Languages of Burma - general
Websites/Multiple Documents
| Title: | | SIL International: Ethnologue: Myanmar |
| Description/subject: | | Languages of Myanmar |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SIL International |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 June 2003 |
|
Individual Documents
| Title: | | Building a National Language Policy for Myanmar - A Brief Progress Report |
| Date of publication: | | 01 March 2016 |
| Description/subject: | | "Since 2014 all across Myanmar discussion has been underway on language policy. Sponsored by the Language and Social Cohesion (LESC) Initiative of UNICEF under the Programme for Peacebuilding, Education and Advocacy [PBEA], in close cooperation with the Myanmar Ministry of Education, 16 "Facilitated Dialogues", several research projects, a large number of direct consultations and site visits, interviews, observations and professional training activities have been implemented. At state level there have also been writing teams, information gathering, discussion groups, learning circles and other activities addressing co-ordination issues, multilingual program delivery, curriculum, textbooks, teacher support, and the role of policy and how citizens can participate in policy debates. Working in close cooperation with civil society partners, ethnic language and culture groups, teachers, civil servants and parents this process has been designed and guided by Professor Joseph Lo Bianco, Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne and has involved many hundreds of people, both professionals and community representatives. Through this process a wealth of ideas has been generated about the best ways for Myanmar to make the most of its rich linguistic resources. This brief progress report discusses some of the key achievements and steps so far, and sets out the remainder of the process..." |
| Author/creator: | | Joseph Lo Bianco |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | UNICEF, Pyoe Pin, Thabyay Education Foundation, Melbourne Graduate School of Education |
| Format/size: | | pdf (1.5MB-reduced version; 2.4MB-original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.themimu.info/sites/themimu.info/files/documents/Report_Brief_Progress_Report_-_Building_... |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 April 2016 |
|
| Title: | | Is democracy really lost in translation? |
| Date of publication: | | 01 September 2015 |
| Description/subject: | | "Those seeking to support democratisation in Myanmar’s political transition would do well to remember that political and democratic thinking does not only come from the West. A recent New York Times article by Thomas Fuller lamented the difficulty in translating key political words – like “democracy”, “rule of law” or “institutions” – from English into the Myanmar language....The political realm in Myanmar is not an empty vessel into which new Western democratic terms need to be poured. Rather it has its own rich, evolving and contested traditions of political thought. These should be valued as resources and not ignored simply because they do not exactly reflect the tenets of Western liberal democracy." |
| Author/creator: | | Tamas Wells and Matthew J Walton |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "Myanmar Times" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 01 September 2015 |
|
| Title: | | Dr. Than Tun and Myanmar Language & Literature |
| Date of publication: | | 26 July 2015 |
| Description/subject: | | Abstract: "History,
language,
and
literature
are
inseparable.
Undoubtedly,
historian
represents
the
past
via
language
and
employs
literature
as
historical
evidence.
The
late
Dr.Than
Tun,
the
highly
respected
and
prominent
Myanmar
historian,
was
trained
in
a
positivist
fashion
under
the
supervision
of
D.G.E.
Hall
and
G.H.
Luce,
the
leading
colonial
scholars.
Hence,
his
treatment
of
literature
fundamentally
confined
to
and
empirical
historical
framework,
attaching
great
importance
to
its
factual
data
and
historicity.
Nonetheless,
some
of
his
writings
reveal
that
he
did
not
neglect
discussing
how
to
trace
back
and
interpret
Myanmar
history
from
fictional
genres
of
the
past,
for
example,
myth,
legend
and
folklore.
He
suggests
that
pre-‐Buddhist
elements
of
pre-‐literate
societies
are
preserved
in
those
traditional
songs,
fables,
proverbs,
riddles
and
customs.
Moreover,
to
study
the
history
of
Myanmar
literature
is
supposed
to
begin
with
the
earliest
form
of
literature,
the
oral
tradition.
While
his
copious
historical
research
was
primarily
based
on
very
formal
literary
evidence,
for
instance,
inscriptions,
royal
orders,
first-‐hand
accounts,
contemporary
historical
documents
on
tax,
revenue,
demography
and
even
tombstones,
when
he
wrote
his
works
he
preferred
to
write
in
the
colloquial
Myanmar
form.
He
advocated
Ludu
U
Hla’s
campaign
for
simple
and
accessible
writings
for
people.
He
also
urged
his
pupils
to
write
theses
in
the
colloquial
language.
This
paper
attempts
to
analyze
Dr.Than
Tun’s
perception
of
Myanmar
language
and
literature
in
a
light
of
the
historical
context
of
Myanmar
society.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015. |
| Author/creator: | | Pamaree Surakiat |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (195K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/web/Burma/home.php# |
| Date of entry/update: | | 20 August 2015 |
|
| Title: | | Foreign influence in the Burmese language |
| Date of publication: | | 26 July 2015 |
| Description/subject: | | Abstract: "Burmese has a documented history of one thousand years, and from the very
first texts shows influence from foreign languages,
especially in its
vocabulary. Much less evidence of foreign influence
is found in the
grammatical structure of Burmese, though a closer look reveals some phrase
structures that look rather un-Burmese and seem to
be pattern replications
from a non-verb-final language, such as Mon. The regular use of
postpositional grammatical markers especially in the written language,
probably in indigenous feature of Burmese, may have
been reinforced by
literary contact with Pali.
