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The country known in English as Burma, or Myanmar, 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 Burma (Burmese: မြန်မာ) was changed by the country's government from the "Union of Burma" to the "Union of Myanmar" in 1989, while official Burmese language name remained unchanged (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်‌).[1] Since then, those name changes have been the subject of controversies and mixed incidences of adoption. In spoken Burmese, "Bamar" and "Myanmar" remain interchangeable, especially with respect to referencing the language and country.[2]

Burmese names

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In the Burmese language, Burma is officially known as Myanmar Pyi (Burmese: မြန်မာပြည်), but also interchangeably used with Bamar Pyi (ဗမာပြည်).[2] Myanmar is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama is the spoken name of the country.[3] Burmese, like Javanese and other languages of Southeast Asia, has different linguistic registers, with sharp differences between literary and colloquial registers.[4] Both names derive ultimately from the endonym of the country's largest ethnic group, the Burmans (also known as the Bamars), also known as Bama or Mranma in the spoken and literary registers, respectively. As such, some groups—particularly non-Burmans minorities—consider these names to be exclusionary.

"Mranma"

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The etymology of Mranma remains debated.[5] The British colonial scholar, Arthur Purves Phayre, traced the etymology of this term to Pali word Brahmā, the name of a celestial being in Buddhist cosmology, in his 1866 "On the History of the Burmah Race."[6] Subsequent scholars, including Taw Sein Ko, Kyaw Dun, and Khin Aye, re-affirmed Phayre's view.[6] However, some scholars dispute this etymology, believing the term to be of indigenous provenance.[6]

The "Burmans" who entered the central Irrawaddy River valley in the 9th century founded the Pagan Kingdom in 849,[7] and called themselves Mranma.[8] The earliest discovered record of the word was in a Mon inscription dated 1083, inside which the name was spelled Mirma.[6] The first record of the name in a Burmese inscription is dated 1194, in which inscription the name was spelled Mranma.[5] From there on, the term became a fixed label in reference to Burmese kingdoms and peoples.[9]

Ma Thanegi records that the first use of the name 'Mranma' for the country is to be found on a 3 feet (91 cm) high stone inscription, known as the 'Yadana Kon Htan Inscription,' dated 597 ME (Traditional Burmese calendar) or 1235 CE.[10] The stone is from the reign of Kyaswa, (1234-1250) son of King Htilominlo (Nadaungmya), Bagan. It is written in early Burmese script. Although the middle of the front side of this stone is damaged, the first line of the better-protected reverse side clearly shows မြန်မာပြည် ("Mranma kingdom"). At present it is in Bagan recorded as stone number 43 in the Archaeological Department's collection.[11]

Today in Burmese the name is still spelled Mranma, but over time the "r" sound disappeared in most dialects of the Burmese language and was replaced by a "y" glide, so although the name is spelled "Mranma", it is actually pronounced Myanma today.

In the decades preceding independence, independence parties were in search of a name for the new country to be born, which would be made up not only of Burmese-speaking people, but also of many minorities. In the 1920s, some favoured the name Mranma, which had been the name applied to the old Burmese kingdom conquered by the British Empire in the 19th century. In the 1930s, the left-wing independence parties favoured the name Bama, as they thought this name was more inclusive of minorities than Mranma.[citation needed]

While both the names Bama and Mranma historically referred only to the Burmans and not other ethnic minorities, Burmese governments in the post-independence period have instituted a differentiation of meaning between Mranma and Bama in the official Burmese language usage. The name Myanma/Myanmar was expanded to include all citizens of the country while the name Bama was kept to its original meaning. In Burmese, Bama and Myanma are used interchangeably, to refer to the country, depending on the context. Ironically, because of the official renaming of the country, the dominant ethnic group is now known by its colloquial name, Bama, rather than by its literary name, Mranma in official Burmese usage.[4]

"Bama"

