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AUGUST 27, 2018BY SPATIAL DIPLOMAT
Myanmar or Burma: What’s in a name?
Shakespeare once wrote “…what’s in a name? a rose by any other name would still smell as sweet…” Places are often known as different names to different people. Like Yangon and Rangoon in last week’s post, the country where this city is located is also known by different names. Myanmar or Burma, what’s in a name?
Actually, when I was preparing to leave for my assignment to Myanmar, friends and family would ask where I was going. Most people do not really know where the country is. Some even ask if it is close to Burma.
So what do we really call that country in mainland Southeast Asia between China and India?

Myanmar ?
Show more
The country’s government calls it Myanmar.
Myanmar State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi speaking to members of the Myanmar Community in Australia at the ASEAN-Australia Special Summit (Photo by Myanmar MOFA)
As shown below, the United Nations calls it Myanmar too.
Ambassador Hau Do Suan of Myanmar exercises his right of reply in the United Nations General Assembly, at U.N. headquarters, Monday, Sept. 25, 2017. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
In fact, the ASEAN agrees.
Myanmar’s State Counsellor and Foreign Minister Aung San Suu Kyi looks on during the 9th ASEAN UN Summit on the sideline of the 31st Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Manila on November 13, 2017. World leaders are in the Philippines’ capital for two days of summits. / AFP PHOTO / POOL / Linus ESCANDOR II
Burma ?
However, the US calls the country Burma.
Screen Grab from the US Embassy in Myanmar’s Website
For the British, it’s Burma as well.
Screen Grab from the UK Foreign Office Website
Myanmar or Burma
According to the analysis of Google Books Ngram Viewer, as late as 2008, the corpus of all English books from 1800 to 2008 still mentions Burma more than twice as Myanmar.

As you may notice above, the term Myanmar only appeared in the corpus of english books around 1989. It was towards the end of 1988 when the then ruling Military Junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), adapted the Adaptation of Expressions Law changing the country’s english name from Burma to Myanmar.
Many western countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia refused to adapt the name Myanmar and continued to use Burma. They question the legitimacy of the Military Junta who refused to hand over power to the legitimately elected NLD Government after the 1990 elections in renaming the country.
There is no controversy in the country’s name in the local language as Myanma has been in use since Independence in 1948.
What’s the difference between Burma and Myanmar?
Essentially, Burma and Myanmar are similar words referring to the same place. According to an entry in Hobson-Jobson: A Glossary of Anglo-Indian Colloquial Words and Phrases and of Kindred Terms, the name Burma or Burmah was taken from the word Mran-ma which is the original name of the “Burmese” people. Hobson-Jobson used Mran-ma instead of Myanma because British interpreters at that time (ethnic Rakhines) pronounced the character ‘ya’ as ‘ra’. This is the reason Yangon became Rangoon.
Going back to the country’s name.
Apparently, Myanma (Myan-maaah) is the formal written term while Bammah (Bam-maaah) is the spoken colloquial term to refer to their people and country. By comparison, the formal written and spoken word for our country is Pilipinasyet some Filipinos call it Pinas.
Flag of the Konbaung Dynasty, the last Myanmar Dynasty before British Occupation (Wikipedia Commons)
When the British transcribed Bammah (Bam-maaah), they spelled it as B – U – R – M and A. Non-rhotic (I had to research that) english speakers like the British do not pronounce the ‘r’ sound if it is place before a consonant. The British would have pronounced B-U-R-M-A as “Baa-ma” while rhotic english speakers like most Americas pronounced it as “burma.”
Flag of British Burma (Wikipedia Commons)
Myanma to Myanmar
Myanma has two pronunciations as well. When you are using it as an adjective, the pronunciation is “myanma” with a short ‘a’ sound in the end. However, when you are using it as a noun, referring to the country, the pronunciation is “myanmaaah” with a long ‘a’ sound at the end.
To ensure that Myanma will be pronounced correctly. That is, with a long ‘aaah’ sound at the end. The Committee that drafted the Adaptation of Expressions Law added an ‘r’ at the end of Myanma. Thus, Myanma became Myanmar. Remember the ‘r’ sound in non-rhotic english? Myanmar should be pronounced as “myanmaaah.”
However, Rhotic english speakers pronounced the ‘r’ sound so “myanmaaah” became “myanmar.”
What do I use when I am in the country?
You can use both because most citizens would understand you. As I said, Bammah (Bam-maaah) is the spoken colloquial term for the country in the local language anyway.
However, if you are a Diplomat in an international conference where there is a delegate from the Republic of the Union of Myanmar or you are speaking to government officials inside government institutions, it would be polite to use the government’s name for the country. In the past two decades, using Burma as the country’s name was supposedly a political stand against the legitimacy of the Military Regime and in support of the Opposition National League for Democracy (NLD) which was denied power by the Military Junta after 1990 elections. Yet, the NLD Government which resulted from the 2015 elections largely accepted Myanmar as the country’s name in English. In part because Myanma has already been in use as the country’s official name in the local language since 1948.
EXTRA: What do I call country’s people?
Like Burma and Myanmar, Burmese Citizens or Myanmar Citizens are both acceptable but please do not use Myanmarese or Myanmese which are western inventions.

NOTE:
To know more about the Spatial Diplomat, please read The Spatial Diplomat: Geography in the Foreign Service
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