū
do-omā-mu a-sun :-that- di ma - shi as for them they have
no ability.
(J. 360-61 ) kā : is used as the subject affix in nouo
clauses.
It is also used :

(a) in contradistinction or contrast i-ein-gä : kaung :-ill

hto - ein - gā : ma-kaung : this house is good, that house is
not good .
( b) in an explanatory sense with the same meanings
as hmă a -kyun -nok -kā: ye-go-thā thauk-myi (as for me )
I will drink only water.
kā : is much used in combination with mū hmā and
thaw as mu-gā :, hmā-gā ; and thaw - gā : It is used after
other case particles in its emphatic and contradistinctive
sense ; kyun -nok -ko - gā ; thū a - lun mon : -i ( in regard to
myself) he hates me very much ; nto -ne -hnaix -kā : mo:
mă-yuā on that ( particular) day it did not rain.
Sometimes mü alone is used in the same sense as kā :
Genitive. (L. $92 and 193 ( 2 ). J. 864—78). The
particle is often omitted and the noun standing in the
genitive is pronounced with the checked tone, or if it ends
in ã or u the vowel is shortened thu-hkwa : nga - a -hpa
6
Dative.. (J. 365. L. $93 ) . hnga means ' for '' but it
'
is only used in combination wih 2-lo ' wish ' desire ' to
give the notion of end ? ' purpose ' motive ' and this
combination is affixed to a noun thit-thi :-2 -lo -hngā for
the purpose of (getting ) fruit si-bwa- a -lo -hnga for the
sake of benefit.
Accusative. ( I. $62-63 . L $ 94).
The particle ko is sometimes omitted thi-ye-thauk
 108

ko is sometimes used in the same manner as hmā

meaning ' as to .
Personal Pronouns.
thin is the pronoun generally used for the second
person ,

a -kyun -nok is more used than kyun -daw or kyun

daw -myo :
Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs.
( L. 8137-42. J. 982-83 and 87-88). The interroga)
tive pronouns are formed from a -be and a - ti (obsolete
which are adjectives meaning what
" ' which .'
a -be What ? which ? (adjective).
a-bela-ya)go
. What thing ? What ?
***

a -bè(ne -ya )so Towards what place ? Whic

ther ?
a -bela -kyaung )-gyaung On account of what reason ?
Why ?
a -be (ne -ya )hnaik or dwin or In what place ? Where.? .
hmä
a-be(ne-yā)hma or ga From what place ? Whence ?

a -be -thu'a - thū) Wbat person ? Who ?

a -be -thaw - a -hkä At what time ? Wben ?

a-be- hmya How much ?

be -hră (with numerical aifix ) ... How many ?

a -be(ni : )-tho ' (a-tho) or Towards what maoner? How ?

a-be-ge-tho
inii, manner, method,
Indefinite Pronouns and Adverbs.
( L. $ 146-150 ---228-230-234-235. J. $82 ) . The
interrogative pronouns a-be and myi-thi are also used
 11

209

as indefinite pronouns and in negative sentences express

the English none, no one, none whatever. ' They are
usually used with the adverb hmya and sometimes with
mă-nso and both these words add to the indefinite mean
ing of the pronouns thu -thi a -be-kyaung -go ( or go -hmya)
mă-thwā : (lit. he goes not to whatever school or so much
as to whatever school) he does not go to any school . The
indefinite adjectives tă -zon -tă -hku, tă -zon - tă - yauk, etc.
are often used with a-be and myi-thi to give greater
emphasis.
a -kyin is also an indefinite pronoun and means ' what
ever, whatsoever, any.' It is generally used in connection
with the denionstrative hto, a-kyin-thu -thi yan - thu- let
ka lut-le-byi : -hma hto-thu -thi a-thet - thin-thi he who
has escaped from the hands of his enemy, recovers his life.
In negative sen In affirmative sen.
tences . tences.

a -be -hmya nothing whatever,

nothing at all.
a -be -mă-hso anything whatever
a -be -go -hmya nowhere (with mo
tion,
a -be- go -mă-hso anywhere or wher
ever (with motion)
a -be -gyaung-hmya for no reason what
over ,

a -be-
hso
gyaung-mă for any reason what
ever.

a -be -hmā -hmya nowhere ( without

motion ) .
a -be -hmä -mă - hso anywhere or wher
ever (without mo
tion ).
a -be -thu- hmya no one whatever ,
no one at all .
a -be-thu -mă -heo & c anyone whatever or
whoever.
 110

Relative pronouns.
( L. $368-369 J. $ 115 and 125 ( 2 )) .
i
The relative pronouns are :
(a) thaw
(6) yā
(c) thi (shortened to thă followed by the adverb
yu or hmya and corresponding to the English ' whatever '
shi- thă -hmya -thaw myin :-myā : the-thi as many horses
as there were died .

Adjectives.
( L. 9105. J. $ 80.) Adjectives of quality, quantity and
pronominal adjectives are connected with the noun they
qualify by means of the connective particle thaw as
kaung :-thaw -lù ( a) good man, hla - thaw -pan : (a) pretty
flower.
Adjectives of this class may also be post- fixed to a noun ,
no connective is then required and the two form a kind of
compound noun as lū-gaung : good man ,
Possessive Adjectives .
There are no possessive adjectives in Burmese and
their place is taken by personal pronouns in the genitive
my book, kyun - nok -i-sa -ok ; his pony , thū-i-myin :
Demonstrative Adjectives.
(L. $ 127 J. $82). The demonstrative adjectives are
prefixed to nouns ; they are :
i or yin : ( obsolete) this or these hto that or those

lă-gaung : , is the abbreviation of li :-gaung : 'and also."

It means the same ' or ' that saine ' lå -gaung -lū -do -thi
3

" the,' ' those ' ' or these men .'

6
7
111

Indefinite Adjectives.
( L. $ 122 . J. $ 84-85-86 ). In addition to the indefinite
adjectives already mentioned ( p . 19) the following are more
especially used :
tă-gā 'many,' 'all'is always affixed to nouns thu-ta
thū tā
ga-go mã-pyaw-hnin do not tell all persons .'
hkat- thein : ' all'is either prefixed or affixed to the
noun it qualifies.
tă-bä :: ' other''another ' or tă -ntü : (same meaning
but only applied to persons) may be prefixed with or with
out thaw to the noun they qualify ; thu tă-htu (or thu-tă
ba)-go mă-pyaw -hnin do not tell another person.
a-chā : ' other ' a-cho ' some ' a-lon : 6' all ' ni : ' few '
myā : 'many ' are generally prefixed to the nouns they
qualify with the connective thaw .
Indefinite Adjectives (L. $ 123. J. $ 101 ).
The indefinite adjectives tà-hku-gu, etc., are prefixed
with thaw to the nouns they qualify.
Numeral Affixes (L. $ 109--11 . J. $ 96–98 ).
I. ( L. 977 ) . When the number does not exceed 10
numerals with their numeral affixes generally precede the
nouns they qualify and are joined to them by the connective
thaw , thon :-yauk - thaw pon-nā :-do-gā : the three Brah
mins. The plural affix may be added to nouns with aa
numeral affix, but it is generally omitted.
hnă -yauk - thaw lū-do- thi or hna- yaui-thaw-jū two
men .