Foreign elements in Burmese are important indicators of the
development of the language and contact with other
cultures. They not only
tell us something about which cultures Burmese was
in contact with, but also
about the period and kind of contact. Three main sources of foreign elements
in Burmese can be identified, namely early Indian (Pali and Sanskrit), early
Mon, English, together with various more recent sources, including new Indo-
Aryan languages, Malay, Chinese varieties, and others. This study takes the
linguistic evidence, together with what is known of
the history of the involved
languages and peoples, to draw a picture of contact
scenarios into which the
Burmese language and culture entered over the past
one thousand years.
The Myanmar-English Dictionary
by the Myanmar Language
Commission (1993) identifies a large number of loan
words in Burmese and
indicates the source language, together with a more
or less accurate
transcription of the original form of the respective words, either in Burmese
script (for Sanskrit, Pali, Mon, and Shan) or in Romanized transcription (for
all other languages, including Hindi).".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015. |
| Author/creator: | | Mathias Jenny |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (201K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/web/Burma/home.php# |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 August 2015 |
|
| Title: | | Language Vitality among the Akha in Myanmar |
| Date of publication: | | 26 July 2015 |
| Description/subject: | | Abstract: "The spread of telecommunications networks and the growth in cross-border trade and travel bring minority language communities in Myanmar into ever greater contact with external influences presenting those communities with new choices and new challenges for their language, culture and group identity. In this context, it is important for a community to be able to assess the vitality of their language at the present moment as well as the likely direction of movement in coming years.
This paper describes a sociolinguistic study of language vitality of the Akha communities in Eastern Shan State, Myanmar. Fieldwork involved data collection in 18 Akha villages during Apr-Jul 2014. Factors including Age, Gender and Religious Affiliation were used in the research design. The Extended Graded Intergenerational Disruption Scale (EGIDS) (Lewis & Simons 2015:104-117) was used to characterise language vitality and the FAMED conditions (Lewis &Simons 2015:159-189) to assess the extent to which the current level of vitality is sustainable.
Overall, Akha language vitality was assessed at EGIDS level 5: “the language is used orally by all generations and is effectively used in written form in parts of the community (Lewis & Simons 2010:110)”. The study found considerable dissimilarities among different villages, with religious affiliation a major predictor of literacy proficiency and usage. The role of the non-formal literacy program operating in Christian villages in sustaining the current level of vitality will be discussed.".....Paper delivered at the International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015. |
| Author/creator: | | Ah Suhn Ghoemeh |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | International Conference on Burma/Myanmar Studies: Burma/Myanmar in Transition: Connectivity, Changes and Challenges: University Academic Service Centre (UNISERV), Chiang Mai University, Thailand, 24-26 July 2015 |
| Format/size: | | pdf (176K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://rcsd.soc.cmu.ac.th/web/Burma/home.php# |
| Date of entry/update: | | 11 August 2015 |
|
| Title: | | Burma lost for words when it comes to democracy, freedom, even the phone - Strict censorship and limited access to global media have stunted the Burmese language |
| Date of publication: | | 21 July 2015 |
| Description/subject: | | "For half a century, Burma was so cut off from the outside world, people were jailed for owning an unauthorised fax machine. As the rest of the world was hurtling into the information age, the strict censorship of publications, limited access to global media and creaking connections to the internet stunted the evolution of the Burmese language, leaving it without many words that are elsewhere deemed essential parts of the modern political and technical vocabulary.
Today, as Burma embraces change, many foreign words are being imported wholesale, but their meanings are getting lost in translation. The English word democracy was subsumed into the Burmese language decades ago – it is pronounced dee-mock-rah-SEE – but for many Burmese it remains a foreign and somewhat abstract concept. No native words exist for other common ideas like racism, federal or globalisation..." |
| Author/creator: | | Thomas Fuller |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Irish Times" |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 21 July 2015 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar: can minority languages survive? (Audio) |
| Date of publication: | | 27 October 2014 |
| Description/subject: | | "Formerly known as Burma, the Republic of the Union of Myanmar is in a state of upheaval. Business is booming in Yangon, thanks to new access to international markets. And while the country is offering greater stability for investors, ethnic and political tensions still run high. Burma/Myanmar is a rapidly changing and challenging place.
