Editing Burmese language (section)

==== 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}}