II . When the number is an exact multiple of so the

numeral affix is prefixed to the numeral with a before it.
myin : a-kaung-hnă-hsè twenty ponies,
nwä : a -kaung -thon :-zè thirty oxen ,
 11%

III . When the number exceeds 10 and is not an exact

multiple of it , the numeral affix preceded by a is prefixed
to the numeral (as in Il ) but is again repeated after the
number with a dropped .
myin : a-kaung-hna-hsè-ngā : -gaung twenty - five po
nies,
nwā : a -kaung -hsè -le :-gaung fourteen oxen.
Verbs.
The tense affixes are :
Present and pasti or thi or thă-di :
Futurean ormyi or leim -myi. Sometimes an
and myi are used together.
Perfect (in have ) or Pluperfect pyi : -byī or pyi
Future.
( L. $ 327-328 ). leim, (le, euphonic particle + an )
teim -an (implying eventuality ) lă-tan (lat, euphonic par
ticle tar ) and gyeim ( che p . 53 + an) are also used as
future affixes.
peim and seim (being compounds of pe, euphonic
particle and se , to cause, with an are seldom used in
prose ; seim , however, is used to form a future infinitive .

Imperative.
(L. $ 297--301. J. $ 111-112 ) . The imperative is
formed by using the verbal root alone or the verbal root
with law instead of taw
Such forms as thwā : -gya-an or thwā : -gya-gon-an
>
( we) will go, are employed to mean let us go ' but they
are not true instances of the imperative and merely serve
as substitutes for it.
so or pãoze ( J. $ 113 ) when prefixed to thaw and fol"
lowing a verbal root expresses a wish thin kaung : -sā ;
bā -ze- thaw may you be prosperous ! thin a - thet - sha -bže
ze - thaw may your life be long !
 113

Infinitive.
[L. $286-310-312 J. $ 123 and 125 (2 and 3) )
There is no infinitive proper in Burmese but there is an
infinitive of purpose or gerund which is formed by :
( 1 ) adding hngā to a verbal noun * (hngā meaning
2
' for ') thū-thikyi-shu-gyin ; -hngā jā-thi he came to look .
(2) adding a-lo-hngā to a verbal noun ( a -lo want,
desire ). thù -thi yan -gon -myo -tho kon-wè-gyin :-a -lo
hngā lā -thi he came to Rangoon to buy goods.
(3) adding thaw -hngā to a verb in the future tense
with an sā :-an -thaw -hngā in order to eat.
(4) adding hngā or thaw -hngā to a verb in the causa
tive future tense expressed by seim 1ā -zeim - thaw -hngă
to make him come.
(5 ) End or purpose is sometimes expressed by a verb.
in the future tense with hu expressed or omitted : hko :
thù ngā : -yā-do-thi thä -hte - tha -go that- yue let-sut-ko
hko :-yū -myi-hu lā -oya -i Five hundred thieves came ( lit.
saying to themselves we will kill and take) intending to
kill the merchant's son and take the ring.
thă-mi :-do-thi hsan -shaw -gya -myi-hu - la -lat-kon - s
the daughters came intending to wash their hair,
Plural of verbs.
The affix kon is more used than :kya or kya -gon .

Interrogation.
( L. 9440. J. $110 ).All interrogative sentences ter
minate in interrogative affixes which are placed after the
temporal affixes. The temporal affix thi when followed by
an interrogative affix is often shortened to thă
* A verbal noun is formed by prefixing a or affixing chet or
chin : to 8 verb - pyu . to do? becomes a-pyu or pyu - gyin : 00 ..
> 6
Pyu -gyet'deed , action,'
 AVALI
TE

11 %

In questions to which the answer is simply ' yes ' or

' no ' the affix law is used .

In questions to which the answers is not simply ' yes

or ' no'i.e. when a -bè or myi-thi is used in the question )
the interrogative affix ni : must be used.

Negation.
(L. $341-355. J. $120). The negation is expressed
in the literary language in the same way as in the modern
language except in the imperative where mă......lin is often:
used instead of mă - hinin
Verbal Affixes.
(L. $357. J. $ 118). The verbal affixes used in the
literary language in addition to those already given ( p. 50 >>
are :

ti (J. $ 117 ) ' directly,'' straightway, without delay.”

thū pyaw -ti- thi he spoke directly.
ti : ( J. $ 118 ) has various meanings :
(a ) as a closing affix it is generally preceded by the
shortened form of thſ and is used in imprecations and
blessings thin -do- ā : kaung :-gyo :-min -gá - lä - a -paung
hnin pyi-zon -gya -ze-thă -di : may you be replete with all
blessings.
( b) as a closing positive affix it is used instead of
another verb generally hpyit-thi ngā min :-di : I am the
king.
no :, no :-no:, să-no : [ J. $ 125 (4 )] implies probability
or means ' to have a presentiment ' tho- să -no : -no :-hnin
having a presentiment of death. thù-thi net -hpan mo :
yuā -no : -no : htin-thi he thinks that it will probably rain
to-morrow,

ton means ' even .'

1.15

When it is affixed to each of two verbs it gives the

idea that the two actions are going on alternately thu- thi
yi-don ngo-don no-thi he stays laughing and crying by
turns .
3

le indicates a natural sequence of events without re

ference to any particular time thu-do htwet-thwā:-gya
Je - thi they departed lun -le -byi: -thaw a - hkā -hnaik at a
time that has gone by.

Emphatic Affixes.
(L. $ 358. J. $ 117-119 ). The following affixes are
merely used for the purpose of adding emphasis :
nyā : is used with the conjunction thaw -li : to express
emphatic concession fon-la-pyu-yue thă-mo-dã -ya -dwin
the-nyā :-thaw - li : myat -thi -tha - ta -gā : if a man show
energy although he should die on the sea, he alone;is in
deed noble .
Swa

taung : are used at the end of a sentence and may

tă-gā : }ar be translated by indeed .'
an-bwè-thă- yè shi-zwa-ta-gă : how wonderful in
deed !

pe and hpi are placed after the verb a -bè -gyaung

thwā :-bi-thă -ni: why did you go, thin pyaw -thi-să -gā :
hman -be - thi what you say is indeed true.
le is used with a persistive force thū thwā : -thi-le ( I
tell you ) he did go. In colloquial speech this affix is largely
used with the imperative to avoid rudeness thi -go lã-le
come here (do ). When combined with pā it has a preca
tive force sa :-gya -ba -le do eat.

hlyin ' indeed ' a -di-hmä-hlyin where indeed ?

