Editing Burmese language (section)

== Classification ==
Burmese belongs to the [[Burmish languages|Southern Burmish]] branch of the [[Sino-Tibetan languages]].{{sfn|Bradley|1993|p=147}} Burmese is the most widely spoken of the non-[[Sinitic languages|Sinitic]] Sino-Tibetan languages.{{sfn|Bradley|1993|p=147}} Burmese was the fifth of the Sino-Tibetan languages to develop a writing system, after [[Classical Chinese]], [[Pyu language (Sino-Tibetan)|Pyu]], [[Old Tibetan]] and [[Tangut language|Tangut]].{{sfn|Bradley|1993|p=147}}

=== Dialects ===
The majority of Burmese speakers, who live throughout the [[Irrawaddy River]] Valley, use variants of standard Burmese, while a minority speak non-standard dialects found in the peripheral areas of the country. These dialects include:
* [[Tanintharyi Region]]: [[Myeik dialect|Merguese]] (Myeik, Beik), [[Tavoyan dialects|Tavoyan]] (Dawei), and [[Palaw]]
* [[Magway Region]]: [[Yaw dialect|Yaw]]
* [[Shan State]]: [[Intha-Danu language|Intha]], [[Taungyo]], and [[Danu language|Danu]]

[[Arakanese language|Arakanese]] in [[Rakhine State]] and [[Marma people|Marma]] in [[Bangladesh]] are also sometimes considered dialects of Burmese and sometimes as separate languages.

Burmese dialects mostly share a common set of tones, consonant clusters, and written script. Several Burmese dialects differ substantially from standard Burmese with respect to vocabulary, lexical particles, and rhymes. Below is a summary of [[lexical similarity]] between major Burmese dialects:<ref>{{Cite web |date=2016 |title=Myanmar |url=http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010180533/http://www.ethnologue.com/country/MM/languages |archive-date=2016-10-10 |website=Ethnologue: Languages of the World}}</ref>
{| class="wikitable sortable static-row-numbers static-row-header-text"
! Dialects
! Burmese
! [[Intha-Danu language|Danu]]
! [[Intha-Danu language|Intha]]
! [[Arakanese language|Rakhine]]
![[Tavoyan dialects|Taungyo]]
|-
! Burmese
| 100%
| 93%
| 95%
| 91%
| 89%
|-
! [[Intha-Danu language|Danu]]
| 93%
| 100%
| 93%
| 85-94%
| 91%
|-
! [[Intha-Danu language|Intha]]
| 95%
| 93%
| 100%
| 90%
| 89%
|-
! [[Arakanese language|Rakhine]]
| 91%
| 85-94%
| 90%
| 100%
| 84-92%
|-
! [[Tavoyan dialects|Taungyo]]
| 89%
| N/A
| 89%
| 84-92%
| 100%
|-
! Marma
| N/A
| N/A
| N/A
| 85%
| N/A
|}

==== Irrawaddy River valley ====
Spoken Burmese is remarkably uniform among Burmese speakers,{{sfn|Barron|Okell|Yin|VanBik|2007|pp=16-17}} particularly those living in the Irrawaddy valley, all of whom use variants of Standard Burmese. The [[standard language|standard dialect]] of Burmese (the [[Mandalay]]-[[Yangon]] [[dialect continuum]]) originates from the Irrawaddy River valley. Regional differences between speakers from [[Upper Burma]] (e.g., Mandalay dialect), called ''anya tha'' ({{lang|my|အညာသား}}) and speakers from [[Lower Burma]] (e.g., Yangon dialect), called ''auk tha'' ({{lang|my|အောက်သား}}), largely occur in vocabulary choice, not in pronunciation. Minor lexical and rhyme differences exist throughout the Irrawaddy River valley.{{sfn|Allott|1983}} For instance, for the term {{lang|my|ဆွမ်း}}, "food offering [to a monk]", Lower Burmese speakers use {{IPA|my|sʰʊ́ɰ̃|}} instead of {{IPA|my|sʰwáɰ̃|}}, which is the pronunciation used in Upper Burma.

The standard dialect is typified by the Yangon dialect because of the modern city's media influence and economic clout. In the past, the Mandalay dialect represented standard Burmese. The most noticeable feature of the Mandalay dialect is its continued use of the first-person pronoun {{lang|my|ကျွန်တော်}}, ''kya.nau'' {{IPA|my|tɕənɔ̀|}} by both men and women. In Yangon, only male speakers use the same pronoun, while female speakers use {{lang|my|ကျွန်မ}}, ''kya.ma.'' {{IPA|my|tɕəma̰|}}. Moreover, with regard to [[kinship terminology]], Upper Burmese speakers differentiate the maternal and paternal sides of a family, whereas Lower Burmese speakers do not.

Mon has also influenced subtle grammatical differences between the varieties of Burmese spoken in Lower and Upper Burma.{{sfn|Jenny|2013}} In Lower Burmese varieties, the verb ပေး ('to give') is colloquially used as a permissive causative marker, similar to other Southeast Asian languages, but unlike in most Tibeto-Burman languages.{{sfn|Jenny|2013}} This usage is hardly used in Upper Burmese varieties, and is considered a sub-standard construct.{{sfn|Jenny|2013}}

==== Outside the Irrawaddy basin ====
{{Main|Arakanese language|Tavoyan dialects|Intha dialect|Yaw dialect|Myeik dialect}}

More distinctive non-standard varieties of Burmese emerge as one moves farther away from the Irrawaddy River valley toward peripheral areas of the country. These varieties include the [[Yaw dialect|Yaw]], Palaw, [[Myeik dialect|Myeik]] (Merguese), [[Tavoyan dialects|Tavoyan]] and [[Intha-Danu language|Intha dialects]]. Despite substantial vocabulary and pronunciation differences, there is mutual intelligibility among most Burmese dialects, especially with [[language convergence]].

{{static row numbers}}Dialects in [[Tanintharyi Region]], including Palaw, Merguese, and Tavoyan, are especially conservative in comparison to Standard Burmese. The Tavoyan and Intha dialects have preserved the {{IPA|/l/}} medial, which is only found in [[Old Burmese]] inscriptions. These dialects also often reduce the intensity of the [[glottal stop]]. Beik has 250,000 speakers<ref>Bradley, D. 2007a. East and Southeast Asia. In C. Moseley (ed.), Encyclopedia of the world's endangered languages , pp. 349–424. London: Routledge.</ref> while Tavoyan has 400,000. The grammatical constructs of Burmese dialects in Southern Myanmar show greater Mon influence than Standard Burmese.{{sfn|Jenny|2013}}

The most pronounced feature of the [[Arakanese language]] of [[Rakhine State]] is its retention of the {{IPAblink|ɹ}} sound, which has become {{IPAblink|j}} in standard Burmese. Moreover, Arakanese features a variety of vowel differences, including the merger of the {{lang|my|ဧ}} {{IPA|[e]}} and {{lang|my|ဣ}} {{IPA|[i]}} vowels. Hence, a word like "blood" {{lang|my|သွေး}} is pronounced {{IPA|my|θw'''é'''|}} in standard Burmese and {{IPA|my|θw'''í'''|}} in Arakanese.