Grammatical Notices of the Burmese Language

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Grammatical Notices of the Burmese Language
by Adoniram Judson

[ 2 ]GRAMMATICAL NOTICES

OF THE

BURMESE LANGUAGE:

BY A. JUDSON.

MAULMAIN:

AMERICAN BAPTIST MISSION PRESS

1842.

[ 4 ]THIS work is printed, with a few corrections, from a manuscript prepared twenty six years ago, when the author had not a very extensive acquaintance with the Burmese language. He would not, however, have consented to publish it, had he not been satisfied, on a careful examination, that it exhibits a correct outline of the principles of the language, however deficient it may be in grammatical details.

It is committed to the press, as the most ready way of meeting frequent applications for the loan of the manuscript, and in the hope of stimulating some more industrious and ambitious person to furnish a work that shall deserve to be called a Grammar of the language ; for the present slender compilation aspires to no higher title, than that of "Grammatical Notices."

Maulmain, July, 1842.

[ 5 ]GRAMMATICAL NOTICES, &c.

THE ALPHABET.

THE Burmese alphabet consists of ten vowels, 00 q> and thirty two consonants, qjpSs.

VOWELS.

ee, g , 00, oo, Q aa, > az, GD , aw, c35 an.

CONSONANTS.

oo ka, o hka, o ga, ex) gor, c nga;

O tsa, 00 htsa, e dza, qj dza, g> g nya ;

^ ta, hta, ^ da, & da, ar> na;

OO to, OO hta, 3 da, O da, $ na ;

O pa, O hpa, O ba, OO ba, O ma ;

CO ya, q ra, CO la, O wa,

OO tha, OO ha, g la.

According to this arrangement, the first twenty five consonants are distributed. into five classes.

[ 6 ]The letters of the first or oo class are gutturals, ooonoo; those of the second or o class are palatals, ooocqc?o; those of the third or g> class are cerebrals, Q<?o; those of the fourth or oo class are dentals, 3^30; and those of the fifth or o class are labials,

The first letter of each class is a simple articuation, smooth and soft; the third is the same, rough and hard; the second is the aspirate of the first; the fourth, according to the Sungskrit system, whence the alphabet is derived, is the aspirate of the third, but according to the Burmese pronunciation, is the same; and the fifth is the corresponding nasal.

The pronunciation of the cerebrals and the dentals, though different in the Sungskrit, is the same in the Burmese.

Of the seven remaining consonants, five are liquids, viz. oo, q> CO, O, and g; OO is properly a sibilant, but pronounced th, and oo is an aspirate.

The cerebrals and the letter g are found only in words derived from the Sungskrit or Pali.

[ 7 ]The names and powers of the letters are as follows:

VOWELS.

9S>, a short, as in America. 930, a long, as in father. go, ee, as i in pin. ee, as in feet.

oo as in good, or u, as in full.

oo, as in food t or u, as in rule. aa, as a in fate, ai, as in hair.

}. :au. as o in on.

9V

35, au, as in audience.

CONSONANTS.

Name.

Power.

oo(c8s, great ka, k, as in king.

QCg curved hka, hk, k aspirated.

j small ga, g, as in good.

s, great ga, the same.

[ 8 ]Name.

Power.

ng, as in rang. ts.

hts, ts aspirated. dz.

the same. ny.

t, as in time. ht, t aspirated.

C, nga,

ocvjs, round tsa, 3Oc8(S, twisted htsa, @g, divided dza, qj or O0ss, bridle dza,

g or g, nya,

g?c6(Xj|<5djjo8, bier-hook ta, go 5 6, duck hta,

D q<5cooDOrS, crooked breast da, d, as in done. ^CQocS, water-dipper da, the same.

coo (c8s, great na, n, as in not.

OOO<5q, abdominous ta, t, as in time.

ooocxSoQS, elephant-fetter hta, ht, t aspirated.

scogs, little da, d, as in done. 0C93DaS(a5, bottom-indented da, (formerly written o,) the same.

^>CoS, small na, n, as in not.

OCOOCxS, steep or deep pa, p, as in part.

(3scqcS, capped hpa, hp, p aspirated.

o, top-indented ba, b, as in book.

, hump-backed ba,

w, ma,

the same. m, as in make,

[ 9 ]Name.

Power.

oooaScoaS, supine ya, , crooked ra,

CO, la, O, wa,

00, tha,

oo, ha, cGBs, great la,

y, as in young. ( r, as in run, or y, as ( above.

1, as in love.

w, as in word.

!th, soft, as in thin, or th, hard, as in this. h, as in home. 1, as in love.

The character called ^nc8o5 or coos GOOSCOcS, is reckoned among the consonants, by the Burmese. It is placed over the letter, with which it is combined, and has the power of a final y, divested of its inherent heavy accent (see Accents;) thus 00, than.

COMPOUND CONSONANTS.

Compound Consonants are formed by combining one or more of the letters oo, q, O, and oo under symbolic forms, with simple consonants, according to the following table:

[ 10 ]Letter, Symbol, Name of Symbol, Junction with w, Power.

oo (| oeo cj mya.

^ G S. 6 !^ @ mra or

O o odg o mwa.

oo & O J oooSodg gj mywa.

q & O (2 qq6os (g mrwa or mywa.

oo j ooo^s 9 hma.

oo & OQ j ooo&^soooS $>j hmya.

q & OO Q OOoQsqqS (g hmra or hyma.

O & oo ^ oooQsodg g hmwa.

The letter oo, in the capacity of an aspirate, is combined with the nasals, and the letters CO and O. When combined with oo or C[, the compound has the power of sh, as 5)| shan. coj has the same power, and sometimes cxj also, (g is equivalent to po, and oQ] to oo.

VOWELS combined with CONSONANTS.

Vowels combined with consonants, simple or compound, are represented by symbols, according to the following table:-

This work published before January 1, 1923 is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Grammatical Notices of the Burmese Language

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