 116

Adverbs .
( L : $451 . J. $ 126). Simple adverbs are generally
formed from adjectives or verbs by
affixing swä to adjectives kaung :-zvā well .
Compound adverbs are formed by joining different
words and particles . Some of the more common are :

i-tho thus ( i-ni : -tho lit. towards this manner ).

hto-tho
i-ge-tho thus (i-ni :-ge -tho lit. like this manner ).
hto - ge -tho }
i-pyin (outside this)
besides ,
lă-gaung-pyin (outside the said)
i -hma- tă -bā :-(apart from this)
i-gyaung because of this
hto -syaung because of that there .
fore.
tho-hpyit-yue such being the case
tho -hpyit - thaw -gyaung such being the case }
i-ni ::-a- ttū " in like manner .
7-ni : -dū

Prepositions .
hnaik or wè (almost obsolete ) is more used than twin
or ismā and is sometimes used with same meaning as ā :
1
to'ka ' from ' orko (direct object).
Nore .-- An adverb formed in swā may be reconverted into
an adjective with intensified force by alixing the connective
thaw , myat -swā-thaw -hpă-ya : most excellent god we :
zwā-thaw -a-yat a very distant place .
 117

tho is generally used to mean ' to ' ( with motion ) in

stead of ko

hpyin or ā :-pyin ' by means of ' is more used than

$

hnin
hma ' from ' is more used than ka

Conjunctions.
thay if ' or ' when sometimes ' as ' ( thaw being
often preceded by the euphonic affix lat ).
$
if :
mū,
or
mü--gā :, tă -mu- gā : tă -byi- gā : thaw - ga :
as. '

kā denotes contemporaneous action and is equivalent

to the English present participle .
lyet has the same meaning kā
6
both
[ J. $126an(d'7)]s lă-gaung: (also) when repeated means
thu -la -gaung : nga -lă -gaung : thwa :
myi both he and I will go.
thaw -li : or thaw -la -gaung : repeated means ' either
...... Or ' or ! whether ... or .'
. hpyan - thi ngā : ya-thaw-ia-gaung: myo - gwer-thi thă
min ya -thaw -ia -gaung : ngā yă-hku we-pe : -thă-ge-tho
we-yuo sā : -gya-gon whether the otter catches fish or the
fox catches game, divide (it) and eat (it) as I now divide
it for you .
mā ka not only · but .

Noun Clauses.
Noun clauses are formed in the same inanner as in the
modern language ( see pp. 75–82 ), the only differences be
ing that
 118

kā : is used as the subject affix instead of hmā

ka -li : is generally used instead of ka with verbs of

speaking, thinking, etc.
hū -yu or its abbreviated form hu is always used with
words spoken.
hu is also generally expressed with verbs which do
C
not imply speaking to mean intending ' (see p. 113 ) .
Ei

Pāli words.

Pāli is the religious language of Buddhists; it is

taught in every village school in Burma and is used by
women and children in saying their prayers and telling
their beads. Many Pāli words conveying religious or ab
stract ideas have consequently been introduced into Bur
mese literature and are also used in every day conversa
tion ; some of these words have retained their original
form while others have assumed a Burmese garb.
Pāli words are often used as synonyms to Burmese
words to give elegance to the style as in the following
expressions :

pulafoDqUeS u -pè-tă-myi expedient, device.

ဥပါယ်တမျည်
$8:22 ni-gon - yuā village.

Gov : :005ą kaung :-gyi:thă -du well done.

4 :28:600gos) chi :-mun : taw -mă- nā to praise.
coo :30 3 POS be :-an-dı-yè or so s paspus
an-dă-yè u-pat evil, calamity .
21

!
30qoscaloo a-myet daw -tha anger.
 119

The following are some of the Pali words in most

common use in Burmese :

381 in-ga limb, member. i

30881888 a-top-pat-ti circumstances, events.

-
3008 a-da-ma ( 30 a privative and ဓမ္မ
og dă-ma
law ) violent injury ( adv. ) in a violent , forcible manner
( 30008:300g: a-tin a -dă-mna )
ment.
3083105 a-deib-bè meaning - explanation - com

301.3 a -neg-sa immeasurable ( 30028 :09c0gr

a-taing : mă -shi-thaw )
338 Pos, an -dă -yè calamity, evil (20$ u -pat)
woulos a-pe ( cco:ul: ta :-bā ) a state of pun
ishment of which there are four : ငရဲဘုံ
coor ng3-yb-bon
89.85şağı tă-yeis-san-bon Bopoñi peit-ta-bon
30379mosoga: a-thu-yă-te-bon
30& w a-yi-yā one who has become independent
of the common laws of transmigratory existence and will
attain annihilation (gɔş neib-ban) at the close of the
present life. The ariya has overcome as an enemy all evil
desire ( BCC6wɔn ki-le-tha)
3008လ
a-liz-zi (( 30၊ a privative and co fiz-zi
shame) without shame, abusive,, foul( language ) Boအ us
လ
 120

doa& mops a-liz-zi hsè-hso-thi to revile in abusive foul

language.
300069 a -thă-ye character , reputation .
3

3oo ā-rā authority , power, order .

3900 ā- ma yes, assent, acquiescence, agreement.

80008 ā-ma-hkan to engage for, to undertake, take
responsibility, to stand security, (oşi wun-hkan - aoşn
hkan -wun )
အာရုံ an object of actual sense or thought.
207 u-du season.
2003 u-çã-de rule, code (z28 :u ni :)
2005 u-pă-mā comparison , similitude , figure, type,
example .
2010S u -pai calamity; evil.
20105 u -pèn expedient, device, shift, stratagem
(u &wcu,pa-yi-yə )
zułososies u-pè-tă-myi same as
20105o u ២

pe
2205 u-bok performance of religious duties as
ape: thõ-din :
2906cobę u-bok-saung to keep the duty day.
24o8og u-bok-ng duty day of which there are four
each month .

NET
 121

poppes u-yin an enclosure of fruit trees, garden,

Coope e-gă-yit (CO e-ka one pos yā -zā
king) sovereign of one of the four great islands, emperor ,
Co-gă -yi empress.
ဩ၁၁ aw -zā relish, richness, influence cgo go
c@gmɔ
@ mye -aw-zā fertility.

mga kan-tă-ya any place extensive and difficult

to pass as a road intersected with ravines or beset with
robbers, or a desert of wood or sand GOD3" taw
gan-tă-ya an extensive wood, wilderness ang 9 ths
gan - tă -ya and extensive sandy desert EcoSms ??
pin -iè -gan -tă -ya the expanse of the sea.

mg kă-bă this world,

moq5 gā-yu-nā pity, compassion .
o kan (08 kam-ma ) deed , action, the influ
ence of an action on one's future destiny. Bioma :
kan kaung : lucky, via &: kan hso : unlucky.
mc kāla time ( 303lo a-hkā).
33 keis-sa business, any work to be done.
ကု ဿိလ် ku-to . (ကုသလ ku-tha-la
merit .
hă-la) religious
POS ko body, one's self.
 122

ကြန်
c kyan sign, nhark ကြန် အင် လက္ခဏ၁ kyan-in
lek-hkă -nā the five good bodily qualities .
@gu kyam-mā ( 008 ) influence or result of past
evil deeds, nagu
ကြမ္မ ။ kan-chā-mă
ခေတ္တ hkit- ta an instant, moment of time,.
GO8
008 gă-di promise, word pledged .
000 gā-htă a stanza of Pali verse.
2008 gon a good or bad quality - attribute (8350
s " a-thằ-ye)
ES seik (833 seit -ta ) mind.
COOB ze-di sacred depository, pagoda (208: pă
hto : hollow pagoda. )
6003 saw -dă -nā to inquire, to question on mat
ters of science and religion cousşos saw -dă -nā - tin
to apply for revision (of an order or judgment ).
0911807 ză-bū -di-pā ( cgl ză-bū gold euginia
tree 807 di--pā island) the great south island.
chod zāt (908) zā-ti race, caste, kind, account
of one's existence given by one's self, particularly applied
to the accounts of the different existences of Buddha , one
of these existences exhibited in a play, hence any dramatic
performance .
© 2003 să -dā horoscope.
123

2005 nyan mind,intelle

, ct ..
g"> htā-na place, department.
on tă-să see alwm dā-ya-kā layman.
89.80$ tă-yeis-hsan animal.
C003035 htaw -pă -nā or coop035 htaw -mă -nā
to praise, laud, extol .
30 dan stroke, blow, punishment .
31000 dā - yă -kā one who contributes to the sup
port of religion and religious characters-a layman (cor.
rupted into 000 tă-gā mou tă -gă -ma )
.

