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Descriptive words and phrases — Burmese Adjectives

How would you describe "Nibbana", the ultimate goal of religious life under the traditional Theravada school of Buddhism? It is said to be beyond descriptions because words are inadequate to describe what is to be directly experienced. How would you tell a fish that lives in the water the beauty of the landscape in what is called "dry land"? How would you describe the color "green" to a visually-impaired person who has never seen the light of day in his life?

In the same way, finding an equivalent translation from English to Burmese and vice versa can be challenging sometimes, even for very simple expressions. For example, an English speaker will say, "What a beautiful day!" It is simple enough. In this sentence, "beautiful" is the descriptive term ( adjective) to the word "day" (noun).

If I look up the sky today with open arms and verbalize my appreciation for the beauty of the mother nature with such an utterance in Burmese:

au2... in2-ma1-tan2 hla1 deare1 nay1 ba2 la3

I wonder what will be the reaction of people around me. I have never tried saying that phrase before.

au2 — Oh, (interjection)

in2-ma1-tan2 — extremely (adverb)

hla1beautiful (adjective)

deare1 — such a (particle)

nay1 — day (noun)

ba2 la3 — "Oh, so, it is like that.."; ending words used to say out something loud with awe and amazement.

This sentence is perfectly acceptable and grammatically correct Burmese. If you are in the mood to be melodramatic, you can try saying that when you visit Myanmar. However, I have to warn you, this is an experimental phrase that I just came up with. I have never tested the reaction of the audience myself. But I truly think that it is a good original dramatic phrase that can be used in some Burmese movie, TV drama, or commercials.

Perhaps, Myanmar people are taking the good weather for granted, and don't bother to mention about it in an appreciative way. However, most Burmese will welcome the pleasantly cool nights and poetic misty mornings in early February compared to hot sweltering heat in mid afternoon of April.

What a beautiful day in Burmese

It is interesting to note that the English expression "What a beautiful day!" has a Mandarin Chinese equivalent in Pinyin:

duo1 hao3 tianr1 a1!"

There is an exception, however. Burmese people living abroad who are used to harsh weather conditions like Canadian winter storms might say to each other:

de2-nay1 — today (this + day)

ya2-dthi2 u1-tu1 — weather

thate — very much (adverb)

koun3 — good (adjective)

da2 — (particle that modifies adjective to the noun "koun3 da2": something that is good)

beare3 — a claim or confirmation ending words

de2-nay1 ya2-dthi2 u1-tu1 thate koun3 da2 beare3

The weather is very nice today!

which is quite close to the Mandarin Chinese expression above.

Personally, I don't think it's a right approach to think of a phrase in your language and try to translate it into Burmese. It's better to go the other way: Learn common Burmese expressions, and figure out what they mean in your language. On the other hand, you still need the knowledge of basic nouns and adjectives to be used as foundations to build up those expressions. We will go through a list of some useful nouns and adjectives later in this lesson. But, first...

Adjectives in Myanmar Language

Let's review some grammar. In English, adjective is the word class that qualifies nouns. For example, in the sentence: "He is tall", the word "tall" is the adjective that describes the quality or expresses the attribute of the person (noun).

In Myanmar Language, a class of words known as

na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1 MP3 Audio File

are used in the same way as English adjectives. The word has Pali roots

na2-ma1

meaning "name", and

we1-thay2-tha1-na1

meaning "qualifier".

The Four types of Burmese Adjectives



  1. Qualitative

    gome2-yay2 pya1 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1: MP3 Audio File

    Words that describe the quality of the noun as to how something or someone is.

    Examples:

    hmway3 — fragrant.

    pu2 — hot.

    myan2 — fast.

    thun1 — clean.

    myin1 — tall.

    Such words are just like English adjectives and do not qualify as the three types of verbs used for actions, events, and presence.

    However, they can be modified into qualitative verbal phrase gome2-yay2 pya1 ka1-ri1-ya2.

    Example:

    pu2 deare2 — It's hot. (verbal phrase)



    Verbal adjectives are modified verbs with particle suffix appended.

    Example.

    hsa2 dthau3 khway3 — a hungry dog. (dog that is hungry.) [literary]

    hsa2 deare1 khway3 — a hungry dog. (dog that is hungry.) [colloquial]


    And then, there are stand-alone adjectives that do not qualify as the three types of verbs used for actions, events, and presence. But, particle suffix is still appended.