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The earliest extant Burmese reference to "Bamar" is in the Shwezigon Pagoda Bell Inscription dated to c. 1550.[6] The exact origins of this term are debated — it likely originated from a phonological transformation ("Myanma" → "Bama") that commonly occurs in Burmese compound words, or may be derived from a colloquial Mon pronunciation of the term. In modern Mon, the Bamar are called hemea (ဗၟာ, /həmɛ̀a/).[6]

The colloquial name Bama likely 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 consonant mutation from "m" to "b" is frequent in colloquial Burmese[citation needed] and occurs in many other words.[3][12] Although Bama may be a later transformation of the name Myanma, both names have been in use alongside each other for centuries.[citation needed]

The term "Bama" gained traction in the 19th century, but "Myanma" continued to be officially used by colonial authorities in Burmese language contexts.[6] In 1930s, ဘသောင်း [my], founder of the Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association), referred to the country as Bama Pyi (ဗမာပြည်), which helped popularize the term.[6] He felt that the pronunciation of Mranma is "weak" and that of Bama is "strong". He also added that Bama refers to, not only the Mranma ethnic group, but all ethnic groups present in the country.[13]

Use of "Bamar" became prominent during the Japanese occupation of Burma.[6] The Japanese adopted the Burmese term "State of Bama" (ဗမာနိုင်ငံတော်) during this period,[6] in reference to the Burmese puppet state set up by the Japanese occupation forces during the Second World War. When the Japanese used their own syllabary, they transliterated the three consonants of the Dutch name "Birma" and ended up with the name Biruma (ビルマ).

During the socialist era, the 1974 Constitution of Burma used "Bama" in reference to the nationality, and use of "Myanma" in reference to the country.[6] In 1989, the State Law and Order Restoration Council, the country's ruling military junta, issued an edict to designate "Bama" to reference the ethnicity, and "Myanma" to reference the nationality.[6]

English names

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History

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In English, the official name chosen for the country at the time of independence was "Burma". This was already the name that the British called their colony before 1948. This name most likely comes from Portuguese Birmânia[citation needed] and was adopted by English in the 18th century. The Portuguese name itself, a Latinate back-formation (cp. Germânia vs. Alemanha), came from the Indian name Barma which was borrowed by the Portuguese from any of the Indian languages in the 16th or 17th century. This Indian name Barma may derive from colloquial Burmese Bama, but it may also derive from the Indian name Brahma-desh.

Early usage of the English term Burma varies:

  • Bermah (Earliest European maps as old as the 18th century spelled Burma with an 'e'.)
  • Birmah (Charles Thomson map of 1827)
  • Brama (Thomas Kitchin's map of 1787)
  • Burmah (Samuel Dunn's map 1787)
  • Burma (Keith Johnson's map 1803)
  • Burmah (Eugene William's map, 1883)
  • Burma (Common stable spelling used in The Times newspaper.)

At the time of independence in 1948, the "Union of Burma" (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စုမြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်‌) was the name that was chosen for the new country, being further amended as the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" (Burmese: ပြည်ထောင်စု ဆိုရှယ်လစ်သမ္မတ မြန်မာနိုင်ငံတော်) in 1974, following a 1962 military coup.

In 1989, the military regime of Burma set up a commission in charge of reviewing the place names of Burma in the English language. The aim of the commission was to correct the spelling of the place names of Burma in English, to discard spellings chosen by British colonial authorities in the 19th century, and adopt spellings closer to the actual Burmese pronunciation (compare with what happened in India with Calcutta/Kolkata and Calicut/Kozhikode). These renamings took the form of the "Adaptation of Expressions Law", passed on 18 June 1989. Thus, for instance, Rangoon (Burmese: ရန်ကုန်) was changed to Yangon to reflect the fact that the "r" sound is no longer used in Standard Burmese and merged with a "y" glide.[14]

As for the country's name, the commission replaced the English name "Burma" with "Myanmar" for three reasons. First, Myanma is the official name of the country in the Burmese language used since declaration of independence (Burmese: လွတ်လပ်ရေးကြေညာစာတမ်း) from Britain in 1948, and the aim of the commission was to have English place names aligned with Burmese place names and pronunciation. Second, the commission thought that the name Myanma was more inclusive of minorities than the name Bama, and wanted the English name of the country to reflect this. Finally, the military regime has long been suspicious[citation needed] of the colloquial Burmese language, which it perceives as subversive; the English name "Burma" mirrors the colloquial Burmese name Bama.