903 dok -hka unhappiness, misery, pain, trouble.

c3100 daw -tha anger (Si
3 a-myet)
og dă-ma law ( coop :4 tă-yā :) .

ogboos dă -mă- that a code of civil law. (dă-ma

law + that = shastra Sanskrit ' book. ')
olod dāt an element, one of the four great elements
0oBolos pă-tă-wi-dāt earth socol ā-baw water
GOOG » te-zaw fire olcwbolos wā- yaw -dāt air
an essential attribute or quality, the constitution, nature of
a thing.

$2& nā-yi hour, watch, clock.

ŞQ: ni-gon
နိဂုံး - - a- small town, market village;
 12À

$gɔş neib-bān rest from all evil, annihilation (nir

vana) .

$ 300 nă-meik sign, mark, token, boundary (poss

)

SoSi ne-nă-meik)
umos pā -kä -di nature, natural.
OBES: pyis-si : thing, property.
uz pyin-nyā wisdom.
ပညာo popes
သည် pă-tein-nyin
- n assent-- engagement,, cove ..
nant ,

ပရ pa-ya-wun enclosure of a sacred place --

oqoş
boundary or border.
ပရိဿတ် pă-yeit-that an assembly convened for
Ruos
religious instructiori and worship, a religious audience (any
assembly of hearers ) .
402205
ပု ထု pu-htu-zin one who has not attained the
state of an ariya .
goas pu-zaw. to make an offering in token of
homage or worship.
-
ပြ က တေ့ pyă-ga -do same as umosi pă-ká-di
gocco
Ogos: pyat -htan : to decide, notify Ggəsiqns
pyat-htan -gye notification.

gooos pyat-that a graduated turret surmounting

the roof of palaces, kyaungs, royal boats, etc.
groopa pyat-thă-nā question forming subject of
discussion ,
196

& c5 hpo profit, reward.

48:09: hpon :-zā : mendicant.
dicant,
q $:co) &:w00m3 hpon :-daung :-yā-ză-kā men
q $: 08: hpon :-gyi : is probably derived from o $:
hpon : but Burmans prefer to spell it 02$: 03: hpon :
gyi : and consider it as a Burmese word meaning ' great
glory .'
& as bo coco ba-la ) force, military force, troops
-a military officer.

samo hpă-dā treasure-government property.

200000 bā-thā , language, custom, religion .
L

o88 bei-thoik blessing pronounced by Brah

mins accompanied with the pouring of water.
သိက် သွန်း bei-thelk-thun
BBndagę: - :: to pour out water on
the king's head at the ceremony of inauguration ,.
om mandat a large shed or booth, pavilion.
82: man - tă -yā ; charm, spell.
cog myit-tā affection, love, a blessing, a prayer
for the good of another (80S meik - 808c ugr maik
.

howe)
co500 maw-ha ignorance, folly ( osaGesu maik
me-syin:)
 126

universe .
မြင်း & myin :-hmo Mount Meru,tie
GE: , centre of the
qus: mo (cow me-ga ) the sky, clouds, rain.
20055 yă-dă-na anything precious.
yă-the dovotee, ascetic.
960 jä
ရသေ့
900 $: yă-han : monk (07 $:03 :4 hpon :-gyj.)
paoos ya-ză-wut heavy penalty inflicted by
government. ( ya-za = rā-ja ' king ' + wut'duty.')
spowoS ya-ză-thai criminal law , the Indian Pe
nalCode (as distinguished from ogooos dă-mă-that
civil law ) .
>

( ya-za = rā-ja 'king ' + that = shastra ( Sanskrit

book ') the king's book or the book containing his orders ) .
spos yā-thi sign of the Zodiac, season.
လက ္ခဏ ၁ let -hkā -na a sign, token,
congco indication,
cod gon 3087 in-ga)
characteristic ( ?2.cos
con law -ka a state of mortal existence the
present world as distinguished from a permanent future
state .

GCO law.ba covetousness, selfish desire .

op wut the result of Booo wi-bet (the result of

any deed, good or bad) or the evil consequences of sin
which remain after the main penalty has been borne in a
previous state.
0861 wut-tu property -- goods --money.
127

081 wut-tu pattern - représentation -a tale - nar

rative.
ol wa Buddhist Lint,

8 w wi-yi-ya diligence, industry ( como lor-la. )

DOBPS thek-kă-şit era, epoch, date, year .
thek -ka = sak -ka + yit = rä - ja king ' the era of
the sak-ka kings, the royal race to which Gaw -da -ma be
loaged.

Boggol thă-dă-wā a rational being.

208:0S thin :-syo to help, assist assuperiors, to as
sist by way of advice, to perform funeral rites.
op ? this-sä truth as opposed to falsehood (2009
mu-thā ) promise, 'oalh, vow.
)

0225$ thi-dan shape, form.

2008 thă -di attention , heed, remembrance.
2008 thă -mā-di steadiness in a good cause, com
posure ,
202 3p thă-m5 -dă-yā the sea, ocean .
သမုဒ္ဒရာ
0.00 than- we-ga fear- particularly applied to fear
of the consequences of sin in a fature state (in common
parla-:ce remorse) .
wop than-thă-yā the whole existence of any be
ing through successive transmigrations, future existence
futurity.
oq
2009 thā-du ivell done 3022003p a-nu-maw -dă
nā .
 123

2000055 thā -thă -nā instruction, discipline, religion.

8co thi-la religious duty ( 2800C: thi- din:)
OBRE thi-ho Ceylon.
070079 thet-than a burial ground for burying or
burning corpses (considered more elegant than 0oog
–tă-ză-byin SoRE:-Iok -taing : 208:28:u thin :
gyaing :)
PALI PRAYERS .
The three gems.

99*20qcing pa bod-dan thă -vă -nan gis-hsā-mi.

I take refuge in Buddha.
ogbqcogod
B dă-man thă-vă-nan gis-hsā-mi.
I take refuge in the Law.
we'vqavio 878 thin-gan thă-yə-nan gis-hsā
mi I take refuge in the Church.
The Buddhas, the sacred books and the priesto
hood are regarded as the three most precious gems.
209şaq:01:28:
ရတနာသုံးပ 7 SwpS
ါး ကိုးကွယ် သည် rādă-nā thon :-ba :-ko.:
gwe-thi to worship the three gens. (Stevenson's Dic
tionary, p . 923 ) .
The five commandments .

ogos com pyin-sa-thi-la

ပါ ဏာ တိ ပါ တ ဝေ ရမဏိ။ သူ အသက်ကိုမ သတ် နှင့်
pā -na -di-pā tā we-ya-mă-ni thu-a-thet-ko mā-that
hnin kill not

308333] နာ ဝေ ရမဏိ သု မခိုး

အ ဒါ şıcoqu233723002.ję a-dein-na-dā
na we-ya-mă-ni-a thu -os -sa mă-hko :-hnin steal not.
 129

ကာမေသုမိစ္ဆာ ရာ ဝေ ရမဏိ။ သု မ ဃ ကို ပြစ် မှား နှင့်

kā -me- thu -mels -hä- yā we-ya-mă -ni i thu-mă-ya-go
ma- pyit -hmā : -hnin commit not adultery .
မှ သာ ဝါ ဒါ ဝေရမဏိ။ မုသားစကားကိုမပြောနှင့် mu
thā- wa-dā wo- ya-mă-ni ll mu-thā : -să-ga-go mä-pyaw
hnin lie not .

