Thone-nya, tit, hnit, thone, lay… well, these are not just some random words. These are Burmese numbers or counting. And in this article, I am going to talk about Burmese numbers and counting and how to learn them to advance your Burmese learning journey.
Learning Burmese numbers is an essential first step in mastering this language. Whether you’re planning a trip to Yangon or interested in Southeast Asian languages, understanding Burmese numerals will help you navigate daily conversations, handle money, and appreciate the rich cultural heritage of Myanmar.
Table Of Contents
Basic Numbers In Burmese (0-10)
Let’s start with the foundation – the basic numbers from zero to 10. In spoken Burmese, these numbers have distinct pronunciations that may seem challenging at first but follow consistent patterns.
| Roman Number | Burmese Number | Pronunciation |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | သုည | Thone-nya |
| 1 | တစ် | Tit |
| 2 | နှစ် | Hnit |
| 3 | သုံး | Thone |
| 4 | လေး | Lay |
| 5 | ငါး | Nga |
| 6 | ခြောက် | Chauk |
| 7 | ခုနစ် | Khu-nit |
| 8 | ရှစ် | Shit |
| 9 | ကိုး | Ko |
| 10 | ဆယ် | Say |
Note: While Burmese uses its own script, many modern contexts also employ Arabic numerals, especially in business and digital communication.
Understanding The Burmese Number System
The Burmese number system reflects the fascinating history of Myanmar’s language development. Unlike some other Southeast Asian languages, Burmese numerals have both native and Pali origins, showing the strong influence of Buddhism and ancient Indian literature on Myanmar culture.
The written form uses the Myanmar script, which developed from the Mon and ultimately Indian scripts. However, in common usage, you’ll encounter both traditional Burmese digits and Arabic numerals, particularly in urban areas like Yangon.
Key Differences: Burmese Numbers Vs Western Numbers
- Burmese uses numerical classifiers (similar to measure words).
- Numbers have different pronunciations based on context.
- Certain numbers hold cultural and religious significance.
Practical Applications In Daily Life
Burmese Numbers: Shopping And Money
When visiting local markets, knowing numbers is crucial for understanding prices and bargaining. Take the following conversation as an example:
- How much? – Beh-lau-leh? (ဘယ်လောက်လဲ)
- 1000 kyat – Tit-thaung kyat (တစ်ထောင်ကျပ်)
- 5000 kyat only – Nga-thaung kyat-teh (ငါးထောင်ကျပ်ပဲ)
- Too expensive! – Zeik-kyee-deh! (ဈေးကြီးတယ်)
- Can you reduce the price to 2000 kyat? – Hnit-thaung shaung-pe-ba (နှစ်ထောင်လျှော့ပေးပါ)
- Final price 3500 – Nhout sone zay 3500 (နောက်ဆုံးစျေး 3500)
Telling Time In Burmese
Time expressions combine basic numbers with specific vocabulary.
- 2 o’clock – Hnit-na-yi (နှစ်နာရီ)
- Half past 3 – Thone-na-yi-chet (သုံးနာရီခွဲ)
- Quarter past 4 – Lay-na-yi sit-tat-ma (လေးနာရီ စိတ်တစ်မ)
- Quarter to 5 – Nga-nayi-ma-yauk-mhi sat ngar (ငါးနာရီမရောက် မီ ဆယ့်ငါး)
- 7:30 in the morning – Mya-net khu-nit-na-yi-chet (မနက် ခုနစ်နာရီခွဲ)
- 9:45 at night – Nya ko-na-yi ma-yauk sit-tat-ma (ည ကိုးနာရီ မရောက် စိတ်တစ်မ)
Phone Numbers and Addresses
Modern Myanmar uses Arabic numerals for phone numbers, but understanding spoken numbers is essential for communication:
- My phone number is 09-765-432-109 – Kyamdaw phone number ka ko-ko-khu-nga-lay-thone-hnit-tit-ko (ကျွန်တော့်ဖုန်းနံပါတ်က ၀၉-၇၆၅-၄၃၂-၁၀၉)
- Building number 123 – A- sout-a-ohn-ta-yar-hnit-sat-thone (အဆောက်အဦ ၁၂၃)
- 54th Street – Nga-sat-lay lan (၅၄ လမ်း)
- House number 88/A – Aine-nambat-shit-sat-shit/A (အိမ်နံပါတ် ၈၈/အေ)
- Room 205, 2nd floor – Dutiya-htat, ah-khan-nit-ya-ngar (ဒုတိယထပ်၊ အခန်း ၂၀၅)
- Block 3, Room 45 – Block-thone, a-khan-lay-yah-ngar (၃ ဘလောက်၊ အခန်း ၄၅)
Advanced Number Concepts
Counting Multiples Of 10
- 20 – Hnit-sal (နှစ်ဆယ်)
- 30 – Thone-sal (သုံးဆယ်)
- 40 – Lay-sal (လေးဆယ်)
- 50 – Nga-sal (ငါးဆယ်)
- 60 – Chauk-sal (ခြောက်ဆယ်)
- 70 – Khu-nit-sal (ခုနစ်ဆယ်)
- 80 – Shit-sal (ရှစ်ဆယ်)
- 90 – Ko-sal (ကိုးဆယ်)
- 100 – Ta-ya (တစ်ရာ)
Larger Numbers
- 1,000 – Ta-Htaung (တစ်ထောင်)
- 10,000 – Ta-Thaung (တစ်သောင်း)
- 100,000 – Ta-thein (တစ်သိန်း)
Tips To Remember
- For multiples of 10, combine the base number with sal (ဆယ်).