The final "r" in the English "Myanmar" is absent in Burmese Myanma (much as the medial "r" in "Burma" is absent in standard Burmese Bama). The commission added a final "r" in English to represent the low tone of Burmese, in which the word Myanma is pronounced. In the low tone, the final vowel "a" is lengthened. The commission based its choice of spelling on Received Pronunciation and other non-rhotic English English dialects, in which "ar" (without a following vowel) is also pronounced as long "a" (often given as "ah" in American English). However, in variants of English in which final "r" is pronounced, such as standard American English, adding this final "r" leads to a pronunciation very different from the Burmese pronunciation.

Controversies

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In the Burmese language, there have been controversies about the name of the country since the 1930s, and the decision of the regime in 1989 carried the controversy into the English language. The regime believes that Myanmar is more inclusive of minorities than Bama, while opponents point out that historically, Myanmar is only a more literary version of Bama.[citation needed]

Quite the opposite of being more inclusive, opposition parties[which?] and human rights groups[which?] contend that the new English name "Myanmar" is actually disrespectful of the minorities of Burma.[citation needed] Minorities, many of whom do not speak Burmese, had become accustomed to the English name "Burma" over the years, and they perceive the new name "Myanmar" as a purely Burmese name reflecting the policy of domination of the ethnic Burman majority over the minorities.[citation needed]

The regime changed the name of the country when using English; it did not change the official name of the country in Burmese. Former opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi at first opposed the new name "Myanmar", pointing out the hypocritical justification of inclusivity put forward by the regime. Opposition parties, although they oppose the English name "Myanmar", do not oppose the official Burmese name Mranma, and no opposition party is proposing to use the colloquial name Bama as the official name of the country. Culturally, when speaking, locals refer to the country as Burma, but in literature, it is named "Myanmar".[15]

Finally, a lot of criticism also focused on the alleged lack of linguistic soundness of the reform. Only four language scholars sat in the 1989 commission, while the majority of the commission was made up of military officials and civil servants with no particular knowledge of linguistics.[citation needed] It was claimed that the new names lacked serious linguistic credibility or were questionable, and in particular there were objections to the fact that the commission had based its spelling on a non-rhotic dialect of English in using the final "r" at the end of the name Myanmar.[citation needed]

Adoption

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Since the Burmese government's 1989 decision to use "Myanmar" rather than "Burma" when using English, adoption of the new name in the English-speaking world has been mixed. Use of "Burma", along with many other name changes within Myanmar[16] has remained widespread, largely based on the question of whether the regime has the legitimacy to change the country's name, particularly without a referendum.[14]

The United Nations, of which Myanmar is a member, endorsed the name change five days after its announcement.[17] However, the United States[18] still refers to the country as "Burma". The United States government attributes its choice to support for the party deemed to have won the 1990 election but been denied power by the junta. That party opposes the new name.[19]

Following the 2011–2012 democratic reforms in Burma, politicians started using "Myanmar" more frequently.[20] The British government also cites the elected party's preference in its statement on its choice of name.[21] A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs in Canada said that his government's choice was "in support of the struggle for democracy".[17] Others, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the governments of China, India, Japan,[22] Germany,[23] Australia,[24] Canada[25] and Russia recognize "Myanmar" as the official name.