သူ ရာ မေမေ ရ ယ မဇ္ဇ ပ မာ ဒ ဌဌာနခန ဝေ ရမဏိ၊ သေရည်

ရက်ကို မ သောက်နှင့် thi-y5- me-ya- ya myiz-za
pă -mā -da -htā -nă we-ya-mă-ni i the -ye the -yet-ko ma
thaux-hnin drink nothing that intoxicates. (Stevenson's
Dictionary, p . 652 ).
The cardinal virtues .

Gosphos.p :300:07; byă-mă-so tă-yā :-le :-bä.

၁ 2083 myit-tā 2868: chit-chin benevo
( 0)
lence .
( j၂ ) m4053 gå-yu-nā 30 : : thā-na:·gyin:
pity, compassion.
( ၄ ) မုဒိတာ။ mo-doi-ta ဝမ်းမြောက် ခြင်း t

myauk-chin : joy in the happiness of others.

( ၃ ) ဥ ပေက္ခ u-pek-hka လျစ်လျူရှု သည် lyit
lyu-shū-thi indifference or equanimity.
The three characteristics of life which are sub .

jects for reflection when saying the chaplet ( congcoɔ

ရေး သုံးပါး )
30အ $Suမဲ။ a-neis-sa
-
35 GORE
အမြဲမရှိခြင ်း :a--myè:-mă-shi-gyin:
- :
transitoriness .
Bogi dok-hka 20 € :QG8. hsin :-yº :-gyin : misery.
ဒုက္ခ။
sopg"
3 a -nat -ta 30780968: a -hnit-mă-shi-gyin:
unsubstantiality :
 PART IV.

Colloquial Language,
BURMESE is altered and simplified as it passes from
the literary to the modern form. The colloquial form of
familiar conversation is still further simplified and softened
down. Many of the words used change completely, others
are abbreviated and corrupted , phonetic changes are car
tied to their extreme limits and phonetic spelling is largely
adopted.
The principal points in which the two forms of the
language differ are given in the following notes,

Declension
Nom, ka or hā or ka-daw
Gen. shortening of vowel .
Dat. ko
Acc . ko

Nominative. hā, a corruption of hmā is often used

as a nominative affix a -hpo : -3yi :-hā kyan :-gyan : ma
mā-be: shi-the : -dò the old man is still very hale and
hearty,
kā-daw corresponds the literary thaw -gā : or mū-gā :
and is used in the same way in contradistinction and
contrast .
131 BURMESE MANUAL .

Plural of nouns. The plural affixes myā : ard:

to are often used together L. $ 74.
The plural of nouns is also formed by using two lū
dwo men .

Plural pronouns .
do is used for kyun-nok-to or ngā.do thus do -yuā:
our village.

Reflexive pronouns.
chin : ( a-chin :-gyin: one another, mutually ) is fre
quently used in colloquial a -fyaw : -gyin : -bè :: im-mă-tan
kwa dè even ( their) respective ways of speaking are very
different. ( Stevenson's Dictionary, page 301 ).

INTERROGATIVE PRONOUNS AND

ADVERBS.
The interrogative pronouns and adverbs are formed :
from the interrogative adjective bè ( the literary form a
be with the a suppressed) which means 'what ' which *
by adding some noun to it either expressed or understood.
 BURMESE MANUAL ,
132

(1 ) What ? Which ? (adjec- bè .

tive)
(2) What thing ? What ? bā !

(3) Towardswhat place ? be

Whither ?

(4) On account of what reason ? ba-gyaung or bā-pyu -los or

Why ?
bā-hpyit -lo: bè -gyaung
bè -gyaung
(5) In wbat place ? Whore ? bè - hmā or bè -mă
(6) From what place ! bè -ga
Whence ?

(7) Which ? (of more than one bè-din ::

thing)
(8) What person ? Who ? be -thū or bä-dü or bă -lů
(9) At wbat time ? When ? bè-daw -ga or bè-daw
bè - don : -ga '
( 10) How much ? bè -lauk or bă - lauk
( 11) How many ? bè -hnă ( with numeral affix )
(12) Towards what manner ? bè-ne or be jo
HOW ?
(13) What kind of...... ? bè......myo:)

Bä is a contraction of be + hā (hā being the contraction

of a-yä , thing) ; the form ba-hā is sometimes found , but it is
Dearly obsolete. 10 , colloquial for yua lit. having done what ?
Plit. what having happened ? mă , colloquial corruption of
Hmā . Odin : = thin : , this or that (thing ). bă -dū, colloquial
corruption of bè -thu by suppressing è and softening th to d ;
bă - lū or bă + lüman'be -daw daw is a corruption oftháw ,
and ton : denotes a progressive action as thwā :-don : ' going >

sno is the colloquial pronunciation of ni ; " 10 is the colloquial

form of gè -tho.
 !

133 BURMESE MANUAL,

INDEFINITE PRONOUNS AND ADVERBS.

The interrogative pronouns and adverbs are also used
as indefinite pronouns and adverbs-and the adverb hmya
(corrupted to hina in colloquial and sometimes in the
written language) is usually added to them or the verb
mă-hso (yue) which means ' not saying.' be må-hso,
signifies ' not saying whatever 'person , animal , or thing )
in particular,' anything whatsoever. '

In negative sen. In affirmative 600.

tences , tonces.

bā hma nothing whatever,

nothing at all
bä-hpyit-hpyit ' anything whatever
bə-hma nowhere (with mo
tion) anywhere or wher
be -hpyit-hpyit ' ever (with motion)
bā-(or
hma
bè)gyaung for no reason what
ever

be-gyaung-hpyit for any reason what

hpyit ете :

beshma
nowhere (without
bè-hmā-hpyit-hpyli ) motion) anywhere or wher
ever (without mo.
bă - du -hma tion)
no one whatever,
no one at all
bă - du -hpyit -hpyit anyone whatever or
& c . whoever

hpyit-hpyit (let it be), or the verb reduplicated, is often

ased instead of the forms io mă-hso. Thus bă- du-npyit-hpyit
two, or bă -du -go - twe- twe, whomever you meet ; bə-go
thwa :-thwa :, wherever you go ; be - lo lox-10%, however you
do (is).
" The forms in hma can only be used in negative sentencea,
whereas the forms eading in mă-nso or with the verb re -dupli.
cated can be used both in affirmative and negative sentences.
The adverb hma is always placed immediately after the case affix,
 .
BURMESE MANUAL, 134

