| Consonants
|
|---|
| IPA |
Burmese example |
Approximate English equivalent
|
|---|
| b
|
ဘဲ [bɛ́] |
bat
| | d
|
ဓာတ် [daʔ] |
dye
| | dʑ
|
ဂျင် [dʑɪ̀ɴ] |
Jew
| | ð
|
အညာသား [ʔəɲàðá][1] |
this
| | ɡ
|
ဂုဏ် [ɡòuɴ] |
gate
| | h
|
ဟုတ် [houʔ] |
hone
| | j
|
ယား [já] |
yield
| | k
|
ကုန် [kòuɴ] |
skate[2] | | kʰ
|
ခုန် [kʰòuɴ] |
Kate[3] | | l
|
လုပ် [louʔ] |
lay
| | l̥
|
လှုပ် [l̥ouʔ] |
play; like /l/ but voiceless
| | m
|
မတ် [maʔ] |
much
| | m̥
|
မှတ် [m̥aʔ] |
None; like /m/ but voiceless
| | n
|
နမ်း [náɴ] |
not
| | n̥
|
နှမ်း [n̥áɴ] |
None; like /n/ but voiceless
| | ɴ
|
ခံ [kʰaɴ] |
lawn or long, but without a complete closure between the tongue and the roof of the mouth[4] | | ɲ
|
ညစ် [ɲɪʔ] |
canyon
| | ɲ̥
|
ညှစ် [ɲ̥ɪʔ] |
None; like /ɲ/, but voiceless
| | ŋ
|
ငါး [ŋá] |
sing
| | ŋ̊
|
ငှါး [ŋ̊á] |
None; like /ŋ/, but voiceless
| | p
|
ပဲ [pɛ́] |
spat[2] | | pʰ
|
ဖဲ [pʰɛ́] |
pat[3] | | ɹ
|
အမရပူရ [ʔəməɹa̰pùɹa̰][5] |
rock
| | s
|
စာ [sà] |
cats[6] | | sʰ
|
ဆာ [sʰà] |
grass hut[3] | | ʃ
|
ရှာ [ʃà] |
shoe
| | t
|
တတ် [taʔ] |
sty[2] | | tʰ
|
ထပ် [tʰaʔ] |
tie[3] | | tɕ
|
ကြဉ် [tɕɪ̀ɴ] |
itch[2] | | tɕʰ
|
ချင် [tɕʰɪ̀ɴ] |
chew[3] | | θ
|
သတ် [θaʔ] |
thin
| | w
|
ဝါး [wá] |
wield
| | z
|
ဇာ [zà] |
zoo
| | ʔ
|
အုတ် [ʔouʔ] |
_uh-_oh[7] |
|
| Vowels
|
|---|
| IPA |
Burmese examples |
Approximate English equivalent
|
|---|
| a
|
နား [ná] |
father
| | ai
|
နိုင် [nàiɴ] |
might
| | au
|
နောက် [nauʔ] |
mouth[8] | | e
|
နေ [nè] |
Scottish English mate
| | ei
|
နိပ် [neiʔ] |
may[8] | | ɛ
|
နယ် [nɛ̀] |
met
| | ə
|
ခလုတ် [kʰəlouʔ] |
comma
| | i
|
နီး [ní] |
meet
| | ɪ
|
နင်း [nɪ́ɴ] |
mit[8] | | o
|
နို့ [no̰] |
Scottish English note
| | ou
|
နုန်း [nóuɴ] |
mow[8] | | ɔ
|
နော် [nɔ̀] |
bought
| | u
|
နှူး [n̥ú] |
moot
| | ʊ
|
နွမ်း [nʊ́ɴ] |
foot[8] |
| Tones
|
|---|
| IPA |
Burmese examples |
Explanation
|
|---|
| `
|
ငါ [ŋà] |
Normal phonation, medium duration, low intensity, low (often slightly rising) pitch
| | ´
|
ငါး [ŋá] |
Sometimes slightly breathy, relatively long, high intensity, high pitch; often with a fall before a pause
| | ˷
|
ငါ့ [ŋa̰] |
Tense or creaky phonation (sometimes with lax glottal stop), medium duration, high intensity, high (often slightly falling) pitch
|
|