During the 2005 ASEAN summit in Thailand, the Foreign Minister Nyan Win complained about the US insistence of calling his country "Burma" instead of "Myanmar" as it was renamed more than a decade ago.[26] In January 2011, during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the country at the United Nations, the delegate of Myanmar interrupted the delegate of the United States, who had begun her comments on human rights in Myanmar by "welcom[ing] the Burmese delegation to the UPR working group". Myanmar's delegate insisted that the American delegation should use the name "Myanmar", and appealed to the session's president to enforce that rule. The latter commented that "we're here to discuss human rights in Myanmar, we're not here to discuss the name of the country", and asked the American delegation to use Myanmar's official, UN-recognised name. The American delegate continued her comments on human rights violations in Myanmar, without using either name for the country.[27] On 19 November 2012, US President Barack Obama, accompanied by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on her second visit to the country, referred to the nation as both Myanmar and Burma.[28]

Media usage is also mixed. In spite of the usage by the US government, American news outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The International Herald Tribune and CNN, and US-based international news agencies the Associated Press and Reuters have adopted the name "Myanmar". Others have continued to use "Burma",[23] some of whom have switched to using "Myanmar" years after the name change, such as the Financial Times,[29] citing increasing international acceptance of the new name. The BBC changed to using "Myanmar" in 2014.[30][31]

Some other sources, including NPR in the US use terms such as "Myanmar, also known as Burma".[32]

Another approach taken by some historians is to continue to use the name "Burma" for describing the history of the country prior to the 1988 military coup and "Myanmar" from there on. This also contravenes the intentions of the government, whose naming reform in 1989 was to apply to the entire history of the country. Those using this approach argue that it is the most politically neutral option.[33]

In June 2014, the Australian government, led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott, continued a long-running discussion on the manner in which Australian officials would refer to the Southeast Asian nation. While Burma was the formal title used by the Australian government, the Labor government revised the national name to the Union of Myanmar in 2012. However, the matter has resurfaced, as the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) reverted to the former title under Abbott's leadership in late 2013. A reason for the change has not appeared in the media, but, as of June 2014, the Abbott government's policy advises officials to switch between Burma and Myanmar, in accordance with the circumstances at hand. DFAT secretary Peter Varghese explained to the media: "Our ambassador to Myanmar would be our ambassador to Myanmar, because the country to which she is accredited is Myanmar, in the eyes of the government of Myanmar."[34]

In April 2016, soon after taking office, Aung San Suu Kyi voiced the position that foreigners are free to use either name, "because there is nothing in the constitution of our country that says that you must use any term in particular."[35]

Adjectival forms and demonyms

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Correspondence of terms before and after the 1989 renaming
Existing term Replaced by Type
Burma Myanmar noun
Burmese Myanma / Myanmar adjective
Burman Bamar noun
Burman Bamar adjective

In Burmese, the word Myanma, when used as a noun, is pronounced in the low tone (long "a", Okell: Myañma/Myăma), whereas when used as an adjective, it is pronounced in the creaky tone (short "a") as if it were spelt "မြန်မာ့" (MLCTS: mranma., Okell: Myañmá/Myămá).[citation needed] To reflect this, in the 1989 government renaming the adjectival form of the country's name "Myanmar" is formed by dropping the final "r" to get "Myanma" (since the final "r" indicates lengthening in non-rhotic English). But currently, the government seems to favour the unchanged term "Myanmar" again, as in various texts issued lately, especially from the Ministry of Education, has stated "Myanmar" as the correct adjective of the country.[36]

Most people, even in Burma, are unaware of these subtleties, as it occurs only in spoken Burmese. Some English speakers have even coined the adjective "Myanmarese" or "Myanmese", to follow English rather than Burmese grammatical rules. These adjectives are not recommended as most natives of Myanmar preferred to be called either the old way of "Burmese", "Myanmar", or "Myanma" representing the many diverse races in the country.