Relative pronoun.
The relative pronoun most generally used is to a core
ruption of thi
Adjectives.
When the adjective precedes its noun , the connective
used is the relative pronoun te
( J. $ 93 L. $ 174 . ) Adjectives are often used in the
way shown below to denote the presence of a quality or
quantity in a small degree.
(a) by prefixing the adverb hkat somewhat ' to an 6
adjectival root reduplicated hxat-cho-gyo somewhat
sweet ' ' sweetish ' hkat-nso :-20 : somewhat wicked .'
(6) . by affixing ta-ta to adjectives denoting quality.
This particle has the same meaning as hlat but it assimi
lates its vowel to that of the adjective to which it is joined.
ni + ta ta = nj-ti-ti reddish .
hpyū + ta -ta = hpyu-tu-tū whitish .
sein : ta-ta = sein : -tein : -tein ; greenish .
R

mo :-ta-ta = mè -tó :-tè : blackish.

mü ; tü : -tv : a little sick ,
kaung : taung :-taung : rather good.
(c ) by reduplicating an adjective of quantity and
pronouncing it with the checked tone as cho -gyo
sweetish from cho sweet, hk 2 -ga bitterish from hkā :

Demonstrative Adjectives.
These adjectives are prefixed to nouns and are :
di (corruption of thi, this or these ; di may be short
ened to dă , dă-lo thus.
ho that or those .
 BURMESE MANUAL.
135
Numeral Affixes.
>
Numbers. të -beit-thā ' one viss ' is often used in.
stead of 100 when speaking of rupees, as the rupee weighs
one tical and there are 100 ticals in a viss ( 3-65 1b. ) thus.
hnă -peit- tha-ngā :-zè two viss 50 ticals = Rs. 250.
tă -Beit -tha - 0 :-zè one viss go ticals Rs . 19o .
tă -beit - tha -19 :-zè-chaux -kyat - we : one viss
1461 ticals = Rs. 146-8-0 .
Verbs.
The tense affixes are :

Past and present. tè or dè (corruption of thi) or ye

or kè (corruption of i) nā :-lè-bā-yè or nā :-iè-ba-dè ( i)
understand, hok -ke-1ā : is it true ?
tā or htă ( or dā when preceded by a vowel or a 6 >

nasal) is a corruption of the tense affix thi and bā ' thing '
and is used as a tense affix especially in noun clauses,
thu- do - ā :-lon : dă -lo pyay :-gya-da-be : they all say so.
mă- twe-dā kyā-hla-bi it is long since I met ( you ).
Future. mè( colloquial pronunciation of myi) ein - go
thwā :-daw -me ( 1 ) am going home now .
Perfect (in have) or pluperfect. pi : -bi or pil]m5:
teik-pi ( it) has stopped raining .
In interrogative sentences before lā: or lè : or ton :
all the tense affixes are shortened as thi is shortened in
the written language.
mè becomes mă and pi becomes på thus.
nā :-lè
: -thă -lä : or nä :-iè - y -jā : do you understand ?
be- thwā :-mă-lè : where are you going ?
mă -net-sä sä :-pi : -bă - iā : have you breakfasted ?
 BURMESE MANUAL 136
Imperative. law is changed to taw in giving a direct
scommand L. $ 249.
tan-daw ( make sufficient) stop.
laik is most commonly used in peremptory orders L.
$ 299.
di-pă-gan-byā : 1è :-laix change this plate.
so is used in the first person plural instead of the verb
with 39 L. 8299.
hle -nè thwā :-gya-zo let us go by boat.
Infinitive. hpo is used more often than yan, sometimes
hpo and yan are used together (L. $ 310 (6)] and are
occasionally corrupted to hpo -yā
The verbal noun is often used instead of an infinitive
of purpose * yă -htā : a -hxaw -hkaing -laik - san :-bā please
send for a carriage.
Interrogation .
6
ja : is used in questions to which the answer is sim
ply ' yes ' or ' no . '
lè : is used in questions to which the answer is not
simply'yes ' or ' no ' (i.e. in all sentences in which be is
used ) ton : is often used instead of le :
naw [ J. $ 119. L. $ 340 (3) ] This affix is not strictly
speaking interrogative. It is an exclamation soliciting ac
quiescence and is used chiefly in connection with taw thus
thwā :-daw -naw you will go now, wont you ?
Negation,
L. 8 :349. mă is often followed by hpū : which is used
instead of the suppressed temporal particles thi, py7 or
myi thus thu mă - thwā :-bū ; may therefore mean, he does
NOTE . Lonsdale $ 307 states that these verbal nouns are used
adverbially: Sievenson (D. P. 1) calls a an infinite prefix used in
the colloquial language.

SI
 137 BURMESE MANUAL,

not go, he did not go, he will not go. It is, however, more
polite to use pā than hpū :
mă ... hnin in the imperative becomes mă ...... ne
Verbal Affixes.
The polite affix på sometimes becomes på
The affix hse is replaced by iu (J. $ 115) .
no :-10 : which implies probability is corrupted to
10-10, mo :-yuz-me-lo-10 ntin-dè he thinks it will pro
bably rain ,
pe : 'to give' is often used as an auxiliary verb of cau
sation instead of using kyun -nok - to or kyun-rok-a-twet
thus pyaw - pe :-bā please speak ( for me). we -pe :-bā.
please buy (for me ).
Emphatic Affixes,
tă - gā : is corrupted to kă -lã ; tè -maik-pā-gă-jā: he
is indeed foolish. ( Stevenson's Dictionary , page 482).
(J. $ 121 ). yo :-ā ; is affixed to the root and forms a
strong negative taw -yo :-lā : it is not proper.
mă- kā (to exceed ) shortened to ka is often used with :
yo ;, a-thet-ngā :-zè ka - yo : -lä : ||ka -myi mă -htin -bā
(he ) is certainly not more than 50. ( 1 ) do not think ( he ) is.
more .

hla ' very ' is often followed by chi or kå -lä :: na

hla - gyi-gă -lā : he suffered much indeed .
&
paw of course '. [L. 9358 ( 10)] is used at the end of
2 sentence with persistive force, it is often used with thā :
and means certainly without doubc ' shi-da-paw of
course there is. a - thi-thā : -paw I certainly know. (Steven
son's Dictionary, page 712 ).
( 1. $119). kaw or kaw -le is used in the same sense
25 paw
 BURMESE MANUAL. 1383
[I. $ 119. L. $358 (9 ).] le or lā :-19 slightly enri-
phatic and persistive is used after the assertive affixes.
shi-thi-lā :-lə it is certainly or I assure you .
Conjunctions.
yay yaw '& both ...... and ' is used instead of li :
li : both to connect nounsand sentences lū-yaw myin :
yaw both men and horses .
taw or taw - ga'when ' is used instead of thaw - a -hkā
a -chein-Kya -daw -ga sā-pyan-laikumà ( 1 ) shall reply ( lit.
when the time fails) in due course.
S
taw whenpreceded by a verb with the perfect affix .
pyi or siis often used instead of yue, pyaw :-pi-daw
htwet-thwä :-dè ( 1 ) spoke and went away thā-pi-daw
kaung :-dè ( it ) , is much better .
lo is also used ipstead of yue to form a present or
past participle or as meaning because ' me-dat-lo mă
lok -pā ( 1 ) did not do ( it) because ( 1 ) am forgetful.
mo (Stev. p. 854) frequently preceded by lo and some
times by tho is also used instead of thaw -gyaung thus
seik-hso :-lo -mo pyaw -thị mā-hok-pā ll myit- ta -shi- io
thä pyaw -bā-thi (1 ) do not say (so) be cause ( 1 ) am angry,
( 1 ) say ( 50 ) only because I am friendly .
lo is used instead of kè-tho ( L. $ :385) . ngā --me :-thă
lo me : Il ngā-pyaw : -thă -lo pyaw : ask as I ask, speak as I
speak.
yin is the softening down of hlyin'if ' or ' when '
sha-zun-la-kya-yin a-thet hnă -hsè pye -mè ( 1 ) shall be
twenty next June ( L. p . 276 gives this word as yin :)
hiyin in ...... hłyin ...... chin : is often suppressed and
yaux-hiyin yauk -chin : becomes yaux-yaux-chin : " as
soon as (he) arrived.'
ton : ( L. p . 276) is used instead of sin · while tha
yet-thi : hiaing - don : thu-yauk -tè he arrived while man-
goes were abundant.
 , 139 BURMESE MANUAL.