Anthropologist and linguist Mark Turin travels to Myanmar to explore what these transformations mean for the indigenous ethnic groups that make up much of the population, and specifically for their languages and cultures. Myanmar is a hugely diverse nation: according to a contested recent census, it is home to 135 distinct ethnic groups who are in turn grouped into eight "major national ethnic races." Among them are the Mon, whose Austroasiatic language is still widely spoken and who lay claim to an ancient script that's used to write Pali and Sanskrit. In highland areas, the states of Chin, Kachin and Shan derive their names from the dominant ethnic groups of the region, but these states are also home to many smaller, distinct communities. To date, the state has focussed on national building around a united Burmese identity rather than supporting minority communities. Official government education policy, for example, still prohibits the teaching of ethnic languages in schools.
Mark Turin speaks to government representatives, teachers, religious leaders and language experts in the field to find out whether these minority languages can survive in 21st Myanmar. Is the growth of English threatening Myanmar's indigenous languages? What is the role of religion in maintaining linguistic diversity? What does the future hold for Myanmar's unique tapestry of cultural and linguistic diversity?" |
| Author/creator: | | Mark Turin, Mark Rickards |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | BBC Radio 4 (On Language Location - Myanmar) |
| Format/size: | | Adobe Flash (28 minutes) |
| Date of entry/update: | | 29 November 2014 |
|
| Title: | | Culture of Language |
| Date of publication: | | 1974 |
| Description/subject: | | Analyzes the major Myanmar languages. The author creates a taxonomy of Burmese languages and suggests how they
can be classified.....Subject Terms: 1. Myanmar Language.....
Key Words: 1. Mon...
2. Palaung...
3. Wa...
4. Tibeto - Burman...
5. Kachin language |
| Author/creator: | | Pe Maung Tin, U |
| Language: | | Burmese/ ျမန္မာဘာသာ (Metadata: English and Burmese) |
| Source/publisher: | | "Nawarat Ko-thwe", 2nd editon, pp1-15, Sabei Oo Sarpay via Univeristy of Washington |
| Format/size: | | pdf (270K-reduced version; 1.2MB-original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.lib.washington.edu/myanmar/pdfs/CU0001.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 November 2014 |
|
| Title: | | Myazedi Inscription |
| Date of publication: | | 1974 |
| Description/subject: | | Analyzes the Myazedi inscription created by Rajakumar, son of Kyansittha. The Myazedi inscription was written in four
languages, Pali, Mon, Pyu and Myanmar. The author explains how and why the Myanmar languages were used on the
inscription....Subject Terms: 1. Myazedi Inscription...
2. Myanmar - History - Bagan Period...
3. Inscriptions - Myanmar...
4. Myanmar - Inscriptions...
5. Rajakumar - Inscription.....
Key Words: Myazedi...
Myanmar inscriptions |
| Author/creator: | | Pe Maung Tin, U |
| Language: | | Burmese/ ျမန္မာဘာသာ (Metadata: English and Burmese) |
| Source/publisher: | | "Nawarat Ko-thwe", 2nd editon, pp18-27, Sabei Oo Sarpay via Univeristy of Washington |
| Format/size: | | pdf (188K-reduced version; 898K-original) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://www.lib.washington.edu/myanmar/pdfs/CU0002.pdf |
| Date of entry/update: | | 27 November 2014 |
|
| Title: | | A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the languages spoken in the Burma Empire |
| Date of publication: | | 1799 |
| Description/subject: | | Reprint: Original date of publication 1799...
"Francis Buchanan published his “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the Languages
Spoken in the Burma Empire” in 1799, in the fifth volume of Asiatic Researches. This
piece provides one of the first major Western surveys of the languages of Burma. But
the article goes beyond this and provides important data on the ethno-cultural identities
and identifications of the various population groups in the first half of Bò-daw-hpayà’s
reign (1782-1819). For these reasons, the article is republished here.
The article is reproduced in its entirety, with slight modifications as follows...
The original citation for the article is as follows:
Francis Buchanan. “A Comparative Vocabulary of Some of the languages spoken in
the Burma Empire.” Asiatic Researches 5 (1799): 219-240.
M. W. C. |
| Author/creator: | | Francis Buchanan (aka Francis Hamilton) |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | SOAS Bulletin of Burma Research, Vol. 1, No., 1 (March 2003) |
| Format/size: | | pdf (117K) |
| Alternate URLs: | | http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/8050/ |
| Date of entry/update: | | 07 December 2010 |
|
| Title: | | Myanmar’s new govt unveils strategy for peace with ethnic groups |
| Description/subject: | | "Myanmar’s incoming civilian government this month announced plans to introduce a Ministry for Ethnic Affairs. The creation of this ministry, together with the appointment of a Christian vice-president for this Buddhist-majority country, seems calculated to reduce the number and severity of Myanmar’s ethnic conflicts. It coincides with a major and related Unicef-backed initiative to create a Myanmar National Language Policy (NLP)..." |
| Author/creator: | | John Draper, Peerasit Kamnuansilpa |
| Language: | | English |
| Source/publisher: | | "The Nation" (Bangkok) |
| Format/size: | | html |
| Date of entry/update: | | 03 April 2016 |
|
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