According to the replacement, the name of the dominant ethnicity of Burma, whose people speak the Burmese language, is "Bamar" (again, final "r" only added to denote a long "a" in Burmese). Thus, Myanmar is a country inhabited by the Bamars plus many minorities; and the Bamars and minorities are collectively known as Myanma people.[citation needed]

While the use of the name "Myanmar" is widespread and rivals the use of "Burma", adoption of adjectival forms has been far more limited; in general, terms in use before 1989 have persisted. Citizens of Burma, regardless of their ethnicity, are known as "Burmese", while the dominant ethnicity is called "Burman". The language of the Burmans, however, is known as the Burmese language, not as the Burman language, although confusingly enough the "Burmese" language is considered one of the Tibeto-"Burman" languages.[citation needed]

Other languages

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Southeast Asian languages

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"Myanmar" is known by various terms in languages spoken throughout the country, including Hemea (ဗၟာ, /həmɛ̀a/) in Mon, and Man (မၢၼ်ႈ) in Shan.[6] In neighboring Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar is known as Pham̀ā (Lao: ພະມ້າ, Thai: พม่า) in Lao and Thai, and Phumae (ភូមា) in Khmer.

South Asian languages

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In Assamese the country is known as Man Dex (মান দেশ, "Maan country") since the time when the 1st Ahom king Sukapha crossed Patkai hills to come to Assam valley from Myanmar. The period of Burmese invasions to Assam are known as Manor Din ( মানৰ দিন, "Days of Maan").

In Bengali the name is Brahmadesh (ব্রহ্মদেশ). It is the same in case of Sanskrit and Sanskrit-based languages in other parts of India. This name predates the Portuguese or British names but it is not clear whether this name has roots connected to the 'Mrnma' people or it predates them also.

In Tamil, although not used as much anymore, Myanmar was referred to as Putpagam (புட்பகம்). It is most likely derived from the name of the Pagan Kingdom. The most iconic reference using this name occurs in Subramania Bharati's "Senthamizh Nadenum" song which also lists other Tamilized place names.

East Asian languages

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In Chinese, the name appeared for the first time in 1273 and was recorded as 緬 (pronounced miɛnX in the Middle Chinese of the period, and Miǎn in Modern Standard Mandarin).[5] The present name in the Chinese is 緬甸 (pronounced Miǎndiàn). Japanese Menden (緬甸), Korean Myeondeon (면전), Vietnamese Miến Điện are derived from the same Chinese term. Historically Japan used the Chinese characters of "Menden" (緬甸) to refer to Burma. This form remains in contemporary usage in abbreviations; for example, the World War II-era Burma-Thailand Railway is still referred to almost exclusively as the Tai-Men Tetsudō (泰緬鉄道).

In Japan, although the Japanese government's basic position is to use Myanmā (ミャンマー), often media organisations indicate Biruma (ビルマ) in parentheses afterwards. Biruma may be used more often in the spoken language, while Myanmā is more common in written language. Popular Japanese fictional works such as The Burmese Harp (Biruma no tategoto) mean that the name Biruma may have more of an emotional resonance to readers.[37]

Other languages

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In Romance languages, Myanmar is known by a name derived from Burma as opposed to Myanmar in Spanish, Italian, Romanian – Birmania being the local version of Burma in both Italian and Spanish, Birmânia in Portuguese, and Birmanie in French. The same is true of the Greek language.[38] As in the past, French-language media today consistently use Birmanie.[39][40]

