Fifty Viss

a collection of thoughts and writings on Burma

Category Archives: Language

New project: Zagabon, a compilation of Burmese proverbs

New project: Zagabon, a compilation of Burmese proverbs

I’ve begun a small side project on Tumblr, called Zagabon, to collect and publish Burmese proverbs and sayings of all kinds, along with English translations and context if necessary. There’s a pretty extensive Burmese proverb website up (www.mmproverb.com), but unfortunately, much of the content is locked out to English speakers. That’s saddening.

The collection can be found at zagabon.tumblr.com

My mom inspired my own attempt to collect all these sayings. I was raised in a bilingual household–my dad used only English with the children, while my mom used only Burmese, even though they communicate to each other in Burmese. Growing up, I became familiar with a plethora of Burmese sayings, perhaps the one thing I associate most with my mother. During the early years of their marriage, my father started his own form of documentation: Burmese scribbles onto notebooks and memo pads here and there, on the sayings my mom had to offer. So much so, that she began to say “Write it down” after reciting a proverb. This is just (hopefully) a more systematic approach and a continuation of his work.

Also, I’ve taken note at many folks who have an interest in these sayings, both Burmese speakers and non-speakers alike.

I think proverbs truly highlight the beauty of the Burmese language, with its earthy fluid sounds, regular vowel rhymes and mostly monosyllabic vocabulary. But it’s exceedingly difficult to translate the nuances of the Burmese language, so I’ll try my best to render the proverbs as well as I can in English.

I could use some help though–if anybody wants to chip in a proverb or two, feel free to do so in my submit box! (http://zagabon.tumblr.com/ask)

In the mean time, enjoy.

20 April 2012 · 3 Comments

10 things I hate about the Burmese language

To be fair, Burmese isn’t the hardest language in the world to learn how to read and write. Its letters are simple and in general, pronunciation follows spelling. However, it … Continue reading

4 January 2009 · 35 Comments

The beauty of Burmese sayings

I just came back from a family outing to the movies (it’s a family tradition). While watching Valkyrie, about a coup attempt by Nazi officers of Adolf Hitler’s government under the … Continue reading

30 December 2008 · 11 Comments

How to pronounce “Aung San Suu Kyi”

Coming across an op-ed from here, I came to the conclusion that most of the time, Burmese names are not done justice. The op-ed states this: Bush continued making us … Continue reading

15 September 2007 · 28 Comments

Typing in Burmese on Windows Vista

Does anybody know how to install ‘keyboards’ (Burmese Unicode) on Windows Vista (I have a 64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate laptop)? I’ve tried every program imaginable on the Internet to install … Continue reading

22 July 2007 · 2 Comments

Interesting Burmese word origins

A graphic I made, showing some of the linguistic diversity found in the Burmese language. Burmese has a hodgepodge of words that come from other languages, some that would surprise … Continue reading

16 July 2007 · 76 Comments

Stigmas of being Indian and Muslim

The recent Economist article (“Unlikely sanctuary”) on Burmese Muslims living in Yunnan, China inspired me to write about the rampant discrimination Indians, and in particular, Indian Muslims face in Burma. … Continue reading

5 July 2007 · 3 Comments

The Arakanese dialect

Burmese is an remarkably uniform language, considering it covers a wide area in Burma, or so I thought. Since I could not differentiate Burmese spoken in Mandalay and that spoken … Continue reading

2 July 2007 · 31 Comments

Archives

Categories

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 32 other followers