JOURNAL 



OE THE 



ASIATIC SOCIETY OF BENGAL 



Part I.— HISTORY, LITERATURE, &e. 



No. IV.— 1879, 



Pali Derivations in Burmese. — By H. L. St. Babbe, b. c. s. 



The Burmese have borrowed their alphabet, religion, literature and a 

 large portion of their language from the neighbouring continent. The 

 alphabet was no doubt introduced at a very early period. It has never 

 been analysed with any care, but its square variety approximates more 

 closely to the Asoka and fifth century (B. C.) inscriptions than any later 

 Indian modifications. It was adopted en bloc, though the Burmese have 

 never themselves found any use for 12 out of the 34 consonants and have 

 altered several of the sounds, notably the 2nd varga from " ch" and " j" 

 to " s" 9" 1 " -", the vowel " ai" into e (pronounced more or less like the 

 " e" in there) and " o" into " 6" (like the " aw" in " law"). To express 

 the sound of an " o" and "ai," they invented a new compound, which I 

 propose calling " ui" from the symbols it is apparently composed of. The 

 remaining characters, for my present purpose, will be more conveniently 

 designated by their Indian equivalents.* 



The earliest date mentioned in the national chronicle is the foundation 

 of the Sarekhettara kingdom (B. C. 482). Previous to this, lengthy lines 

 of kings with Indian names are mentioned at Sangassa and Pancala, as the 

 old capitals of Tagoung and old Pugan were denominated. There is no 

 adequate reason, so far as I can see, for rejecting the Indian origin of these 

 early kingdoms. The country was in much the same state as Karen- 

 ni or the Kachyen hills are at present ; inhabited by a number of petty 



* A paper on Burmese Transliteration was contributed by the writer to the R. A. 

 Society and published in their Journal for April 1878. 

 I I 



