Wikipedia key to pronunciation of Burmese
The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents Burmese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see {{IPA-my }} and Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation § Entering IPA characters .
See Burmese phonology for a more thorough discussion of the sounds of Burmese.
Consonants
IPA
Burmese example
English approximation
b
ဘဲ [b ɛ́]
b at
d
ဓာတ် [d aʔ]
d ye
dʑ
ဂျင် [dʑ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
j ump
ð
အညာသား [ʔəɲàð á]
th is
ɡ
ဂုဏ် [ɡ òʊɰ̃]
g ate
h
ဟုတ် [h oʊʔ]
h one
j
ယား [j á]
y ield
k
ကုန် [k òʊɰ̃]
sk ate[1]
kʰ
ခုန် [kʰ òʊɰ̃]
K ate[2]
l
လုပ် [l oʊʔ]
l ay
l̥
လှုပ် [l̥ oʊʔ]
hellh ole
m
မတ် [m aʔ]
m uch
m̥
မှတ် [m̥ aʔ]
wormh ole
n
နမ်း [n áɰ̃]
n ot
n̥
နှမ်း [n̥ áɰ̃]
unh appy
ɲ
ညစ် [ɲ ɪʔ]
cany on
ɲ̥
ညှစ် [ɲ̥ ɪʔ]
None; like /ɲ/ , but voiceless
ŋ
ငါး [ŋ á]
sing
ŋ̊
ငှါး [ŋ̊ á]
Shangh ai
p
ပဲ [p ɛ́]
sp at[1]
pʰ
ဖဲ [pʰ ɛ́]
p at[2]
ɹ
တိရစ္ဆာန် [təɹ eɪʔsʰàɰ̃] [3]
r ock
s
စာ [s à]
gas
sʰ
ဆာ [sʰ à]
monksh ood[2]
ʃ
ရှာ [ʃ à]
sh oe
t
တတ် [t aʔ]
st y[1]
tʰ
ထပ် [tʰ aʔ]
t ie[2]
tɕ
ကြဉ် [tɕ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
itch [1]
tɕʰ
ချင် [tɕʰ ɪ̀ɰ̃]
ch ew[2]
θ
သတ် [θ aʔ]
th in
w
ဝါး [w á]
w ield
ʍ
လက်ဝှေ့ [lɛʔʍ ḛ]
wh at in some conservative dialects; voiceless /w/
ɰ̃
ခံ [kʰàɰ̃ ]
Nasalization of preceding vowel [4]
z
ဇာ [z à]
z oo
ʔ
အုတ် [ʔ oʊʔ ]
uh- oh, Cockney bott le
Vowels
IPA
Burmese example
English approximation
a
နား [ná ]
fa ther
aɪ
နိုင် [nàɪ ɰ̃]
migh t
aʊ
နောက် [naʊ ʔ]
mou th[5]
e
နေ [nè ]
Scottish English ma te
eɪ
နိပ် [neɪ ʔ]
may [5]
ɛ
နယ် [nɛ̀ ]
me t
ə
ခလုတ် [kʰə loʊʔ]
comma
i
နီး [ní ]
mee t
ɪ
နင်း [nɪ́ ɰ̃]
mi t[5]
o
နို့ [no̰ ]
Scottish English no te
oʊ
နုန်း [nóʊ ɰ̃]
mow [5]
ɔ
နော် [nɔ̀ ]
o r
u
နှူး [n̥ú ]
moo t
ʊ
နွမ်း [nʊ́ ɰ̃]
foo t[5]
Tones
IPA
Burmese examples
Explanation
`
ငါ [ŋà]
Normal phonation , medium duration, low intensity, low (often slightly rising) pitch
´
ငါး [ŋá]
Sometimes slightly breathy , relatively long, high intensity, high pitch; often with a fall before a pause
˷
ငါ့ [ŋa̰]
Tense or creaky phonation (sometimes with lax glottal stop ), medium duration, high intensity, high (often slightly falling) pitch
Notes
^ a b c d Unaspirated , like /p t k/ etc. in Romance or Slavic languages.
^ a b c d e Heavily aspirated .
^ A marginal consonant in Burmese, /ɹ/ occurs only in foreign words, and even there is often replaced by /j/ or /l/ .
^ The vowel before the /ɰ̃/ is always nasalized , and if a consonant follows /ɰ̃/ , then the /ɰ̃/ becomes homorganic with the following consonant.
^ a b c d e The sounds [aʊ] , [eɪ] , [ɪ] , [oʊ] , and [ʊ] are allophones of /ɔ/ , /e/ , /i/ , /o/ , and /u/ respectively, occurring in closed syllables , i.e. before /ɰ̃/ and /ʔ/ .
Comparisons Introductory guides