See also

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References

[edit]
[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Names of Myanmar

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
The names of Myanmar refer to the historical and official designations for the Southeast Asian nation officially known since 1989 as the Republic of the Union of , previously designated in English as the Union of from independence in until the military regime's unilateral renaming. Both "Myanmar" and "Burma" originate from the endonym of the dominant Bamar ethnic group—Mruiṁa or Bama in colloquial Burmese—referring to the fast-spreading or strong people, with "Myanmar" as the formal, literary variant used in written contexts and "Burma" as the spoken, anglicized form predating British colonial rule. The 1989 change, enacted by the State Law and Order Restoration Council following its violent suppression of pro-democracy protests, aimed to reject colonial-era nomenclature and ostensibly encompass the country's diverse ethnic populations beyond the Bamar majority, though this inclusivity rationale has been widely disputed as Myanmar linguistically still centers on Bamar identity. This renaming sparked enduring controversy, with the National League for Democracy-led opposition and governments in the , , and others rejecting "Myanmar" to withhold recognition of the junta's authority, while the and many Asian states adopted it; the debate persists amid ongoing military rule and ethnic conflicts that underscore the name's ties to governance legitimacy rather than neutral semantics.

Linguistic Origins and Etymology

Burmese Terms: Mranma and Bama

In the Burmese language, Mranma (transcribed variably as Mranma or Mramma, and written as မြန်မာ in the Burmese script) functions as the formal, historical endonym for the polity or civilization centered on the valley, with its earliest documented use appearing in a Pagan-era inscription dated 1190 CE from the South Cave temple complex. This term encapsulated a geo-political and cultural entity known as Mranma Pran ("Mranma country"), denoting not merely ethnic boundaries but a broader territorial and civilizational scope shaped by pre-colonial conquests, migrations, and Buddhist integrations following the 9th-century influx of Tibeto-Burman speakers who supplanted earlier Pyu polities. Etymologically linked to the self-appellation of these migrant groups—possibly evoking "swift horsemen" from incursions—Mranma emphasized the realm's cohesive identity amid multi-ethnic interactions, as evidenced in subsequent inscriptions from the Pinya and Ava periods that consistently applied it to the core domain rather than peripheral ethnic enclaves. Distinguished from Mranma is Bama (ဗမာ), the colloquial variant primarily denoting the Bamar ethnic majority—the Sino-Tibetan-speaking core population comprising approximately 68% of modern inhabitants—and serving as their informal self-designation to differentiate from neighboring groups like the Mon, Shan, or Karen. This semantic nuance reflects Burmese linguistic patterns, where Bama arises from a natural phonological reduction of Mranma in everyday speech, limiting its application to people and their immediate cultural sphere rather than the expansive territorial connotation of the formal term. Historical records, including 13th- to 15th-century stone edicts from Pagan successors, illustrate this divide: Mranma for land grants and royal domains, Bama for donor lineages or ethnic descriptors, underscoring a practical ethnic-territorial binary in indigenous nomenclature. In contemporary Burmese usage, this duality endures: Myanma (a standardized literary of Mranma) prevails in official documents and media for the state, while Bama persists in contexts for the ethnic group, daily conversations, and even informal references to nationals collectively, as observed in post-independence linguistic surveys and oral traditions. Such persistence highlights the terms' rootedness in phonetic naturalism and social function, with Bama's informality fostering ethnic solidarity among the majority without implying the full civilizational scope of Mranma.

