Changes in Burmese Phonology and Orthography

David Bradley

Changes in Burmese Phonology and Orthography

Changes in Burmese phonology over nine centuries, traced through changes in orthography and changes in foreign representations of Burmese

Changes in Burmese Phonology and Orthography: Keynote at SEALS Conference, Kasetsart U., Thailand May 2011 David Bradley La Trobe University, Australia [email protected] Burmese has been written since the 1113 AD quadrilingual Rajkumar inscription at the Myazedi in Pagan. Like many languages with such a long written history, the orthography is extremely conservative and reflects earlier pronunciation. There were some early graphic reforms, such as the replacement of medial 'l' with 'r' or 'y', and a series of very minor changes since the late 19th century, such as the elimination of final 'w' after the digraph 'u' + 'i' representing modern /o/, and in the late 20th century some changes to the treatment of final 'ñ', and of ’bh' where it represents /ph/. MYAZEDI INSCRIPTION Using data from 15th-16th century Chinese sources, late 18th century Italian and Portuguese materials, late 18th and early 19th century materials from English speakers, and modern dialects, we can trace some of the phonological changes over the last nine centuries. Some additional changes are currently in progress, such as a merger of /u'/ (graphic 'wat' and 'wap') to /i'/ and of /un/ (graphic 'wan' and 'wam') to /in/, and a merger of aspirated /sh/ to unaspirated /s/. One major problem for learners of Burmese is the conservatism of the orthography. For mother tongue speakers, spelling is arbitrary, though once one knows how spell a word, it is almost always obvious how to pronounce it. For foreign learners, the best strategy is to shift as quickly as possible to the Burmese orthography rather than a transcription so as to avoid a similar problem. Another issue is diglossia in Burmese. There are a diglossic literary High, used in nearly all writing and some formal speaking, and a diglossic spoken Low, used in very informal writing and most spoken contexts. There are major lexical differences, particularly in grammatical function forms, between the High and the Low, with the High being more conservative in many ways. Both are pronounced similarly, according to modern patterns, though there are some slight differences. LITERARY AND SPOKEN The difficulty for foreign learners is compounded by the absence of a standard transcription for Burmese. Cornyn and related sources use one, early materials by Okell use another, more recent materials by Okell use another, Bernot uses yet another, and the Myanmar Language Commission has its own too. It would be highly desirable if one standard transcription could be agreed upon and used worldwide. Burmese speakers also usually want to teach foreigners the literary diglossic High. This presentation is divided into four parts. First, the Burmese orthography and various transcription systems are compared. Second, several problem areas representing changes between the earliest inscriptions and modern Burmese are traced. Third, various recent orthographic reforms bringing writing closer to modern pronunciation are outlined Fourth, some current changes are described for the first time The problem areas include 1) the origins and development of modern Burmese /e/, /o/, /we/, /ai’/ and /ain/ 3) changes in certain graphic consonant clusters with medial -l-, -r- and -y- after velars 4) developments related to apical affricates and fricatives 5) the phonetic value of graphic –ac and –aññ at various stages ORIGINAL OPEN-SYLLABLE VOWEL SYSTEM OPEN SYLLABLE VOWEL CHANGES RECENT ORTHOGRAPHIC CHANGES CHANGES TO –aññ CHANGES TO –aññ CONCLUSION Standard transcription for Burmese needed Chronology of 900 years of changes in Burmese phonology can be traced from foreign representations Recent orthographic reforms make spelling more consistent Current variation is not yet reflected in spelling THANK YOU!

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Changes in Burmese Phonology and Orthography

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