Names of Burma - Adjectival Forms and Demonyms

Adjectival Forms and Demonyms

In Burmese, the word Myanma, when used as a noun, is pronounced in the low tone (long "a"), whereas when used as an adjective, it is pronounced in the creaky tone (short "a"). To reflect this, in the 1989 government renaming the adjectival form of the country's name "Myanmar" is formed by dropping the final "r" to get "Myanma" (since the final "r" indicates lengthening in Oxford English). Most people, even in Burma, are unaware of these subtleties, and so we find both "Myanma Airways" (correct spelling) and "Myanmar Airways" (incorrect spelling, but used officially anyway). Some English speakers have even coined the adjective "Myanmarese" or "Myanmese", to follow English rather than Burmese grammatical rules.

According to the renaming, the name of the dominant ethnicity of Burma, whose people speak the Burmese language, is "Bamar" (again, final "r" only added to denote a long "a" in Burmese). Thus, Myanmar is a country inhabited by the Bamars plus many minorities; and the Bamars and minorities are collectively known as Myanma people.

While use of the name "Myanmar" is widespread and rivals the use of "Burma", adoption of adjectival forms has been far more limited; in general, terms in use before 1989 have persisted. Citizens of Burma, regardless their ethnicity, are known as "Burmese", while the dominant ethnicity is called "Burman". The language of the Burmans, however, is known as the Burmese language, not as the Burman language, although confusingly enough the "Burmese" language is considered one of the Tibeto-"Burman" languages.