Burmese language

“ Language and Literature.—The Burmese are supposed by modern philologists to have come, as joint members of a vast Indo-Chinese immigration swarm, from western China to the head waters of the Irrawaddy and then separated, some to people Tibet and Assam, the others to press southwards into the [v.04 p.0840] plains of Burma. The indigenous tongues of Burma are divided into the following groups:—
Burmese, which was spoken by 7,006,495 people in the province in 1901, is a monosyllabic language, with, according to some authorities, three different tones ”

“ Five hundred years hence, the Burmese language may contain the most valuable books in the world. Sciences, for which there is now no name, and of which the first rudiments are still undiscovered, may then be in the greatest demand. ”

“ The only people who seem to be able to attract Burmese servants, and keep them for any length of time, are members of the Civil Service, who, with their knowledge of the language and familiarity with the national customs and ideals, are better able than any other aliens to sympathise with the Burman in his joys and sorrows, his likes and dislikes, and to understand something of his point334 of view. ”

“ Our languuge recognizes the difference between a slave and a servant, because those two classes actually exist in our country. The Burmese language has no word to express eternity, hence a missionary remarked that it was almost impossible to convey to them any conception of it. ”

“ On my arrival in Rangoon I had engaged the services of a young Burman, and brought him up to Mandalay that he might teach me Burmese, and with him I commenced the study of the language at once. But if any one imagines that a native munshee teaches as an English teacher teaches, he is greatly mistaken. For want of the ability to impart the knowledge he has, the teaching does not flow from him as from a fountain ”

“ The Burmese alphabet is borrowed from the Aryan Sanskrit through the Pāli of Upper India. The language is written from left to right in what appears to be an unbroken line. Thus Burma possesses two kinds of literature, Pāli and Burmese. The Pāli is by far the more ancient, including as it does the Buddhist scriptures that originally found their way to Burma from Ceylon and southern India. The Burmese literature is for the most part metrical, and consists of religious romances, chronological histories and songs. ”

“ Thus everyone in the land has an equal chance. In war the bravest becomes a general, in peace the cleverest is chosen as a councillor."
Walking about, Stanley soon found that there were a great variety of dialects talked in the streets, and that the language of the Burmese of the coast, of the natives of Pegu and the central province, and of those from districts bordering on the Shan states or the frontiers of China, differed as widely as those of the most remote parts of Great Britain did from each other. ”

“ We hear the same observations everywhere where the rank growth of dialects has been watched by intelligent observers. If we turn our eyes to Burmah, we find that there the Burmese has produced a considerable literature, and is the recognized medium of communication not only in Burmah, but likewise in Pegu and Arakan. But the intricate mountain ranges of the peninsula of the Irawaddy46 afford a safe refuge to many independent tribes, speaking their own independent dialects ”

“ If you ask, as so many do: "Can an Englishman really enjoy being out there?" I should say If you're out there in the wartime spirit to "do your bit" it is all delight and romance; if you're out there in the poet-war spirit to "get your piece" (I see that my typewriter insists on spelling that word with an "ie" instead of an "ea") it is an alternate boiling and baking which soon makes you feel a good bit over-done.
Now, of the Burmese people—the first thing that strikes you is their language. ”

“ Their language is entirely different from that of the Burmese and Siamese, as Leyden judged, [21] and Low has since amply proved. [22] In Low’s opinion, the Mân is the most original of the Indo-Chinese language. They use the Pali alphabet, and probably had it before the Burmans.
The Karian race inhabits the borders and low plains in Bassein province, but do not present any salient points for consideration. ”

“ I have already contrasted the Burmese with the natives of Hindostan, and I am constrained to compare them with the Mongolidæ. They closely resemble the Chinese in their features and habits; their language, too, is monosyllabic, and they also remain in a stationary condition for all time. This latter feature of their national existence is due to the generosity of nature; we northern races are engaged in an everlasting pitched battle with the elements, and where nature adds difficulty she adds brain ”

“ Buddha enjoined on his followers to avoid abusive and indecent language, to become peace-makers, to endure privation, and show resignation in the face of calamity. Underlying the Burmese character, one could, as a rule, trace the influence of these teachings in their treatment of one another, more than in many a country professing a religion that points to a happier future. ”

“ Race and Language.—According to the census of 1901 there were 787,087 Shans (see above) in Burma. The Thai or Tai, as they call themselves, were first known to the Burmese as Tarôks or Tarets. The original home of the Thai race was S.W. China, or rather that was the region where they attained to a marked separate development as a people. It is probable that their first settlement in Burma proper was in the Shweli valley, and that from this centre they radiated at a comparatively recent date N., W. and S.E. through Upper Burma into Assam. ”

“ They teach practically every boy in Burma. They teach the boys to read, and they indoctrinate them. No boy is considered to have a human spirit at all. He must remain an animal until he has spent at least one day in the monastery. But aside from this159 approach to the sacred order of monks, all Burmese boys attend school for some length of time, and usually learn to read their language passably well. They certainly learn the Buddhist doctrines. So it comes to pass that most Burmese know what they believe, however inconsistent with this belief they live. ”

“ Interruptions are frequent and unavoidable. How to find time for language study is indeed a serious problem,—but he must find it, if his life is to tell for Christ, at its best. Moreover, the missionary must master practically two languages before he is fully equipped for service,—the language of the book, and the language of the people. The formal style of classical Burmese would be as out of place in the jungle as the colloquial Burmese would be in the pulpit. ”

