MLC Transcription System
The Myanmar Language Commission Transcription System, also known as the MLC Transcription System, is a transliteration system for rendering Burmese in the Latin alphabet. It is loosely based on the common system for romanization of Pali, has some similarities to the ALA-LC romanization and was devised by the Myanmar Language Commission. The system is used in many linguistic publications regarding Burmese and is used in MLC publications as the primary form of romanization of Burmese.
The transcription system is based on the orthography of formal Burmese and is not suited for colloquial Burmese, which has substantial differences in phonology from formal Burmese. Differences are mentioned throughout the article.
Features
- Coalesced letters transcribe stacked consonants.
- Consonantal transcriptions are similar to those of Pali.
- Finals are transcribed as consonants rather than glottal stops
- Nasalized finals are transcribed as consonants rather than as a single -n final.
- The anunasika and -m final are not differentiated.
- The colon and the period transcribe two tones: heavy and creaky respectively.
- Special transcriptions are used for abbreviated syllables used in literary Burmese.
Transcription system
Initials and finals
The following initials are listed in the traditional ordering of the Burmese script, with the transcriptions of the initials listed before their IPA equivalents:k | kh | g | gh | ng |
c | ch | j | jh | ny |
t | th | d | dh | n |
t | th | d | dh | n |
p | ph | b | bh | m |
y | r | l1 | w | s |
h | l | a |
1Sometimes used as a final, but preceding diacritics determine its pronunciation.
The Burmese alphabet is arranged in groups of five, and within each group, consonants can stack one another. The consonant above the stacked consonant is the final of the previous vowel. Most words of Sino-Tibetan origin are spelt without stacking, but polysyllabic words of Indo-European origin are often spelt with stacking. Possible combinations are as follows:
| Group | Burmese | Transcriptions | Example |
| ka. | ,,,, | kk, khk, gg, ggh, and ng g respectively | ang ga. lip 1, meaning "English" |
| ca. | ,,,,,, | cc, chc, jj, jjh, nyc, nyj | wijja, meaning "knowledge" |
| ta. | ,,,, | tt, tht, dd, ddh, nd | kanta., meaning "section" |
| ta. | ,,,,,,, | tt, htht, dd, nt, nht, nd, ndh, nn | manta. le:, Mandalay, a city in Myanmar |
| pa. | ,,,,,,, | pp, bb, bbh, mp, mb, mbh, mm | kambha, meaning "world" |
| ya. | , | ss, ll | pissa, meaning viss, a traditional Burmese unit of weight measurement |
1ang ga. lip is uncommonly spelt ang ga. lit.
All consonantal finals are pronounced as glottal stops, except for nasal finals. All possible combinations are as follows, and correspond to the colors of the initials above:
Nasalised finals are transcribed differently. Transcriptions of the following diacritical combinations in Burmese for nasalised finals are as follows:
Monophthongs are transcribed as follows:
Tones
1 Oral vowels are shown with.2 Nasal vowels are shown with .
Medial consonants
A medial is a semivowel that comes before the vowel. Combinations of medials are possible. They follow the following order in transcription: h-, -y- or -r-, and -w-. In Standard Burmese, there are three pronounced medials. The following are medials in the MLC Transcription System:| Burmese | IPA | Transcription | Remarks |
| -y-† | Its possible combinations are with consonants ka.,, hka.,, ga., pa., hpa., ba., and ma.. The medial is possible with other finals and vowels. | ||
| -r-† | The aforementioned remarks apply to this medial as well. | ||
| -w- | Its possible combinations are with consonants ka., hka., ga., nga, ca, hca, ja, nya, ta., hta, da, na, pa, hpa, ba, bha., ma, ya., ra., la., and sa.. The medial is possible with other finals and vowels, using the already mentioned consonants. | ||
| 1 | h- | Its possible combinations are with consonants nga., nya., na. ), ma., ya. ‡, ra. ‡, and la.. |
†The two medials are pronounced the same in Standard Burmese. In dialects such as Rakhine, the latter is pronounced.
‡When the medial is spelt with ra., its sound becomes hra. , which was once represented by hsya..