Rakhine language

Rakhine
Arakanese
ရက္ခိုင်ဘာသာ
Pronunciation
Native to	Myanmar, Bangladesh, India
Region	Rakhine State and other parts of Myanmar Chittagong Hill Tracts, Patuakhali, Cox Bazar (Bangladesh) Tripura (India)
Ethnicity	Rakhine, Marma, Kamein
Native speakers	1 million (2011–2013) 1 million second language speakers in Myanmar (2013)
Language family	Sino-Tibetan Tibeto-Burman Lolo-Burmese Burmish Burmese Rakhine
Dialects	Ramree Marma
Writing system	Burmese script
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: rki – Rakhine ("Arakanese") rmz – Marma
Glottolog	arak1255
ELP	Template:Endangered Languages Project
Linguasphere	Template:Infobox language/lingualist
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Map of where the Rakhine language is spoken

Rakhine (/rəˈkaɪn/; Template:Langx, MLCTS: ), also known as Arakanese, is a Tibeto-Burman language spoken in western Myanmar, primarily in the Rakhine State, parts of south-eastern Bangladesh and parts of southern Tripura in India. Closely related to Burmese, the language is spoken by the Rakhine and Marma peoples; it is estimated to have around one million native speakers and it is spoken as a second language by a further million.

Though Arakanese has some similarity with standard Burmese, Burmese speakers find it difficult to communicate with Arakanese speakers. Thus, it is often considered to be a dialect or variety of Burmese. As there are no universally accepted criteria for distinguishing a language from a dialect, scholars and other interested parties often disagree about the linguistic, historical and social status of Arakanese. There are three dialects of Arakanese: Sittwe–Marma (about two thirds of speakers), Ramree, and Thandwe.

File:Arakanese.gif

Arakanese or the Rakhine language alphabets

Vocabulary

While Arakanese and Standard Burmese share the majority of lexicon, Arakanese has numerous vocabulary differences. Some are native words with no cognates in Standard Burmese, like 'sarong' ( in Standard Burmese, in Arakanese). Others are loan words from Bengali, English, and Hindi, not found in Standard Burmese. An example is 'hospital', which is called in Standard Burmese, but is called (pronounced ) in Arakanese, from English sick lines. Other words simply have different meanings (e.g., 'afternoon', in Arakanese and in Standard Burmese). Moreover, some archaic words in Standard Burmese are preferred in Arakanese. An example is the first person pronoun, which is in Arakanese (not , as in Standard Burmese). A more unique difference is the 'Hra' sound which is not found in Burmese: only in Arakanese. e.g. ဟြာ(Hra/Seek) and Hraa(ဟြား/exceptional/excellent/very good/smart).

Comparison

A gloss of vocabulary differences between Standard Burmese and Arakanese is below:

English	Standard Burmese	Arakanese	Notes
thirsty
go			Arakanese for 'go' was historically used in Standard Burmese.
kick a ball
stomach ache			Arakanese prefers to Standard Burmese for 'stomach'.
guava			Standard Burmese for 'guava' is derived from the word Malacca, whereas Arakanese for 'guava' is from Spanish , from Template:Langx.
papaya			Standard Burmese for 'papaya' literally means 'boat'.
soap			From Portuguese "sabão". In Standard Burmese, '' means 'rebel' or 'insurgent'.
superficial
blanket			in Standard Burmese refers to the men's longyi (sarong).
dark			The compound word ('pitch dark') is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese.
pick a flower			The compound word ('pick') is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese.
wash [clothes]			The compound word ('wash') is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese.

Phonology

The phonological system described here is the inventory of sounds, represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).

Consonants

The consonants of Arakanese are:

Consonant phonemes

		Bilabial	Dental/Alveolar		Post-al./ Palatal	Velar	Glottal
			central	sibilant
Nasal	voiced	m	n		ɲ	ŋ
	voiceless	m̥	n̥		ɲ̊	ŋ̊
Plosive	voiced	b	d		dʒ	ɡ
	voiceless	p	t		tʃ	k	ʔ
	aspirated	pʰ	tʰ		tʃʰ	kʰ
Fricative	voiced			z
	voiceless		θ	s	ʃ		h
	aspirated			sʰ
Lateral	voiced		l
	voiceless		l̥
Approximant	voiced		ɹ		j	w
	voiceless		ɹ̥			ʍ

Arakanese largely shares the same set of consonant phonemes as standard Burmese, though Arakanese more prominently uses , which has largely merged to in standard Burmese (with some exceptions). Because Arakanese has preserved the sound, the medial (which is preserved in writing in Standard Burmese with the diacritic ) is still distinguished in the following Arakanese consonant clusters: . For example, the word "blue," spelt , is pronounced in standard Burmese, but pronounced in Arakanese. Moreover, there is less voicing in Arakanese than in Standard Burmese, occurring only when the consonant is unaspirated. Unlike in Burmese, voicing never shifts from to .

