Arakanese language
Arakanese is a language closely related to Burmese, of which it is often considered a dialect. "Arakan" is the former name for the Rakhine region. Arakanese can be divided into three dialects: Sittwe–Marma, Ramree, and Thandwe. It is the native language of the Rakhine, Marma and Kamein peoples.
Vocabulary
There are significant vocabulary differences from Standard Burmese. Some are native words with no cognates in Standard Burmese, like "sarong". 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 in Arakanese, from English "sick lines." Other words simply have different meanings. Moreover, some archaic words in Standard Burmese are preferred in Arakanese. An example is the first person pronoun, which is in Arakanese.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 guayaba, from guayaba. | ||
| papaya | Standard Burmese for 'papaya' literally means 'boat'. | ||
| soap | |||
| superficial | |||
| blanket | in Standard Burmese refers to the male longyi. | ||
| dark | The compound word is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese. | ||
| pick a flower | The compound word is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese. | ||
| wash | The compound word is used in both Standard Burmese and Arakanese. |
Phonology
Arakanese prominently uses the sound, which has merged to the sound in standard Burmese. This is particularly interesting because the use of the ‘r’ sound is something that is avoided with Burmese speakers. For example, Burmese pronounce the words, “tiger” or “to hear” as “kya,” where in Arakanese, it would be pronounced as, “kra.” Also, Arakanese has merged various vowel sounds like vowel to ဣ. Hence, a word like "blood" is in standard Burmese while it pronounced in Arakanese. According to speakers of standard Burmese, Arakanese only has an intelligibility of seventy-five percent with Burmese. 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.Because Arakanese has preserved the sound, the medial is still distinguished in the following consonant clusters:.
The Arakanese dialect has a higher frequency of open vowels weakening to. An example is the word for "salary," which is in standard Burmese, but in Arakanese.
The following are consonantal, vowel and rhyme changes found in the Arakanese dialect:
| Written Burmese | Standard Burmese | Arakanese | Notes |
| e.g. and are both pronounced in Arakanese | |||
| -ɛʔ | -ɔʔ | ||
| e.g. , from Standard Burmese →. Irregular rhyme, with various pronunciations. In some words, it is . In a few words, it is . | |||
| is | |||
| A few exceptions are pronounced, like , pronounced | |||
| e.g. and are pronounced and respectively in Standard Burmese, but merged to in Arakanese | |||
| Nasal initial + Nasal initial + | e.g. is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese In some words, the rhyme is unchanged from the standard rhyme. | ||
| Nasal initial + | e.g. is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese | ||
| e.g. is in Standard Burmese, but in Arakanese | |||
| Occurs in some words | |||
| Occasionally occurs | |||
| → | 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 |
| Open syllables | weak = ə full = i, e, ɛ, a, ɔ, o, u |
| Closed | nasal = eɪɴ, ɛɴ, aɪɴ, aʊɴ, ɔɴ, oʊɴ stop = eɪʔ, ɛʔ, aɪʔ, aʊʔ, ɔʔ, oʊʔ |