Help:IPA/Burmese

The charts below show the way in which the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) represents the Burmese language pronunciations in Wikipedia articles. For a guide to adding IPA characters to Wikipedia articles, see Template:IPA and {{section link|Wikipedia:Manual of Style/Pronunciation#Entering IPA characters}}.

See Burmese phonology for a more thorough overview of the sounds of Burmese.

IPA	Burmese example	English approximation
style="background: none" \| style="vertical-align:top;" \| {\| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em;" ! colspan="3" \| Consonants
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|b}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဘဲ}} {{IPA\|[bɛ́]}}	bat
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|d}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဓာတ်}} {{IPA\|[daʔ]}}	dye
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|dʑ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဂျင်}} {{IPA\|[dʑɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	jump
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ð}}}}{{efn\|Varies between [d̪~d̪͡ð~ð~ɾ̪͡ð~ɾ̪]. Voiced allophone of {{IPA\|/θ/}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|အညာသား}} {{IPA\|[ʔəɲàðá]}}	this
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɡ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဂုဏ်}} {{IPA\|[ɡòʊɰ̃]}}	gate
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|h}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဟုတ်}} {{IPA\|[hoʊʔ]}}	hone
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|j}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ယား}} {{IPA\|[já]}}	yield
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|k}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ကုန်}} {{IPA\|[kòʊɰ̃]}}	scan
{{big\|kʰ}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ခုန်}} {{IPA\|[kʰòʊɰ̃]}}	can
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|l}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လုပ်}} {{IPA\|[loʊʔ]}}	lay
{{big\|{{IPA\|l̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လှုပ်}} {{IPA\|[l̥oʊʔ]}}	play; like a clear {{IPA\|/l/}} but voiceless
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|m}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|မတ်}} {{IPA\|[maʔ]}}	much
{{big\|{{IPA\|m̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|မှတ်}} {{IPA\|[m̥aʔ]}}	wormhole
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|n}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နမ်း}} {{IPA\|[náɰ̃]}}	not
{{big\|{{IPA\|n̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နှမ်း}} {{IPA\|[n̥áɰ̃]}}	unhappy
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɲ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ညစ်}} {{IPA\|[ɲɪʔ]}}	canyon
{{big\|{{IPA\|ɲ̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ညှစ်}} {{IPA\|[ɲ̥ɪʔ]}}	No English equivalent; like {{IPA\|/ɲ/}}, but voiceless
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ŋ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ငါး}} {{IPA\|[ŋá]}}	sing
{{big\|{{IPA\|ŋ̊}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ငှါး}} {{IPA\|[ŋ̊á]}}	Shanghai
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|p}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp\|Unaspirated, like in Romance or Slavic languages.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ပဲ}} {{IPA\|[pɛ́]}}	spat
{{big\|{{IPA\|pʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp\|Heavily aspirated (very high VOT), like in Korean or Navajo.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဖဲ}} {{IPA\|[pʰɛ́]}}	pat
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɹ}}}}{{efn\|A marginal consonant in Burmese, {{IPA\|/ɹ/}} occurs only in foreign words, and is often replaced by {{IPA\|/j/}} or {{IPA\|/l/}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|တိရစ္ဆာန်}} {{IPA\|[təɹeɪʔsʰàɰ̃]}}	rock
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|s}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|စာ}} {{IPA\|[sà]}}	same
{{big\|{{IPA\|sʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}}{{efn\|Often realized as {{IPA\|[s̤]}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဆာ}} {{IPA\|[sʰà]}}	gas
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʃ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ရှာ}} {{IPA\|[ʃà]}}	shoe
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|t}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|တတ်}} {{IPA\|[taʔ]}}	stop
{{big\|{{IPA\|tʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ထပ်}} {{IPA\|[tʰaʔ]}}	top
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|tɕ}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ကြဉ်}} {{IPA\|[tɕɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	itch
{{big\|{{IPA\|tɕʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ချင်}} {{IPA\|[tɕʰɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	chew
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|θ}}}}{{efn\|Varies between [t̪~t̪͡θ~θ~ɾ̪̥͡θ~ɾ̪̥ʰ].}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|သတ်}} {{IPA\|[θaʔ]}}	thin
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|w}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဝါး}} {{IPA\|[wá]}}	wield
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʍ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လက်ဝှေ့}} {{IPA\|[lɛʔʍḛ]}}	what in some conservative dialects; voiceless {{IPA\|/w/}}
{{big\|{{IPA\|ɰ̃}}}}{{efn\|The vowel before {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}} is always nasalized, and if a consonant follows {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}}, then {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}} becomes homorganic with the following consonant; e.g., {{lang\|my\|ပြည်ထောင်စု}} {{gloss\|union}} {{IPA\|/pjìdàʊɰ̃zṵ/}} > {{IPA\|[pjìdã̀ʊ̯̃nzṵ]}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ခံ}} {{IPA\|[kʰàɰ̃]}}	Japanese たん or Mongolian хаан; see footnote
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|z}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဇာ}} {{IPA\|[zà]}}	zoo
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʔ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|အုတ်}} {{IPA\|[ʔoʊʔ]}}	uh-oh, Cockney bottle

