Romanization of Burmese

The MLC romanization system (1980) is promoted inside Myanmar. Inside and outside Myanmar several other systems may also be used. Replicating Burmese sounds in the Latin script is complicated.{{opinion|date=October 2021}}

• MLC Transcription System (MLCTS), of the Myanmar Language Commission is the government recommended transliteration system for rendering Burmese in the Latin alphabet. This system is used in many linguistic publications regarding Burmese, and is used in all MLC publications as the primary form of transcription for Burmese. It is loosely based on the widely accepted academic romanization of Pali, and has some similarities to the Library of Congress' ALA-LC Romanization index system for Burmese publications. MLCTS transcribes sounds in formal Burmese and is based on the orthography rather than the phonology.J. Okell A Guide to the Romanization of Burmese 2002- Page 7 "3. SURVEY OF THE THREE METHODS OF ROMANIZATION 3.l Transliteration The Burmese use for writing their language a script which is also used for Pali, and as there is a widely accepted romanization system for Pali this can be applied ..."
• BGN/PCGN romanization of Burmese (1970) is the BGN/PCGN romanization adopted by the United States Board on Geographic Names (BGN) and the Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use (PCGN).
• ALA-LC romanization for Burmese is used by the Library of Congress for cataloguing Burmese language book holdings.[https://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/romanization/burmese.pdf Library of Congress table for romanization of Burmese]

Academic and language-teaching transcription systems include:

• Mendelson's system: i.e. E. Michael Mendelson (1975)John P. Ferguson Essays on Burma 1981 Page 77 "4 Romanization of Burmese in this paper follows Mendelson's system in cases of commonly used terms, with a romanization given in parentheses based upon a modification of the Cornyn-Roop system (for details, see Ferguson 1975, ..."
• Cornyn-Roop system: i.e. William S. Cornyn, D. Haigh Roop Beginning Burmese (1968)Bardwell L. Smith Religion and legitimation of power in Thailand, Laos, and Burma - Page 83 1978 "... by Mendelson (1975). For those trained under the American system, Burmese words will also, on first mention, be romanized on the basis of a literal (as opposed to aural) transcription of written Burmese according to the Cornyn and Roop .."
• John Okell A Guide to the Romanization of Burmese (2002) - conventional transcription with accented tonesV. I. Braginskiĭ Classical Civilisations of South East Asia: An Anthology University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies - 2002 Page 57 " ... Burmese is romanized in this article according to John Okell's system of ' conventional transcription with accented tones "
• Minn Latt The Prague method romanization of Burmese (1958) - this method was created as the author was teaching Burmese in Charles University in Prague. It is based on William S. Cornyn's system (1944).Minn Latt. The Prague method romanization of Burmese. In Archiv Orientální: journal of the Czechoslovak Oriental Institute, Prague, 26, 1958, pp. 145-167. {{ProQuest|1304093578}}

Several colloquial transcription systems have been proposed, but none is overwhelmingly preferred over others. Transcription of Burmese is not standardized, as seen in the varying English transcriptions of Burmese names. For instance, a Burmese personal name like {{lang|my|ဝင်း}} ({{IPA|my|wɪ́ɴ|}}) may be variously romanized as Win, Winn, Wyn, or Wynn, while {{lang|my|ခိုင်}} ({{IPA|my|kʰàɪɴ|}}) may be romanized as Khaing, Khine, or Khain.

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Burmese

Category:Burmese language