Different ways to say You and I — Pronouns in Myanmar Language

Burmese Pronouns

There are four classifications of pronouns in Myanmar language.

• poat-ga1-la1 nun2-za3 — personal pronoun
  
  is the part of speech that is used in place of a person. It is a coined word of a-sa3 meaning "in place of" and poat-go2 meaning "a person".
  
  Examples: "I", "You", "He", "She", "It". Attention must be paid to many ways to say "you" and "I" in Burmese.
  
  
• a-hnyoon3 nun2-za3 — referential pronoun
  
  points to something or someone such as, "this","that", and "above-mentioned". a-hnyoon3 means reference.
  
  
• a-may3 nun2-za3 — question words
  
  are equivalent to "what", "who", "where" in English.
  
  For example, in the Burmese question: "What does she like?", "what" refers to "the thing that she likes" (noun), and it is considered a question pronoun. By the same logic, "where" in the question: "Where did he go?" refers to "the place that he went" (noun), and it is a question pronoun.
  
  
• thin2-cha2 nun2-za3 — quantitative pronouns
  
  are words that show quantity, magnitude or amount such as "one person", "three cups", "four items", "some", "few", "all", "half", etc. used in place of names of objects or people.
  
  thin2-cha2 in direct translation refers to "math".
  
  This category is further grouped into two types:
  
  
  • a-yay2 a-twet pya1 thin2-cha2 nun2 za3 — numerals.
    
    E.g., "one person", "three cups", "four items".
    
    a-yay2-a-twet means quantity and pya1 means to show.
    
    
  • pa1-ma2-na1 pya1 thin2-cha2 nun2 za3 — unspecified numbers.
    
    E.g., "some", "few", "all", "half". pa1-ma2-na1 means "size" or "magnitude" and pya1 means to show.
    
    

Different words for different gender

As we have seen near the end of lesson 3, male and female Burmese speakers make use of slightly different ending words:

shin1 — is used by female speakers.

bya2 — is used by male speakers.

Example:

hote deare2 shin1

"yes, I concur.." (or) "yes, very true!".

A male speaker would say the same "yes, I concur.." (or) "yes, very true!" with the ending

bya2.

hote deare2 bya2

Note the slight different change in saying "yes" when someone orders something:

A request: Please do this right away!

A reply by a female speaker:

hote-keare1 shin1

which is equivalent to saying "Yes Sir!" or "Yes, Ma'm!"

A reply by a male speaker:

hote-keare1 kha1-mya1

When shin1 or kha1-mya1 is added at the above conversation, it sounds more polite and professional.

Yes, I am here!

Now, consider this. Someone is looking for you everywhere. He is calling out your name. If you are a male person, you may answer:

bya2 (or)
kha1-mya2

Note the 2nd tone ending mya2.

A female speaker would answer:

shin2 — Yes, I am here.

A Shocking Surprise

A single word:

shin2 by female, and
bya2 or
kha1-mya2 by male

is also used to utter an exclamation — to express a shocking surprise with an open-mouth.

Village head to the young man: "Young man, your parents are dead, and so are your cows. The house is gone, and you have nothing left."

Young man:

bya2

followed by a long silent.

A step-mother in the poor village to her pretty step-daughter:

tha1-mi3 — Daughter...

she says in an afflicted tone. "For the sake of your future, we are selling you to that rich man from across the border. Pack your things now."

Step-daughter:

shin2

Pardon me! Excuse me, can say that again?

shin2 — Can you say that again?

bya2 — What did you say?

kha1-mya2 — Did I hear it right?

Yes, you have heard it right! There are so many different uses for simple words like

shin2 (female),

bya2 (male), and

kha1-mya2 (male).

Here, the same words could mean "Pardon me! Excuse me, can you say that again?"

Master, Master, wake up!

If you are of an equal or a higher social status, rank, or age than the person who is calling your name, you may answer in a different tone of voice:

ba2 leare3 kwa1

What? ... what's going on?

Note that there is no "male", "female" term. The ending word kwa1, as we have seen in lesson3 is an expression of excitement or delight, and can be used by both sexes.

A Knock on the door

Suppose you are in your hotel room when someone knocks on the door and calls out your name, you can say:

la2 byi2.. la2 byi2 — Coming... coming!

