Burmese By Ear/Essential Myanmar Introduction to the Burmese Language John Okell

1.3. Yes, it is (contd).

1. lesson

New Words       

à-deh  အားတယ်  to be free   

hlá-deh  လှတယ်  to be pretty   

saq-teh  စပ်တယ်  to be hot (to taste)   

caiq-teh  ကြိုက်တယ်  to like   

Notes 

-teh. After a word ending in -q the suffix -deh (see 1.1) is pronounced -teh, as in saq-teh and caiq-teh above. In the same way after a word ending in -q the suffix -ba (see 1.2) is pronounced -pa; example: 

   S2 Saq-pa-deh.  စပ်ပါတယ်။   It is hot to taste 

    (not Saq-ba-deh.) 

These two changes are examples of the “Voicing Rule”. For more, see Appendix 1. When we need to refer to these two suffixes again, we give both the normal and the voiced forms: -pa/-ba, -teh/-deh. 

“You” and “I”. Burmese does have words for “you” and “I”, as it does for “it”, but most of the time it’s quite clear from the situation who or what you are talking about, so people simply leave out those words. So, for example, in this exchange: 

   S1 Caiq-teh-naw? You like it, don’t you? 

   S2 Houq-kéh. Caiq-pa-deh. Yes, I do. 

all you are in fact saying in Burmese is- 

   S1 Caiq-teh-naw? Like, right? 

   S2 Houq-kéh. Caiq-pa-deh. True. Like. 

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