    Example:

    chan3-dtha2 dthau3 lu2 [literary] MP3 Audio File

    chan3-dtha2 deare1 lu2 [colloquial] MP3 Audio File

    rich man (rich + who is/that is + man)


    way3 dthau3 a-yut [literary] MP3 Audio File

    way3 deare1 a-yut [colloquial] MP3 Audio File

    far away place (far + who is/that is + region)


    In direct translation, it will be like: "man who is rich" and "region that is far". In the first example, the adjective clause

    chan3-dtha2 deare1 (adjective)

    describes what kind of a man (noun) the person is. In the second example, the adjective clause

    way3 deare1

    describes what kind of place (noun) it is.


    Note: Myanmar-English Dictionary (2011) by MLC defines chan3-dtha2 as a verb, whereas Myanmar-Myanmar Dictionary (2013) by MLC defines it as an adjective. It is debatable. My verdict: Myanmar-Myanmar version published in the later year is correct since the word does not really fit into the three types of verbs for actions, occurence (events), and presence.

    On the other hand, both versions agree hsa2 is a verb to describe an event or occurence that happens,


  2. Referential

    a-hnyoon3 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1: MP3 Audio File

    Words that make reference to something or someone.

    Examples:

    e2 lun3 [literary] MP3 Audio File

    de2 lun3 [colloquial] MP3 Audio File

    this road (this + road)


    a-cha3 ni3-lun3 [literary] MP3 Audio File

    ta1-cha3 ni3-lun3 [colloquial] MP3 Audio File

    other methods (other + method)


  3. Numbers

    thin2-cha2 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1: MP3 Audio File

    words that describe "how many" of something, "what position" in an ordered list, and unspecified numbers are in this category. It is further classified into three types:


    • Quantitative

      a-yay2-a-twet pya1 thin2-cha2 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1 : MP3 Audio File

      words with numbers followed by measure words also known as numerical classifiers.

      Example:

      lu2 hseare2 yout MP3 Audio File

      10 people (people + 10 + measure word)

      To be qualified as an adjective clause, there must be a noun such as lu2 above. If hseare2 yout is used to substitute the noun lu2 without mentioning it, the word is considered a pronoun.

      Example:

      hseare2 yout la2 deare2 MP3 Audio File

      ten came. (10 + measure word + come + affirmative)


    • Ordinal Numbers

      a-sin2 pya1 thin2-cha2 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1: MP3 Audio File

      words that show position in the ordered list of numbers such as first, second, third.

      Example:

      hna1-hseare1 da1-jain2 myout mway3-nay1 MP3 Audio File

      21st. birthday.

      (21 + measure word + particle to show number of times + birthday)

      Here's the break-down word by word. Note how the above adjective and noun are formed by combining words. Also note slight change in pronunciations when spoken word by word.

      hna1-hseare1 tit — 21 (noun)

      kjain2 — measure word (particle)

      myout — suffix word to show number of times (particle)

      mway3 — be born (verb)

      nay1 — day (noun)


    • Unspecified Numbers

      pa1-ma2-na1 pya1 thin2-cha2 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1 : MP3 Audio File

      words that are used as quantifiers but without numbers.

      Example:

      lu2 ta1-cho1 MP3 Audio File

      some people.


  4. Question Words

    a-may3 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1: MP3 Audio File

    Example:

    lu2 beare2 hna1-yout la2 leare3 MP3 Audio File

    How many people came?

    (people + how many + measure word + come)

    yout (particle) is the measure word for number of people. It can be considered as part of the adjective clause as shown above.

    To qualify as a question of adjective type, the question must have a noun, e.g., lu2 above.

    If the noun is omitted, beare2 hna1-yout will be considered as a question of pronoun type.

    beare2 hna1-yout la2 leare3

    how many came?


    The same rule with the requirement of the noun in the sentence applies for other question words both in colloquial and literary forms:

    myi2 hmya1 — how many [literary]

    beare2 lo2 — how [colloquial]

    myi2 dthi1 — which [literary]

    beare2 lout — how much [colloquial

    ba2 — what [colloquial]

Two types of Burmese Adjectives by Construction



  1. Original.

    pin2-go2 na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1 MP3 Audio File

    Example,

    myan2 — fast.


  2. Compound.

    poun3-sut na2-ma1 we1-thay2-tha1-na1 MP3 Audio File

    Example,

    thun1-shin3-dthau3 — clean.

    It's not necessary to combine two adjectives.

    Example,

    zweare3 koun3 deare1 — persevering.

Three levels of Burmese Adjectives



Myanmar adjectives are classified into 3 levels or

a-hsin1. MP3 Audio File

  1. Normal.

    tha2-mun2 a-hsin1 MP3 Audio File

    E.g., good.


  2. Comparative.

    tha2-loon2 a-hsin1 MP3 Audio File

    E.g., better.