The World without You and I

It is not necessary to be using polite "male" "female" ending words all the time. In fact, it is not even necessary to include "You" and "I" in Burmese sentences.

thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

Got to go now! (go + indication of intention + warm feeling)

Note that in the above sentence, "I" is not explicitly stated, but implicitly implied.

First Person Male term: "kja1-nau2"

A male speaker could add "I" (male term) like this:

kja1-nau2 thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

Please let me be excused now.

kja1-nau2

means "I" and is used by male speakers. In upper Myanmar, particularly in Mandalay, this term is also used by female speakers. But, it appears that this trend is catching on in Yangon. I have encountered some female speakers who use the term kja1-nau2 in Yangon.

First Person Female term: "kja1-ma1"

A female speaker could add "I" (female term)

kja1-ma1

as follow:

kja1-ma1 thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

Male term of endearment: "ko2"

A husband or a boyfriend could use the term-of-endearment "I":

ko2 thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

Yes, parting is such sweet sorrow, that I shall say:

thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

till the day after tomorrow!

The use of

ko2

is not limited to a soft whisper from a husband to a wife. It can also be used by any male person to any close friend.

Common female self-descriptive word for "I"

It is unusual for a female speaker to use

ko2

as a self-descriptive first person pronoun "I". The reason could be that it sounds like the prefix ko2 with different spelling used in front of the names of the male person.

“The story started on that rainy day when I was enjoying a happy and wet Thingyan Festival filled with pleasing yellow Padauk flowers,” she said.

My heart beat faster when I saw those brown eyes and tender loving smile of his.

“Going home?”

“No.”

“Want to go out together, then?”

“Yeah.”

“Where to?”

“Just go.”

That's how I spent the time with him — so, the lyric goes.

This talented young lady's name is Eint Chit | Ain1-Chit. She is the same girl in "Myanmar's happiest time" video clip in lesson 30 — only a little younger.

All the while, she used the word ko2 for the pronoun "I". It's almost as though she is reminiscing the story about herself to herself.

A young girl would say something like this:

tha1-mi3 thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

where

tha1-mi3

means daughter and it is used as a pronoun in place of "I" by a young female to a person older than her. I don't know if it is a new trend or not. It seems the use of tha1-mi3 is not limited to teen-agers. Not long ago, I was taken aback to hear a woman in her 30's describing herself as tha1-mi3 to me. She addressed to me as "Uncle".

hite! — Burmese Exclamation!

(English equivalent: "Gosh! She called me Uncle. Am I that old already?")

Perhaps, it's about time I do something about my graying hair. Maybe, afterwards with my new look, I can go back to her calling myself

tha3 — son

before she calls herself

tha1-mi3 :-)

Yes, we do grow older and older as time goes by. I think Nobel laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi must now be quite used to being addressed as a-may2 su1, where

a-may2 means mother.

I once witnessed an odd situation between a young man and woman in their early 20's. She addressed to him as

a-ko2 elder brother (used as a pronoun)

and he to her as

a-ma1 elder sister.

The conversation went on with the repeated use of a-ko2 and a-ma1. I was sitting next to them trying hard not to laugh out loud.

It is common for a female speaker to use her name in place of "I". For example, a lady named sun2-da2 would say:

sun2-da2 thwa3 ome3 meare2 nau2

to close friends and elder family members. In fact, either male or female could use his or her name in place of "I" when speaking to elder members of the family because "I" sounds too cold and impersonal.

Younger people to Older Folks

It's impolite in Myanmar culture to call elders "old man" and "old woman" in the face. But, you can bet that behind their back young people use the terms like

a-pfo3-ji3 — old man and

a-pfwa3-ji3 — old woman

to not so young people.

Girlfriend to boyfriend

Here is something new that I have overheard in the public place. A younger girl described herself as

kha1-lay3

which is the direct English translation of baby to her much older boyfriend. This word also refers to a child. I, therefore, came to the logical conclusion that her boyfriend must then identify himself as

a-ba1

meaning "father" in private to her, but my suspicion could not be independently verified. It's hard to estimate how widespread is the usage in Myanmar as shown in this clip.

It may sound odd, but it is possible for a girl to use "he" in place of "you" when talking to a newly acquainted male. For example, instead of "What are you doing?" in 2nd person, she might say "What is he doing?" in third person. Burmese word for "he" or "she" is

thu2.

