Names of Myanmar

The country known in English as both Myanmar and Burma has undergone changes in both its official and popular names worldwide. The choice of names stems from the existence of two different names for the country in Burmese, which are used in different contexts.

The official English name was changed by the country's government from the "Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989, and still later to the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar", which since then has been the subject of controversies and mixed incidences of adoption.

In the Myanmar is known as either Myanma (မြန်မာ [mjəmà]) or Bama (ဗမာ [bəmà]). Myanma is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama is the spoken name of the country. Burmese, like Javanese and other languages of Southeast Asia, has different levels of register, with sharp differences between literary and spoken language.

Both names derive ultimately from the endonym of the largest ethnic group in Burma, the Bamar people, also known as Bama or Burmans in the spoken register and Mranma or Myanma in the literary register. As such, some groups — particularly non-Bamar minorities — consider one or other (or indeed both) names to not be inclusive.

The colloquial name Bama is supposed to have originated from the name Myanma by shortening of the first syllable, from loss of nasal final "an" (/-àɴ/), reduced to non-nasal "a" (/-à/), and loss of "y" (/-j-/) glide), and then by transformation of "m" into "b". This sound change from "m" to "b" is frequent in colloquial Burmese, and occurs in many other words. Although Bama may be a later transformation of the name Myanma, both names have been in use alongside each other for centuries. King Mindon in the mid-19th century was the first to refer to himself as the king of the 'Myanma people', in an attempt to ethnicise his rule, at a time when his rule was largely confined to the Irrawaddy Valley and the Myanmar ethnic group.

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