1
hpyin ( Stevenson, P. 763) a corruption of hpyit-hlyin
-thu -go -two-dā -hpyin nā -nă -gyi: hso :-laix -mè if ( I ) meet
him ( 1 ) will speak severely (to him ).
Adverbs .
tè or im -mă - tan is used instead of a-lun ' exceed
ingly.'
(
net-hpyin-gā instead of not-hpan-ga ' to-morrow.'
gă-ne instead of thi-gă -ne ' to -day .'
nauk-ta-hxā instead of tă-hpan ' again . '
a-hkauk instead of a -hkā ' time ' tă-hkauf once .

mă-ka( to exceed ) is frequently shortened to ka

yà-hku is abbreviated to cu

E
pin is written be 1 in the same way as hnin is written

Prepositions.
hnè or ne with ' is written instead of hnin
lo is used instead of ko-tho ' like '
hsi is used instead of htan ' presence . '

Noun clauses .
tā or htā (or dā when preceded by a vowel or
nasal is used as a nominative or accusative affix with noun
-clauses . It is probably a contraction of thi and hā a cor
rruption of hmā thus ' what he says is not right.'
thu hso-thi-nmā mă-thin becomes in colloquial
thù hso-thi-hā mă -thin
thu hso-dā mă-thin
 BURMESE MANUAL.
140
Worde spoken.
Words spoken are followed by :
( a) to which is the equivalent of the literary hu. It
is used in quoting one's own words of those of
another person with verbs of thinking or speak
ing net-hpan thwā : -myi-lo pyaw :-laik -thi( 1)
said that ( 1 ) would start to-morrow. myin-go
pyin -laik - pa -lo myin -dein - go pyaw : -laik tell
the syce to get ( my) pony ready.
( b) tè (or de ) ( L. $ 387 (4) J. $ 119) which is used
in repeating the words of one person to a third.
person and the verb of speaking is generally
omitted . rā - mè bā -lè :-de mo :-de he asks
what is your name.
The student will notice that the difference between
the use of lo and te is :
To is used in quoting one's own words or those of an
other.
tè cannot be used to quote one's own words.
lo requires the use of aa verb of saying or thinking:
te generally requires no verb of speaking or thinking.
In using lo two persons only are in question ;; in using
te three persons are in question and are generally present
together.

NOTE. --- According to Stevenson D. p. 888 03 htā or 37 dā is

a colloquial corruption of imā thus im -byā : -nywe-pe :-da
(pe :-thi-hmā) bè-lauk-ky-byi :-lè : how long is it since you
gave the money ? bkim -byā :-yauk-tā (yauk-thi-hmä) be
hnă-yet shi-byī :-le : how many days is it since you arrived ?
#

141 BURMESE MANUAL.

Some of the most common colloquial forms are given
below in Burmese alphabetical order,

im -mă - fan 32E2003 )

a -pon -gyi : 3013 : 300g $ n a-hiun, exceedingly.
a-wet 30000 = Cordoos tă-wet half.

ā : -ion : 3033 လုံး = sosit

အား ogg အသုံး a -lon :: .
all.
23
ā :-gyi : 36: exceedingly.
kam = om in excess, beyond.
0094 thă-hmya thus twe-gă
kă - ya m9 = သမျှ - -ya pyaw :
thi (he) says whatever comes into his head.
ka- yo : og = strong negative .
kă-lā ; nous = 0008 : tă -gā ; indeed.
kèm -
o present or past tense affix hoc-kêrā : is
it so ?

kaw copy interrogative what about ?

kaw co
= of course .
kaw - je cmoCOO

kyok ogs ကျွန်ုပ် I,

hkat S = somewhat.
hkā-daing : bore: ofe: taing : every 2.0X8:38
( every time year) every year shortened to hnit -taing :
နှုစ် ထိုင်း
hkauk - taing : calo&ores အခါတိုင်း&r every time o
godlo
colos tä-hkauk once .
 BURMESE MANUAL.
142

hku 7 = voqu yă-hku now.

chin : q &s = coq &sqy&s1 a-chin :-gyin ; each other.
chin : is generally attached to a noun lu -gyin : yan-hpyit.
kya-dè the men quarrelled together.
chin : 6: = og& ... GEs hlyin chin : as soon
as
gu ? = 002 yă-hku now .
60 8 . verb with 33 an let us.
hsi 8 = oo htan presence of.
ta-ta oooo denotes colour an adjective of quality .
tă-hseik or tă -hseik tă-bauk 03806culos ( from
Bos hseik to pinch ), a pinch , a small quantity, a little .
tă - cho on . 3o. a-cho some.
tă-chā : 002 : 30 @ 5: a-cha : other.
te oooo = wpS thi ( tense affix ).
တယ် = 3998
tè of အ $u a -hlun thus tè-pi: mă-lok-chin-bù
bū :
I do not much wish to do ( it) .
ton : og: = colè :
ops် sin while.
ton : oqs = စည
S

te os. = coo thaw or pops thi (relative pronoun ) .

taw Goog = googa law ( imperative affix ).
taw -ga Cos ? 00 = c500303) thaw - a -hkā when.

do ok = ngj$ Sog kyun-nok-to we.

taung Goobę = REG300 € taing-aung even.
143 BURMESE MANUAL .

dă 3 = 20 thă

dă 3 = pops thi this ; dã-lo thus,

de 300 = w thi ( tense affix ).
dā 31 = S302p thi-a -yā this thing, this.
di 3 = wood thi this.
di- gā -ne 306 ) WS.xos thi-gă -ne to-day .
di-hā 300 ] =possop thj-a- yä this thing , this.
de 3. = 2oes th! ( relative pronoun ).
de 3 . = ? hu ( indicates words spoken p. 139).
.

net-hpyin-gā so em ; 33. net-hpyar-gā to

morrow ( literary forin .)
riā -mè နာမည်
33025 = 3032
အမည် a-myi name..
neto se hnin with.
$ = fpipi ni : -ni ; few, little.
nè : -nè : *}
nauk- tă-hkā 6 $28cal 00 :0 $ tä - hpan ( once after)
agaio .
naw css = wont you ?
no . of tho thus.
no-be-dè &.c
.coJOS uwps ( it is even thus ) other .
u3o8. = 23cပေသည်(
wise .

no -mă-hok R.coqos = ogouzosage (if it is not so) other

wise.