  3. Superlative.

    a-tha2-loon2-zone3 a-hsin1 MP3 Audio File

    E.g., best.


Please refer to lesson 30 for a long list of adjectives in Comparative and Superlative forms.

Physical Descriptions for People

a-yut myin1 deare2

He/she is a tall person.

(height of a person + tall + confirmation)

a-yut pu1 deare2

He/she is a short person.

(height of a person + short + confirmation)

If you would like to stress that he/she is very tall or very short, say like this:

a-yut a-myin1-ji3 beare3

He/she is very tall.

(height of a person + height + to a high degree, level, or class + exactly)

Mandarin Chinese Equivalent in Pinyin: Ta1 hen3 gao1

a-yut pu1-pu1 lay3 beare3

[He/she implicitly implied] is very short.

(height of a person + short + short + little + exactly)

shay2 means "long" to describe objects and creatures that grow lengthwise such as snakes.

For example:

mway2 a-shay2-ji3 beare3 ha1

I just saw a long snake!

(snake + long to a high degree, level, or class + emphasis:"exactly" + exclamation)

It is not a correct Burmese to describe the height of a person as shay2, but you will hear some Myanmar people say that, anyway. However, you can use shay2 if the person has a long hair.

The word

khut (adverb)

is like the English word "somewhat", or "rather" which is less in degree than "very" and "extreme".

za1-bin2 khut shay2-shay2 beare3

His/her hair is a bit long.

(hair + somewhat + long + long + exactly)

za1-bin2 a-shay2-ji3 beare3

He/she is someone with very long hair.

(hair + long + to a high degree, level, or class + exactly)

za1-bin2 toh2-doh2-lay3 beare3

He/she is the one with very short hair.

(hair + short + short + little + exactly)

You can drop "very" from the sentence, but you must use

deare2

instead of

beare3.

The ending word beare3 is an emphasis word and has more stress to it, whereas deare2 is just a positive statement. It is a postpositional marker that can form verb phrases comparable to "is" and "has" in English.

za1-bin2 toh2 deare2

He/she has a short hair.

(hair + short + affirmation)

a-tha3 meare3 deare2

He/she has a dark complexion.

(skin + black + affirmation)


a-tha3 pfyu2 deare2

He/she has a light complexion.

(skin + white + affirmation)

I used to regularly listen to online Audio Dharma talk by Gil Fronsdal, a Norwegian-born American ex-Buddhist monk who got married, got a kid, got a Stanford post-graduate degree and became a Buddhist teacher.

I couldn't care less if his skin color was black or brown or yellow or painted himself green and red because he's open-minded, intelligent, and beautiful inside.

In that aspect, I am a different breed from many Burmese people who have a general preference for fair skin.

One reason is because those who must toil under the sun everyday — farmers, laborers and general workers doing their hard day's work tend to have tanned skin and they don't accumulate as much wealth as office dwellers living in their comfort zone.

There is an unwritten social stigma and prejudice against those with weathered, rugged, and sun-baked dark skin by the society at large, and this is reflected by the lyrics in this song:

"My skin is a little dark and I am married also. But, I can still have some fun..."

[In a sense, let me give it a try and see how far I can go.]

a-tha3 — skin

neare3-neare3 — a little

meare3 deare2 — have dark color.

My skin is a little dark

Posted by Naing Tinnyuntpu on Monday, June 6, 2016
Helay | ဟဲလေး | heare3 lay3

wa1 deare2

He/she is a plump person.

(fat + affirmation)

Note that unlike the other Burmese expressions for the height, hair or the skin complexion as in "the height is tall", "the hair is short", "skin is dark" and so on, Burmese people don't say "body is fat". It is understood that wa1 refers to the body of the person in the conversation.

Similarly,

pain2 deare2

He/she is slim.

(slim + affirmation)

Use the above sentences to describe a person in a situation when someone asks you what the person looks like. Note the omission of "he/she" as it is redundant and implicitly implied.

However, if you are the one to start the conversation, it's better to include the pronoun "he/she", "that man" or "that woman" with different sentence construction:

thu2 thate wa1 da2 beare3

He/she is so fat!

(he/she + very + fat + that is + affirmation)

de2 main3-ma1 thate pain2 da2 beare3

That woman is so slim!

(this + woman + very + slim + that is the case + exactly)

thu2 thate pain2 da2 beare3 nau2

Look at her! She's is so slim!

(he/she + very + slim + that is the case + exactly + statement of awe and wonder)

The speaker is saying the above sentence with nau2 ending to a close person in a clique as they are looking at someone. Please refer back to lesson 3 for the use of nau2 ending word.

hla1 lite da2

[You are / She is / It is] so lovely!