| style="vertical-align:top;" |

IPA	Burmese example	English approximation
class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em 2em;" ! colspan="3" \| Vowels
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ä\|a}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နား}} {{IPA\|[ná]}}	father
{{big\|{{IPA\|aɪ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နိုင်}} {{IPA\|[nàɪɰ̃]}}	might
{{big\|{{IPA\|aʊ}}}}{{efn\|name=allophone\|The sounds {{IPA\|[aʊ]}}, {{IPA\|[eɪ]}}, {{cnspan\|{{IPA\|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA\|[oʊ]}}, and {{IPA\|[ʊ]}}

} are allophones of {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{cnspan|{{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, and {{IPA|/u/}}|}} respectively, occurring in closed syllables, i.e. before {{IPA|/ɰ̃/}} and {{IPA|/ʔ/}}.}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နောက်}} {{IPA|[naʊʔ]}} || mouth

|{{big|{{IPAlink|e}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နေ}} {{IPA|[nè]}} || Scottish English mate

|{{big|{{IPA|eɪ}}}}{{efn|name=allophone}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နိပ်}} {{IPA|[neɪʔ]}} || may

|{{big|{{IPAlink|ɛ}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နယ်}} {{IPA|[nɛ̀]}} || met

|{{big|{{IPAlink|ə}}}}{{efn|name=minor|Only occurs in minor syllables, i.e. open non-final syllables without tone.}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|ခလုတ်}} {{IPA|[kʰəloʊʔ]}} || comma

|{{big|{{IPAlink|i}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နီး}} {{IPA|[ní]}} || meet

|{{big|{{IPAlink|ɪ}}}}{{efn|name=allophone}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နင်း}} {{IPA|[nɪ́ɰ̃]}} || mit

|{{big|{{IPAlink|o}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နို့}} {{IPA|[no̰]}} || story

|{{big|{{IPA|oʊ}}}}{{efn|name=allophone}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နုန်း}} {{IPA|[nóʊɰ̃]}} || mole

|{{big|{{IPAlink|ɔ}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နော်}} {{IPA|[nɔ̀]}} || off

|{{big|{{IPAlink|u}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နှူး}} {{IPA|[n̥ú]}} || cool

|{{big|{{IPAlink|ʊ}}}}{{efn|name=allophone}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|နွမ်း}} {{IPA|[nʊ́ɰ̃]}} || cook

| colspan="3" style="border-left: #fff solid 1px; border-right: #fff solid 1px" |

! colspan="3" |Tones

! IPA !! Burmese examples !! Explanation

|{{big|{{IPA|`}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|ငါ}} {{IPA|[ŋà]}} || Normal phonation, medium duration, low intensity, low (often slightly rising) pitch

|{{big|{{IPA|´}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|ငါး}} {{IPA|[ŋá]}} || Sometimes slightly breathy, relatively long, high intensity, high pitch; often with a fall before a pause

|{{big|{{IPA|˷}}}}

| align=left| {{lang|my|ငါ့}} {{IPA|[ŋa̰]}} || Tense or creaky phonation (sometimes with lax glottal stop), medium duration, high intensity, high (often slightly falling) pitch