Vowels

The vowels of Arakanese are:

	Monophthongs			Diphthongs
	Front	Central	Back	Front offglide	Back offglide
Close	i		u
Close-mid	e	ə	o
Open-mid	ɛ		ɔ
Open		a

While Arakanese shares the same set of vowels as Burmese, Arakanese rhymes also diverge from Standard Burmese for a number of open syllables and closed syllables. For instance, Arakanese has also merged various vowel sounds, such as () to ဣ (). Hence, a word like 'blood', which is spelt , pronounced () in standard Burmese, is pronounced in Arakanese. Similarly, Arakanese has a number of closed syllable rhymes that do not exist in Standard Burmese, including .

The Arakanese dialect also has a higher frequency of open vowels weakening to than Standard Burmese. An example is the word for 'salary', (), which is in standard Burmese, but in Arakanese.

Differences from standard Burmese

The following is a summary of consonantal, vowel and rhyme differences from Standard Burmese found in the Arakanese dialect:

Written Burmese	Standard Burmese	Arakanese	Notes
			e.g. 'genuine' and 'plant' are both pronounced in Arakanese
	-ɛʔ	-ɔʔ
			e.g. 'garden', from Standard Burmese → . Irregular rhyme, with various pronunciations. In some words, it is (e.g. 'soul', from Standard Burmese → ). In a few words, it is (e.g. 'to oppress', from Standard Burmese → ).
			is
			A few exceptions are pronounced , like 'clear', pronounced
			e.g. 'carry' and 'cancel' are pronounced and respectively in Standard Burmese, but merged to in Arakanese
Nasal initial + Nasal initial +			e.g. 'red' is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese In some words, the rhyme is unchanged from the standard rhyme (e.g. 'land', usually pronounced , not , or 'mother', usually pronounced , not ) There are few exceptions where the nasal rhyme is even without a nasal initial (e.g. 'thread', from Standard Burmese → ).
Nasal initial +			e.g. 'tender' is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese
			e.g. 'bamboo' is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese
			Occurs in some words (e.g. 'snake' is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese)
			Occasionally occurs (e.g. 'to want' is in Standard Burmese, but ~ in Arakanese)
→			e.g. The present tense particle () corresponds with () in Arakanese e.g. The plural particle () corresponds with () in Arakanese
			Found in some words only
	-ɛ	-e

Written
Standard Burmese	ʔəmè ɡa̰	ðədʒàɴ pwɛ́ dwɪ̀ɴ	wʊʔ jàɴ	tʰəmèɪɴ	ʃɪʔ tʰɛ̀	pé laɪʔ pà	sʰò dɛ̀
Arakanese	ʔəmì ɡa̰	θɔ́ɴkràɴ pwé hmà	waʔ pʰo̰	dəjɔ̀	ʃaɪʔ tʰè	pí laʔ pà	sʰò ɹì
Arakanese (written)
Gloss
English	Mother says "Give me eight pasos for wearing during the Thingyan festival."

Writing system

Arakanese is written using the Burmese script, which descends from Southern Brahmi. Rakhine speakers are taught Rakhine pronunciations using written Burmese, while most Marma speakers are only literate in Bengali.

The first extant Arakanese inscriptions, the Launggrak Taung Maw inscription and the Mahathi Crocodile Rock inscription (1356), date to the 1300s, and the epigraphic record of Arakanese inscriptions is unevenly distributed between the 1400s to 1800s. In the early 1400s, Arakanese inscriptions began to transition from the square letters associated with stone inscriptions (kyauksa), to rounder letters that is now standard for the Burmese script. This coincided with developments in Arakanese literature, which was stimulated by the rise of Mrauk U during the 1400s.

What is now Rakhine State is home to Sanskrit inscriptions that date from the first millennium to the 1000s. These inscriptions were written in Northern Brahmic scripts (namely Siddham or Gaudi), which are ancestral to the Bengali script. However, these inscriptions are not ancestral to Arakanese epigraphy, which uses the Mon–Burmese script. While some Arakanese have coined the term "Rakkhawunna" () to describe a script that predates the usage of written Burmese, there is no contemporary lithic evidence to support the existence of such a script.

Dialect variations

Contemporary Rakhine exhibits considerable regional variation. Dialects differ across areas such as Sittwe (southern), Kula-taung, Myit Wa, Chaungtha (upper river), and among historical Rakhine populations in present-day Bangladesh and India. Even within Rakhine State, towns such as Kyaukphyu, Ramree, Mrauk-U, Thandwe, Ann, and Pauktaw show geographical dialectal variation. Coastal areas closer to central Burma, including Thandwe and Taungup, tend to exhibit softer tones and pronunciations influenced by proximity to Burmese-speaking regions.

Rakhine is often described in literature as a "purer" or "more ancient" form of Burmese. This claim is based on certain phonological features retained in Rakhine but lost in Standard Burmese, such as distinctions between Written Burmese r and y, and between aŋ and añ. Rakhine also merges rhymes such as at and an with wat and wan, and exhibits less extensive voicing.

Conversely, Standard Burmese preserves distinctions—such as between ac, añ and uik, uir, or wa and o—that have been lost in Rakhine. It also tends to preserve vowel clarity and shows less phonetic weakening.

References

Bibliography

• Houghton, Bernard (1897). "The Arakanese Dialect of the Burman Language". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland: 453–461. JSTOR 25207880.
• Okell, John (1995). "Three Burmese Dialects" (PDF). Papers in Southeast Asian Linguistics. 13.