The most common terms that she will address to her boyfriend or husband in public will be

a-ko2

which means "big brother", or the word

ko2

followed by the name of her boyfriend or husband. Those two terms are not so special. Anybody, male or female, could address to a male person about the same age with those words in place of "you".

The special usage of "you" to a boyfriend or a husband is the word

moun2.

The closest English translation I can think of is darling or dear, but unlike "darling" or "dear", the Burmese moun2 is reserved for female to male only.

How would a tough guy call himself?

As people get married for a long time, the term-of-endearment "I" could change with time to become something not so endearing.

kjoat thwa3 meare2

"I am about to go off"

says the husband. (I + go + indication of intention)

kjoat ma1-lite bu3

"I am not going with you."

says the wife. (I + not + to go along with + negative ending)

The gender-neutral use of

kjoat

as "I" was said to be first popularized by Burmese leader and politician Dr. Ba Maw (pronounced Ba1 Mau2) during World War II because he didn't want to use

kja1-nau2 "I"

which in Burmese written words roughly means self-deprecating "loyal slave". In fact, when I was young, I personally knew two grandsons of Dr. Ba Maw. One of them was the son of Bo Yan Naing, a member of famous Thirty Comrades with General Aung San as the leader. It was odd to hear them speak kjoat to each other, but I didn't know why they used the word at that time.

The word

kja1-nau2

has evolved so much with time that today it has no association with the meaning "slave", whatsoever. However, when I hear someone says

kjoat, it gives me the impression of someone tough, straight-forward, and a bit unfriendly.

Burmese equivalent of "Mister"

kha1-mya3

also means "you", but used in a business-like environment. Although kha1-mya3 sounds professional, it's "cold", and never used by family members to address to each other.

kha1-mya3 can be used by both male and female speaker to address to a male person. the plural form is

kha1-mya3 doh1

which is closer in feeling tone to "you people" than "you gentlemen".

Burmese Gentlemen and noble friends

The word

lu2-ji3-min3

refers to a gentleman. You will often hear this "gentleman" message when your cellphone call cannot be reached.

In public messages, the terms

mate-hsway2 — friend, and

mate-hsway2 doh1 — friends are used.

The diplomatic term used to address ambassadors, presidents, and head of states is

a-hsway2-dau2

which is equivalent to Your Excellency.

Why should I trust "you", stranger?

Shin2

is only used by a female speaker to address either male or female person she is speaking to. It sounds cold and unfriendly, unlike the polite "yes" shin2 of the same sound and spelling mentioned earlier under different context.

Friendlier and more trustworthy "you"

When you get to know a person better, you call him or her by the title followed by the name of the person. For example, you say:

“How is it going ko2 zau2-wun3 ?” to a person named Zaw One.

ko2 is the title to address a male of the same age or older.

moun2 is the title to address a younger male.

u3 is the title to address an elder male.

ma1 is the title to address a female who is younger or of the same age.

dau2 is the title to address an older female.

I consider "you" like a close relative

It is common for Burmese people to use the terms "young brother", "elder brother", "young sister", "elder sister", "big uncle", "big aunt", "grandpa", "grandma", etc., in place of "you" and "I" to any stranger, especially if you don't know the name of the person.

"What's up, brother?" — Did I hear an African-American speak?

beare2 leare3 a-ko2

Go where, big brother?

a greeting as you meet someone a bit older than you are. (where + ? + elder brother)

nyi2-lay3.. ku2 ba2 ome3

Could you help me please, young brother?

(younger brother + help + "do as such" suggestion)

sa3 ba2 ome3 a-ba1 Please won't you have some, grandpa?

(eat + "do as such" suggestion + grandpa)

a-dau2-ji3, da2 beare2-lout leare3

Big Aunty, how much is this?

(aunt+ big + this + how much + ?)

"You" naive girl

Sometimes an elder person would say

nyi3

a version of "you" to a younger female in a disagreement or in a lecturing tone. In my opinion, it's a bit derogatory and somewhat carries the meaning: "You naive, ignorant small girl."

I am uncle and you are moun2-yin2

moun2-yin2

is the term spoken by the elder man to the younger man. You can translate it as "young man" or "lad". This word is not often used. The more common usage today is

tha3

meaning "son" mentioned earlier.

