142 
APPENDIX. 
and is represented by e. The eighth vowel is intended 
to correspond with the diphthong ai of the Deva-negari 
alphabet, but, in truth, is a simple vowel, expressing a very 
different sound, and which will be found in the English 
word hair . Although a simple vowel, I can find no better 
substitute for it than ai, and accordingly have written it so. 
The characters corresponding in the Burman alphabet to 
what are called in the Sanscrit the diphthongs o and au, 
are simple vowels, of which the second is but the long 
sound of the first. They are found respectively in the 
English words paucity and audience. Another vowel, not 
enumerated as such by the Burmans, is of not unfrequent 
occurrence. This corresponds with the sound of o in note. 
In writing, it is a compound character, formed from the 
vowels a, i, and u. A twelfth vowel sound, corresponding 
with the short sound of e in pen, is of frequent occurrence, 
though not written. The true diphthong sounds in the 
Burman language are the combination of the Homan vowels 
ai and au, according to Sir William Jones’s orthography. 
The first, or gutteral class of consonants corresponds ex¬ 
actly with that of the Deva-nagari, viz. k, k’h, g, g’h, n. 
These would be pronounced nearly the same by a Burman 
and a Hindu. Most of the letters of the second, or pa¬ 
latal class, however, are pronounced very differently. The 
ch and its aspirate have a pronunciation approaching to s. 
The j and its aspirate approach nearer to the sound of z. 
The Burmans, in pronunciation, make no distinction be¬ 
tween the cerebral and dental classes of consonants, pro¬ 
nouncing them both as dentals, and writing the former in 
words derived from the Sanscrit only. The labials cor¬ 
respond exactly with the same series in the Sanscrit. The 
greatest deviation from the Hindu pronunciation exists in 
the liquids and sibilants. R, although frequently used 
in writing, is almost invariably pronounced as y. S is 