wise .
- - $.95 € = 33zoqosens (if it is not so) other
no-mo-yin
på 0 = 07 pā (polite affix ).
 BURMESE MANUAL 144
pă o before interrogatives ) : 8 or pyi :-byi or pyi
(tense affix of perfect
pi 8 at end of sentences ( in have ) or pluperfect)...
pe , cos used with another verb to express ' for me,
etc.

pi-bi 88 = soane: a -hlyin ; not at all.

pi :-daw 8 : comp = yuo
pyi-by: 88 see pi-bi (see Stev. pp. 693 and 731 ).
pyi :-day 8:cov see pi :-daw
paw col = of course.
hpyin Ge = Goog & hpyit-hlyin if it is so (Stev. p. 763).
bă-dū 0.3 who ? ( for all compounds of bè see p. ! 31 ) .
bă - mā ung = G3 mya-ma Burmese.
bū : oqsထူး used with o mă in negative sentences,
bè: 5 = ver pin even , dă-lo -bè: even so, exactly so
hpo os
hpo-yā of op q $ yan ( infinitive or verbal noun
affix ).
hpo-yan oqs
2 mă o before interrogatives
ves? og myi (future tense
mè vos at end of sentences affix ).
hma y = y hmya even.
mă 6 = 9hmā in .
145 BURJIESE JANUAL.

mă -ne : 03 ( lit. not little) = og a-hlun exceedingly

mă -ne : kyi :-dè ( it) is very big .
mă ......ne w..cdo = 2 ...sę mă...... hnin ( aegation with
imperative ).
mă...... bū : ) ... q = a .... mõ ......pā ( aegation with
indicative ).
mo
29205 mä -hok ( negation).
a . = cwiczę thaw - gyaung .
mo 2.
myā :-do 4 = us or myā ; or to (plural or
nouns).
yệ q. = I ( present or past tense afix ).
yaw cæc ( repeated) = q8: ( repeated) bo:i...and.
yo : -lā 103 သား: = strong negative.
yin ရင် hiyin when or ii.
lā : -1a coo:600
emphatic.
le CD
** }
le : 00 = coa
af:s li ; also.
lu cq, = hsè : about to .
lo c . 6760 or thaw.gyaung or yue because
lo လို့ = 7 hu ( indicates words spokea).
lo & = make kè-tho as, like as,
10 & euphonic affix used with the future tease.
 BURMESE MANUAL . 146

lo-lo လိုလို = Boxe no : -no : probably..

hla - gia: လှ က လား )
intensive.
hla-gyi :

hlyet ayos ago Iyot ( forms present participle) .

ရှိက် နှင့် မပေးဘူး shi-lyet-thā
သား zfucuron:
gagn937: - :--hnin ma-pe :-bū
-
although he has some , he will not give any.
hlè af.
c = og hli ( indicates motion towards speaker)
hā ono = sapu a-yā thing.
ho o
တို = - ofထို hto that .
ho-thin : ဟို သင်း )
= ထိုး hto that .
ho - dia : ဟိုဒင်း
 INDEX .

The numbers given refer to pages

Mod . Lit. Coll .

Accusative 6 107 130

Adjectives. 16-20 110 133
::::::::: ; ' :

Cod pamtive 17
::::::::::

Demonstrative 18 110 134

Distributive ... 20
indefipite 19 ill ...

Possessive 19 110
Substantival 16 .
Superlative 18
Adverbs 57-62 116 139
Affirmation 40
A fixes
Case -5-6 106 131
Emphatic 115 137
Hoporific ... 55
Interrogative 43-44 113 136
Nomeral 24. - 29 111 135
Polite .. 31
Tense ... 31-37 112 135
Auxiliary verbal ... 50-52 114 137
Verbal 53-54 114 137
Be (to )
***

...

4749
Cardinals ser Numbers.
Cases
Nominativo . ... 5-6
Objective 5-6 106-107 130
Possessive 5-6
Collective doung 1
Colloquial forms 141-146
Comparative 17
Complex sentences 93
Compound sentences 93
Compound Nouns bo 87-99
 ( ii ).

Mod . Lit. Coli.

Conjunctions

...
Co-ordinating ...
68-10
70-74
Subordinating 104-105
117 138

:
Construction of sentences ...
93-94
Correspondence 94-97
Dales 29 & 84
Dative 6 106 130
Declension 5 106 130
Demonstrative adjectives 18 110 134
20
::::
Distributive adjectives
Fractions 23
:::

Futuro 31 & 35 112 135

Gender
of rational beings ... 3
of animals 4
of birds 4
...

Genitive 6 106 130

Gerund ...
33-34 113 136
Have (to)
**

47
‫بر‬:

Honorific affixes 56
Honorific verbs and nouns 55-57 :::
Hu 78 140
Imperative 31-33 112 135
Imperfect .. 35
Indefinite adjectives 19 111.
13
Indefinite pronouns and adverbs 102-103
108 133

Interjections >

Interrogative affixes 43-44 113 136 .

12
Interrogative Pronouns and Adverbs 100-101 } ing 131
Measures of length I. 23
Measures of capacity 23
Money 23 & 30
Moods see Tense affixes.
Negation 41-43 114 " 136
Nominative 5-6 106 130
::

si

Nouns
Collectivo ... 1
900

Compound 87-92
Proper
Plural
 ( iii )
Dod . Lit.
1 Coll .

Secondary 66-68
Verbal 3

::
Noun clauses
ils subject or direct object 75-76 139
in posses-ive 77

::::
with words spoken 78-80

:::
with hyit and shi 80-81
Number ses Plural .
Numbers -
Cardinal 21
Ordinal 22
::::::::::
Numer:ll affixes 24-29 111 185
Objective cilge 5-6 11.7 130
::::::::

Pali Terbs 40
Pali words 118-127
Pali prayers ... 128-129 ...

Passive Voice 33
Perfcct 36 112 135
Phonetic rule ... xxri
Plural
of nouns 5 131
of pronouns 11 131
::::::

..
of verbs 33 113
Possessive adjectives 19 110 ...

Possessive case 5-6 107 330

Prepositions 63-66 139
Pronouns
។

1st and 2nd person 6-8

3rd person 9-11
::

12 &
Interrogative 102-103
108 131
Reciprocal 11
Reflexive 11
Relative 15 110 134
Propar nouns 2
Reciprocal pronouns 11
Reflexive pronouns Il ...

Relative pronouns ... 15

Secondary nouos . 66-88
Sentences
Simple ... 93
Complex 93
Compound 93 ...
:
 ( iv )

Mod. Lis. Coll.

...
Superlative .. 18
Tense affixes
Auxiliary 50-52 ... ..

Indicative ... 31 112 135

Imperative 31-33 112 135
Imperfect .. I .. 35
Infintive 33-34 113 136
Future ... 31 & 35 112 135
Perfect ... 36 112 135
3. &

... .
Othor 53-55
Time 82
Transitive verbs 37
...

Verbal nouns se 3
: Verbs --
Adjectival 49
Auxiliary 50-55
Caosa tivere 37
Compound 39
Honorific 55--56 .
Idiomatic 4546
Pali 40
Pagkivo : 38
Peculiar construction 91
To be and to have 47-49
Tenses sec Tense affixes ... 31-35
Weights 23_29
Words
Idiomatic use o .. 98