Language/Burmese/Grammar/Nouns

Burmese Grammar - Nouns

Hi Burmese learners! 😊
In this lesson, we will dig deep into the basics of Burmese nouns. Nouns are a fundamental part of any language used to name a person, place, thing or idea.

Introduction

Nouns serve as fundamental building blocks in any language, allowing for effective communication and expression of ideas. The Burmese language is no exception. In this comprehensive lesson, we'll delve into the various facets of Burmese nouns, providing you with the insights you need to use them accurately and effectively.

After you've mastered the content of this lesson, you might find the following related topics useful: Plurals, Adjectives, Irregular Verbs, and Negation.

Gender in Burmese Nouns

Unlike languages such as French or Spanish, Burmese nouns do not possess gender. This means that words like "teacher" or "doctor" are gender-neutral, allowing for more straightforward use of nouns in various contexts.

Here are some illustrative examples:

Burmese	Pronunciation	English
သူ	/θù/	person
ကျား	/tɕa̰/	girl
ကြယ်	/tɕaɪʔ/	boy

As demonstrated, Burmese nouns do not exhibit gender-based variations.

Number in Burmese Nouns

The Burmese language uses two numerical distinctions for nouns: singular and plural. To denote plurality, the suffix တစ်ကြိမ်မှာ (tac-krin-ma-hmar) is often added after the noun.

Consider the following dialogue for clarification:

• Person 1: နောက်တစ်ခုလုံးခံက် (nauk-ta.kr-lom-khin) (I need one chair)
• Person 2: ဒေါက်တစ်ခုခံက်ပါ (dauk-ta.kr-khin-pa) (Here's one chair)
• Person 1: သူတစ်ဦးများကြားပါ (θù-ta.kù-mya-kra:pa) (There are two people)

In the last sentence, တစ် (ta.kr), which means "one," changes to တစ်ဦး (ta.kr-u:) to signify "two."

Possessive Nouns

To indicate possession in Burmese, the term ရှိ (hrè) is usually placed between the possessor and the object being possessed.

For example:

Burmese	Pronunciation	English
ကျွန်တော်အိမ်သုံး	/tɕən.tà.aɪɴ.sóʊɴ/	my house
ငါ့ကို	/ŋa̰ kò/	mine

In the first instance, ကျွန်တော် (chun-tau) means "I" or "me," and အိမ်သုံ (a-in-son) represents "house." Combined, the phrase ကျွန်တော်အိမ်သုံ (chun-tau-a-in-son) signifies "my house."

Classifiers in Burmese

Much like Mandarin Chinese, Burmese employs classifiers to count or categorize nouns. The basic structure for using classifiers in Burmese is: number + classifier + noun.

Here is an example to illustrate:

Burmese	Pronunciation	English
ငါ၏ ဘာသာရပ်နှစ်လုံး စာကို	/ŋa̰ ʔè bà ðà jè pʰá n̥ɪ̀ɴ ɫóʊɴ sṵ kaiɴó/	My two books

In this sentence, the classifier "စာ" (sa) specifies the type of objects being counted, which in this case are books.

Conclusion

You should now have a foundational understanding of nouns in the Burmese language. If you require further clarification or have any questions, the [Polyglot Club](https://polyglotclub.com/find-friends.php?search=send&d=0&f=36&offre1=23) website is a great resource for finding native speakers who can assist you. Additionally, you can consult our Grammar page for more in-depth information on various aspects of Burmese linguistics.

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➡ If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments section below.
➡ Feel free to edit this wiki page if you think it can be improved. 😎

Sources

• Burmese language - Wikipedia
• Outline of Burmese Grammar - Wikisource, the free online library

• Burmese Grammar
• Burmese Script
• Burmese Alphabet

Great work on completing this lesson! Take a moment to investigate these connected pages: Pronouns, Burmese Grammar → Sentence Structure → Simple Sentences & Expressing Manner and Frequency.

Other Lessons

• How to Use Be
• Questions
• Gender
• Give your Opinion
• Adjectives
• Future Tense
• Conditional Mood
• Negation
• Pronouns