Myanmar burma6/23/2023 If Burma meant only the central plains and Myanmar the Burmese and all the other nationalities, how could there be, according to the Myanmar Language Commission, a “Myanmar language”? I have at home their latest Myanmar English Dictionary (1993), which also mentions a “Myanmar alphabet”. “The name (Burma) is taken from Mranma, the national name of the Burmese people, which they themselves generally pronounce Bamma, unless speaking formally and empathically.” Both names have been used interchangeably throughout history, with Burma being the more colloquial name and Myanmar a more formal designation, somewhat similar to Muang Thai and Prathet Thai in Thai. The best explanation of the difference between bama and myanma is to be found in the old Hobson Jobson Dictionary, which despite its rather unorthodox name remains a very useful source of information: The once British colony has always been called Burma in English and bama or myanma in Burmese. It was not the British who named Myanmar Burma.
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