Hey, kid!

The word

cha2-tate

is like calling someone a kid. This word could be used by kids (sometimes in a bullying tone) to even younger kids. Cha2-tate refers to a boy.

cha2-tate ma1 lay3

means a girl. If the girl is a little older from the teenage upwards to the 20's, the word

koun2-ma1 lay3 — young woman is used. The male term is

koun lay3, meaning young man.

Friend

Younger generation of both sexes use the word "friend" in the conversation, especially to classmates.

tha1-ngeare2-jin3, I wish you well.

What's up "dude"?

Among friends,

min3

is used to say "you" in an informal way.

min3 doh1

is a plural for "you" meaning you guys or you people.

Sometimes

nin2

is also used among friends. In Mandarin Chinese, "nin" in Pinyin second tone is a polite term to say "you". In Burmese it is not polite to say

nin2

to someone older than you are.

nin2 doh1

just like

min3 doh1

is an another informal word for "you guys".

min3 ba2 loat nay2 leare3

What are you doing?

(You + what + do + present participle [~ing] + ?)

min3 doh1 ba2 loat nay2 ja1 leare3

What are you guys doing?

(you guys + what + do + present participle [~ing] + plural + ?)

Note the use of ja1 for plural of people. Please review lesson 2 for the use of ja1.

nga2

is an informal word used among friends to say "I". It is rude to say

nga2

to strangers or to elders.

nga2 doh1

means we.

You may be wondering how to pronounce nga2. "nga2" sounds just like saying "ng" part at the end of the word "sing" with the back of the tongue raised, momentarily touched the upper back part of the mouth and released. The tongue should be further back compared to saying "ga2".

nga2 ma1-thi1 bu3

I don't know!

(I + not + know + negative ending)

Add "doh1" for plural form of people

Back in lesson 2, we have seen:

beare2 dthu2 leare3 — Who?

(which + person + ?)

thu2 beare3 — That's him! (he + exactly!)

thu2

means he or she. How would you make it a plural to mean "they", "them"? Easy. Just add

doh1

like "you" and "I" above.

Question:

thu2 doh1 beare2 hma2 leare3

Where are they? (they + where + location indicator + ?)

Answer:

nga2 ma1-thi1 bu3

I don't know!

Only slight tone difference between "I" and "my"

ma1-thi1

means "don't know". This word cannot be used independently, but must be followed by an another word. Usually, it is followed by negative ending

bu3.

na2-yi2 beare2 hma2 leare3

Where's the watch?

(watch + where + location indicator + ?)

kja1-nau2 ma1-thi1 bu3

I (male polite term) don't know!

kja1-nau1 na2-yi2 beare2 hma2 leare3

Where's my (male polite term) watch?

kja1-ma1 ma1-thi1 bu3

I ( female polite term ) don't know!

Observe the tone difference carefully:

kja1-nau2 — I (male)

kja1-nau1 — my (male)

thu2 — "he" or "she"

thu1 — "his" or "her"

When the tone is changed to the 1st., it becomes possessive. For female, "I" is already in the 1st tone, so there's no need to change it:

kja1-ma1 — I (female)

kja1-ma1 — my (female)

Similarly, there is no change in tone from "they" to "theirs".

thu2 doh1 — they; them

thu2 doh1 — theirs

kja1-nau1 tha1-mi3 "My daughter,"

says the man proudly to a friend.

kja1-ma1 tha3

"My son"

da2 kja1-ma1 tha3 beare3

"That's the son I am talking about," she says.

(this + "my" female term + son + exactly!)

da2 thu1 tha3 beare3

That's his (or her) son.

da2 thu1 tha3 lay2

That's his (or) her son, don't you know?

Au2.. hote la3 — "Oh, is that so?"

It is closer to "Oh, I see.." follow-up comment. (Oh + Yes + ?)

I think I have covered all the variations of "You" and "I" that you will ever encounter in the conversation, and also about "him" and "their" comments. So,

kine3, kine3, kine3... — OK, OK, enough, enough, enough...

kja1-nau2 — I

de2 hma2 — here

yut meare2 — stop + going to

kine3, kine3, kine3... kja1-nau2 de2 hma2 yut meare2

Ok, that's enough! I will stop here.