IPA	Burmese example	English approximation
style="background: none" \| style="vertical-align:top;" \| {\| class="wikitable" style="margin: 1em;" ! colspan="3" \| Consonants
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|b}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဘဲ}} {{IPA\|[bɛ́]}}	bat
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|d}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဓာတ်}} {{IPA\|[daʔ]}}	dye
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|dʑ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဂျင်}} {{IPA\|[dʑɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	jump
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ð}}}}{{efn\|Varies between [d̪~d̪͡ð~ð~ɾ̪͡ð~ɾ̪]. Voiced allophone of {{IPA\|/θ/}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|အညာသား}} {{IPA\|[ʔəɲàðá]}}	this
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɡ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဂုဏ်}} {{IPA\|[ɡòʊɰ̃]}}	gate
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|h}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဟုတ်}} {{IPA\|[hoʊʔ]}}	hone
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|j}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ယား}} {{IPA\|[já]}}	yield
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|k}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ကုန်}} {{IPA\|[kòʊɰ̃]}}	scan
{{big\|kʰ}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ခုန်}} {{IPA\|[kʰòʊɰ̃]}}	can
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|l}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လုပ်}} {{IPA\|[loʊʔ]}}	lay
{{big\|{{IPA\|l̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လှုပ်}} {{IPA\|[l̥oʊʔ]}}	play; like a clear {{IPA\|/l/}} but voiceless
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|m}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|မတ်}} {{IPA\|[maʔ]}}	much
{{big\|{{IPA\|m̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|မှတ်}} {{IPA\|[m̥aʔ]}}	wormhole
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|n}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နမ်း}} {{IPA\|[náɰ̃]}}	not
{{big\|{{IPA\|n̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|နှမ်း}} {{IPA\|[n̥áɰ̃]}}	unhappy
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɲ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ညစ်}} {{IPA\|[ɲɪʔ]}}	canyon
{{big\|{{IPA\|ɲ̥}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ညှစ်}} {{IPA\|[ɲ̥ɪʔ]}}	No English equivalent; like {{IPA\|/ɲ/}}, but voiceless
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ŋ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ငါး}} {{IPA\|[ŋá]}}	sing
{{big\|{{IPA\|ŋ̊}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ငှါး}} {{IPA\|[ŋ̊á]}}	Shanghai
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|p}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp\|Unaspirated, like in Romance or Slavic languages.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ပဲ}} {{IPA\|[pɛ́]}}	spat
{{big\|{{IPA\|pʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp\|Heavily aspirated (very high VOT), like in Korean or Navajo.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဖဲ}} {{IPA\|[pʰɛ́]}}	pat
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ɹ}}}}{{efn\|A marginal consonant in Burmese, {{IPA\|/ɹ/}} occurs only in foreign words, and is often replaced by {{IPA\|/j/}} or {{IPA\|/l/}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|တိရစ္ဆာန်}} {{IPA\|[təɹeɪʔsʰàɰ̃]}}	rock
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|s}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|စာ}} {{IPA\|[sà]}}	same
{{big\|{{IPA\|sʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}}{{efn\|Often realized as {{IPA\|[s̤]}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဆာ}} {{IPA\|[sʰà]}}	gas
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʃ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ရှာ}} {{IPA\|[ʃà]}}	shoe
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|t}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|တတ်}} {{IPA\|[taʔ]}}	stop
{{big\|{{IPA\|tʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ထပ်}} {{IPA\|[tʰaʔ]}}	top
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|tɕ}}}}{{efn\|name=unasp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ကြဉ်}} {{IPA\|[tɕɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	itch
{{big\|{{IPA\|tɕʰ}}}}{{efn\|name=asp}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ချင်}} {{IPA\|[tɕʰɪ̀ɰ̃]}}	chew
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|θ}}}}{{efn\|Varies between [t̪~t̪͡θ~θ~ɾ̪̥͡θ~ɾ̪̥ʰ].}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|သတ်}} {{IPA\|[θaʔ]}}	thin
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|w}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဝါး}} {{IPA\|[wá]}}	wield
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʍ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|လက်ဝှေ့}} {{IPA\|[lɛʔʍḛ]}}	what in some conservative dialects; voiceless {{IPA\|/w/}}
{{big\|{{IPA\|ɰ̃}}}}{{efn\|The vowel before {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}} is always nasalized, and if a consonant follows {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}}, then {{IPA\|/ɰ̃/}} becomes homorganic with the following consonant; e.g., {{lang\|my\|ပြည်ထောင်စု}} {{gloss\|union}} {{IPA\|/pjìdàʊɰ̃zṵ/}} > {{IPA\|[pjìdã̀ʊ̯̃nzṵ]}}.}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ခံ}} {{IPA\|[kʰàɰ̃]}}	Japanese たん or Mongolian хаан; see footnote
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|z}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|ဇာ}} {{IPA\|[zà]}}	zoo
{{big\|{{IPAlink\|ʔ}}}} \| align=left\| {{lang\|my\|အုတ်}} {{IPA\|[ʔoʊʔ]}}	uh-oh, Cockney bottle

Help:IPA/Burmese

Notes

See also