(pretty, beautiful + so much!)

yoat-hso3 lite da2

[He / She / It] looks so ugly!

(physical or facial features + bad + so much!)

Myanmar people won't normally say in your face that you are so ugly. However, they are likely to say it behind your back.

Descriptions for psychological behaviors, manners, attitudes and personalities

Burmese adjective for personality

de2 koun2-ma1 lay3 — this + girl

a-yan3 — extremely

tau2 — bright; capable of doing an excellent job

da2 beare3 — ending affirmation words (that is + affirmation)

de2 koun2-ma1 lay3 a-yan3 tau2 da2 beare3That girl is extremely bright!

de2 koun2-lay3 — this + boy

thate — very

nyan1 — lousy; sloppy

da2 beare3 — ending affirmation words (that is + affirmation)

de2 koun2-lay3 thate nyan1 da2 beare3That boy is so sloppy/lousy!

Is the word tau2 a verb or an adjective? Myanmar Language commission (MLC) defines nyan1 as an adjective and tau2 as a verb.

Well, many of such words can be used as either verbs or adjectives depending on how the sentence is constructed. Myanmar grammar can be fuzzy with grey areas in the colloquial language. Maybe that's why Myanmar-English dictionary (2011) by the MLC seems to contradict itself and also inconsistent with its Myanmar to Myanmar Dictionary (2013) for several words.

A simple test is to ask if the stand-alone word belongs to the three types of verbs for action, occurrence (event), and presence by definition. Or, does it describe the quality of something? Again, there can be grey areas where the word may belong to both. Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

lu2 dau2 — smart man.

tau2 da2 is used as an adjective reference to the quality of "the girl".

You can use the same logic to ask "Who is the smart one?" as an adjective.

In English, "that boy" sounds more natural than "this boy". It's like you are talking about "that boy" from the distance. But, in Burmese,

de2 koun2-lay3 (this boy around here)

is more natural than

ho2 koun2-lay3 (that boy) from far away.

That's why "this" in burmese is translated as "that" in English for the above sentences. Isn't that odd?

de2 lu2 — that man (this + man)

dtha1-bau3 — attitude

a-yan3 — extremely

koun3 — good

da2 beare3 — ending words used to express a heart-felt opinion.

ha1! — exclamation!!

This sentence will still work without this word, but it will sound more lively if you add it in.

de2 lu2 dtha1-bau3 a-yan3 koun3 da2 beare3 ha1!

That man is very kind!

Note that "attitude" (noun) + "good" (adjective) roughly means kind. In English, "kind" is an adjective. But in Burmese, dtha1-bau3 koun3 is a verb meaning to be kind and good natured.

However, in the above sentence, "extremely" (adverb) breaks up "kind" into two parts by inserting between "attitude" and "good". Then, I can argue that koun3 refers to the attitude that is "extremely" good.

Yes, Myanmar people will not only speak bad about you behind your back; they will also praise you behind your back — if you are really good, that is.

de2 main3-ma1 dtha1-bau3 a-yan3 koun3 da2 beare3

That woman is so kind!

(that + woman + attitude + extremely + good.)

de2 main3-ma1 — that woman

sate — psychological

dtha1-bau3-hta3 — tendency; attitude

ma1-koun3 bu3not good

de2 main3-ma1 sate dtha1-bau3-hta3 ma1-koun3 bu3

That woman has a bad attitude

(to the degree of wicked and evil.)

koun3 deare2 — positive statement roughly equivalent to "is good" is negated by the negative particle ma1 and negative ending bu3 with the adjective koun3 in between.

You can also use the word

yoat-ma2 deare1

to describe the despicable person.

yoat-ma2 deare1 main3-ma1 MP3 Audio File

Despicable woman!

deare1 in the first tone refers to the woman (main3-ma1) who is despicable (yoat-ma2). It is a particle in Burmese grammar equivalent to the conjunction "that" in English grammar: The woman "that" is or "who" is despicable.

de2 lu2 — that man

lu2 goun3 — good man (man + good.)

ba2 — statement.

de2 lu2 lu2-goun3 ba2

He is a good man!

Note that "good" is usually pronounced koun3, but here, it's more natural to say goun3.

Also note that this sentence does not use deare1 to describe the noun lu2.

With that positive note, lesson 9 is ended. Describing things in color adjectives will be continued in lesson 10.

Color Codes: nouns, pronouns, verbs, adverbs, adjectives, conjunctions, particles, postpositional markers, interjections.

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