Burma

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name

A country in Southeast Asia. Official name: Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Capital: Naypyidaw. Officially known as Myanmar.

Pronunciation

/ˈbɝmə/ En-us-Burma.ogg /ˈbɜːmə/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Soundguys-Burma.wav /ˈbʌrmə/ /ˈbøːmə/ /ˈbeːmə/ /ˈbɛːmə/ /ˈbɜ(r)mɑ/ /ˈbərmɑ/

Word forms

Burma Birma Birmah Burmah

Etymology

Borrowed, initially into British English, from Burmese ဗမာ (ba.ma), colloquial form of မြန်မာ (mranma); see Myanmar for more. The r in Burma was not originally pronounced (and is not present in the Burmese term), the -ur- (alternatively also -ir-, though the spelling Birma is obsolete in English) is a device used by non-rhotic (British) dialects to represent the schwa found in the pronunciation of the Burmese colloquial form.

Related words

Countries of the world

Derived words

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