- For exact hundreds, combine the number with yar (ရာ). For example, 500 is Nga yar (ငါးရာ).
- For exact thousands, combine with htaung (ထောင်).
- 10,000 uses thaung (သောင်း).
- 100,000 uses thein (သိန်း).
Religious And Cultural Context
Numbers play a significant role in Buddhist traditions and Myanmar culture. For example, the number 8 is considered lucky because it relates to the Eight Noble Paths in Buddhism. When counting religious items or referring to monks, special honorific number forms are used.
Cultural Notes And Common Usage
Understanding Burmese numbers goes beyond mere counting – it’s a window into Myanmar culture. From bargaining in markets to participating in religious ceremonies, number knowledge enhances your ability to connect with local people and traditions.
The Myanmar government officially uses both Burmese and Arabic numerals in documentation, reflecting the country’s modernization while maintaining its cultural heritage. This dual system, which developed during and after British rule, makes Myanmar’s numerical system uniquely adaptable.
Practical Tips For Learners
- Start with basic numbers (0-10) and practice daily, on language learning apps like the Ling app.
- Learn common money-related expressions.
- Study number-related vocabulary in context.
- Practice with native speakers when possible.
How Do You Say Numbers In Burmese?
In Burmese, “numbers” is ga-nan myar (ဂဏန်းများ).
FAQs About Burmese Numbers
How To Write 6 In Myanmar?
In Burmese, the number 6 is written as ၆ and pronounced as chauk. Burmese numerals are distinct from Western ones but widely understood in Myanmar. Knowing Burmese numbers like ၆ can be helpful for reading prices, dates, or addresses in local contexts, enhancing communication.
How To Write A Myanmar Phone Number?
A Myanmar phone number typically has eight to 10 digits and is written in the format +95 [operator code] [phone number]. For example: +95 9 XXX XXX XXX. The +95 is Myanmar’s country code, and local numbers begin with 9, followed by the unique phone digits.
What Is The Lucky Number In Myanmar?
In Myanmar, the number 9 is considered lucky and auspicious, symbolizing prosperity and longevity. Many people associate it with good fortune, often preferring it in phone numbers, addresses, and license plates. The belief in 9’s luckiness stems from traditional Burmese numerology and cultural customs.
How Do You Say 1 Million In Myanmar?
In Burmese, “1 million” is tit thein (တစ်သိန်း). This term is commonly used for counting large amounts or discussing finances. For instance, 1 million kyat is tit thein kyat (တစ်သိန်းကျပ်), a term frequently heard in daily life, business, and the media.
Let’s Summarize Burmese Numbers
Mastering Burmese numbers and the Burmese alphabet opens doors to deeper cultural understanding and more effective communication in Myanmar. Whether you’re traveling, doing business, or simply interested in the language, this foundation will serve you well in your language-learning journey.
Remember that like any aspect of language learning, becoming comfortable with Burmese numbers takes practice and patience. Focus on practical usage rather than perfect pronunciation initially, and gradually build your confidence through real-world applications.
Want to continue your Burmese language journey? Start practicing these numbers in simple conversations, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you progress in your understanding of this fascinating language.