“ The national Mavor is the “Them-bong-gyee,” a very ancient and complete work. The books published by Europeans on the subject are, a Dictionary of the Burman Language, with explanations in English; compiled from the MSS. of A. Judson, &c. 8vo. Calcutta, 1826. Carey’s Burman Grammar; Serampore, 1815. Laner’s Burmese Dictionary; Calcutta, 1841. Latter’s Burman Grammar.
“The rudiments of education,” observes Malcom, [134] “are widely diffused; and most men, even common labourers, learn to write and read a little. But few go beyond these attainments.” ”

“ Every man all through Burma has gone to a monastery school as a lad, has lived there with the monks, has learnt from them the elements of education and a knowledge of his faith. It is an exception to find a Burman who cannot read and write. Sometimes from lack of practice the art is lost in later manhood, but it has always been acquired. The education is not very deep—reading Burmese and writing; simple, very simple, arithmetic; a knowledge of the days and months, and a little geography, perhaps, and history—that is all that is secular. But of their religion they learn a great deal. ”

“ It is true that there are no dark places in the lives of the Burmese as there are in the lives of other Orientals. All is open to the light of day in their homes and in their religion, and their women are the freest in the world. Yet the barriers of a strange tongue and a strange religion, and of ways caused by another climate than ours, is so great that, even to those of us who have every wish and every opportunity to understand, it seems sometimes as if we should never know their hearts. ”

“ Up to a certain point Burmese does not seem to me abnormally difficult. The written character, though at first sight it looks impossible, is much easier than, for example, Urdu script. But the attainment of real proficiency is a laborious task. The want of good literature is a discouragement at the outset. For, as a literary medium, Burmese is singularly defective. According to one of the best authorities, the high-water mark of Burmese prose is reached in the State papers of the Hlut-daw. ”

“ Any person that has received some education, and whose mind is somewhat developed, will be able, with the occasional assistance of an intelligent master, to go all over the various combinations in less than two months. The results derived from the method adopted by the Burmans are so great and complete that, after having gone over the general alphabet with attention, the beginner is able to read all the Burmese words he may meet with. ”

“ Nature does almost everything for the Burmans, and yet, Orientals though they are, they are exceptionally industrious. The palmyra tree leaf gives them paper. Butter, sugar, and flour, or their substitutes, grow on trees. Game, fish, fruit, and vegetables are most abundant. And yet they work—the men and women of Burmah—work with a will and to a right good purpose.
The marvellous pagodas, that are the artificial glory of the Burmese landscape, represent all that is best in Burmese art, all that is most persistent in Burmese industry. ”

“ In Upper Burma there are not so many large images but as one approaches Mandalay the pagodas add more and more to the landscape. Many are golden and the rest are mostly white and conspicuous. They crown the hills and punctuate the windings of the valleys. Perhaps Burmese art and nature are seen at their best near Sagaing on the bank of the Irrawaddy, a mighty flood of yellow water, sweeping down smooth and steady, but here and there showing whirlpools that look like molten metal. ”

“ The natives of India will not leave the plains unless a strong inducement be offered, and the Burmese much prefer not to work, if they can live without doing so. Burmans are usually excellent servants, but they are slow to learn to speak English, and the young housekeeper, who has probably been accustomed to English, or at least Hindustani-speaking servants in Rangoon, experiences great difficulty in making herself understood. ”

“ Can you think of any other schoolboys sparing any animal they caught, much less poisonous snakes? The extraordinary hold that this tenet of their religion has upon the Burmese must be seen to be understood. What I write will sound like some fairy story, I fear, to my people at home. It is far beneath the truth. The belief that it is wrong to take life is a belief with them as strong as any belief could be. I do not know anywhere any command, earthly or heavenly, that is acted up to with such earnestness as this command is amongst the Burmese. It is an abiding principle of their daily life. ”

“ A different religion has made the Burmese a different people, and the absence of caste, the freedom, the equality, in fact, the acknowledged superiority of the attractive, capable, Burmese women have evolved a wholly different social order. ”

“ Monks.
representative institutions are to be established, it is understood that women will have the vote from the outset. They are as well qualified as men to enjoy this privilege. Burmese women commit practically no serious crimes. Their moral standard is high.
In religion, Burmans are strict Buddhists, though many traces of animism survive. Every village has its pagoda, its monastery (kyaung) , its rest house (zayat) for travellers and pilgrims. ”

“ Do the gentleness, the patience, the humanity, the kindness to animals, the winning manners and the limitless charity and generosity of the Burmese owe nothing to Buddhism? If Buddhism has had even a minor share in the shaping of the character of the modern Burman we dare not call it a mere bloom or varnish. That there is, however, a very broad stratum of animism in the various deposits that have helped through the shadowy centuries of an unrecorded past to build up the religious mind of Burma may be granted without dispute. ”

“ It is, I think, a great deal owing to this habit of mind that the manners of the Burmese are usually so good, children in civilization as they are. There is amongst them no rude inquisitiveness and no desire to in any way circumscribe your freedom, by either remark or act. Surely of all things that cause trouble, nothing is so common amongst us as the interference with each other's ways, as the needless giving of advice. ”

“ Pretty fans or handkerchiefs are carried in the hand, while, like a halo surrounding the head, dainty parasols, semi-transparent and hand-painted, shield them from the sun. It is difficult to give any true impression of such a Burmese crowd, in which every conceivable variety of tint and texture is displayed, and permeating which is a sense of [20] universal gaiety and lightness of heart. It is like nothing so much as a beautiful flower-garden, while the people themselves would seem to be as free from care as the butterflies that hover above the blooms. ”