Mingalaba
{{short description|Salutation or greeting}}
Mingalaba ({{MYname|MY=မင်္ဂလာပါ|MLCTS=mangga.lapa}} {{IPA|my|miɴɡa̰làbà|}}; variously romanised as mingalarpar, mingalabar, or mingalar par) is the formal Burmese greeting.{{Cite web|title=Myanmar (Burmese) Culture - Greetings|url=http://culturalatlas.sbs.com.au/burmese-myanmar-culture/myanmar-burmese-culture-greetings|access-date=2021-01-15|website=Cultural Atlas|language=en}} It is typically accompanied by a slight bow,{{Cite journal|last=Myint Myint Aye|date=2018|title=A Comparative Study of Business Manners of Myanmar and German|url=http://mufl.edu.mm/pdf/Vol9/Myint%20Myint%20Aye%20journal%202018.pdf|journal=Mandalay University of Foreign Languages Research Journal|volume=9|pages=|via=}} or more formally, an Añjali Mudrā gesture, wherein the palms are folded together. The phrase "mingalaba" is typically rendered in English as "may you be blessed" or "auspiciousness to you."{{Cite book|last=Yin|first=Saw Myat|url=|title=CultureShock! Myanmar: A Survival Guide to Customs and Etiquette|date=2013-08-15|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=978-981-4435-55-0|location=|pages=|language=en}}
Origins
The greeting mingalaba is a relatively modern creation. The phrase first emerged during British rule in Burma in the 19th to 20th centuries, coined as a Burmese language equivalent to 'hello' or 'how are you.'{{Cite book|last=Houtman|first=Gustaaf|url=|title=Mental Culture in Burmese Crisis Politics: Aung San Suu Kyi and the National League for Democracy|date=1999|publisher=Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, Institute for the Study of Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa|isbn=978-4-87297-748-6|location=|pages=|language=en}} In the late 1960s,{{Cite book|last=Aung-Thwin|first=Michael A.|url=|title=Myanmar in the Fifteenth Century: A Tale of Two Kingdoms|date=2017-05-31|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=978-0-8248-7411-7|location=|pages=|language=en}} the Burmese government institutionalized the phrase in the country's educational system. Burmese pupils now greet their teachers with mingalaba at the beginning of each school day.
Mingalaba itself is a phrase, decomposed into mingala + ba. The first word "mingala" (မင်္ဂလာ) originates from the Pāli term {{IAST|maṅgala}}, which means auspicious, lucky, prosperous, or festive.{{Cite book|last1=Davids|first1=Thomas William Rhys|url=|title=Pali-English Dictionary|last2=Stede|first2=William|date=1993|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publ.|isbn=978-81-208-1144-7|location=|pages=|language=en}} The word also appears in a well-known Buddhist scripture called the Maṅgala Sutta. Burmese culture recognizes Twelve Auspicious Rites or "Mingala." In Burmese, "mingala" is affixed to several Burmese terms, including "to wed" (မင်္ဂလာဆောင်) and "housewarming" (အိမ်တက်မင်္ဂလာ).{{Cite book|last=|first=|title=Myanmar-English Dictionary|publisher=Myanmar Language Commission|year=1993|isbn=1-881265-47-1|location=|pages=}} The second word, "ba" (ပါ), is a grammatical particle suffixed to Burmese verbs to denote politeness.
See also
{{wiktionary|မင်္ဂလာပါ}}