Evolution of Terms in Historical Texts

The earliest known attestation of the term "Mranma" appears in a 1102 CE Old Mon inscription from the reign of Kyanzittha during the Pagan () period, referring to "Mranma sichan" (Mranma songs) in contrast to Mon cultural elements, indicating its initial ethnic usage amid the kingdom's cultural synthesis following Burman migrations into the Irrawaddy valley. Subsequent Pagan-era inscriptions, such as the 1190 CE Tonguni inscription mentioning "Mranma pantya" (Mranma musicians) and the 1235 CE Ratanakumthan (Yadana Kon) inscription employing "Mranma Pran" to denote a politico-administrative entity, reflect the term's expansion tied to the kingdom's unification of diverse groups through conquest and Buddhist integration, rather than a strictly ethnic Bamar designation. Linguistic influences from and , introduced via and Mon intermediaries during the 9th–13th centuries, shaped Burmese orthography and vocabulary but did not directly etymologize "Mranma," which scholars derive from indigenous roots like "anya" (upstream), denoting the upstream Irrawaddy origins of Burman settlers in a multi-ethnic . contributions further facilitated semantic broadening, as evidenced in bilingual inscriptions where "Mranma" encompassed administrative roles across ethnic lines, evolving from an endonym for migrants to a term for the polity's core identity amid expansions that incorporated Pyu, Mon, and Shan elements. Phonetic shifts in , such as nasal reductions and tone developments documented in 12th-century stone like the Myazedi inscription (1113 CE), preserved the term's form while adapting it to the unifying cultural framework of the state. By the 16th–19th centuries, amid Toungoo and Konbaung dynasty reconquests and migrations that reasserted central control over fragmented territories, "Bama" emerged as a colloquial variant and subgroup identifier for the ethnic Burmans, distinct from the formal "Mranma" used in chronicles for the broader realm, as seen in Konbaung records like the Mahayazawin Gyi (c. 1724) and Vamsadipani (1799), where causal dynamics of warfare and resettlement narrowed "Bama" to core ethnic lineages while "Mranma" retained polity-wide connotations. This differentiation arose from phonetic simplification—shortening "Mranma" by eliding the nasal suffix—coupled with administrative needs to specify ethnic soldiery versus the inclusive state identity, evidenced in dynasty-era texts compiling earlier Pagan sources like the Glass Palace Chronicle (1829 compilation of pre-13th-century materials). Such shifts underscore how conquest-driven expansions semantically broadened "Mranma" for multi-ethnic governance, while "Bama" contracted to denote the dominant subgroup in historical narratives.

Historical Designations

Pre-Colonial and Indigenous Names

The region encompassing modern Myanmar featured fragmented polities in pre-colonial eras, including the Pagan (9th–13th centuries), Ava (14th–16th centuries), and Toungoo (16th–18th centuries) kingdoms, without a singular indigenous name unifying all territories under a centralized state identity. Nomenclature typically aligned with specific dynastic centers or riverine domains, driven by geographical features like the Irrawaddy valley and kinship-based ethnic affiliations among the Bamar (Mranma) population, rather than overarching national constructs. The term "Mranma Pran" (country of the Mranma), derived etymologically from upstream ("anya") associations, served as an endonym primarily for the Bamar core in the upper Irrawaddy valley, appearing in royal inscriptions from the Pagan kingdom's zenith, such as King Kyanzittha's 12th-century reference to "Mranma sichan." This designation expanded during unification phases—covering approximately 85% of pre-colonial history under Pagan, Toungoo, and Konbaung expansions—to include lower Burma territories, but contracted amid fragmentations like the 15th-century independence of Pegu (Hanthawaddy). In the , Alaungpaya's conquests from 1752 to 1760, culminating in 1757 reunification of divided realms, reinforced "Mranma Pran" for the consolidated Bamar domain, as documented in the Alaunghpaya Ayedawbon chronicle, highlighting causal ties between military consolidation and nomenclature for the ethnic heartland. Ethnic minorities maintained distinct exonyms and polity-specific terms; for instance, Shan groups designated their Tai realms as Muang Tai, reflecting localized political entities rather than a shared national referent, while Karen communities, positioned in eastern hills, employed no recorded unified exonym for the Burmese kingdoms, underscoring pre-colonial diversity over imposed cohesion.

Colonial Introduction of "Burma"

The English designation "Burma" originated as a phonetic approximation of "Bama", the colloquial Burmese term for the Bamar ethnic majority, entering European usage through Portuguese traders who rendered it as "Birmania" or "Bermel" by the . British adoption of the name accelerated with expanding trade and diplomatic contacts in the late 18th century, culminating in its application during the (1824–1826). The conflict, driven by border disputes and British commercial interests, ended with the signed on 24 February 1826, in which British officials consistently referred to the opposing kingdom as Burma, establishing the term in official diplomatic records. Following the Second Anglo-Burmese War (1852–1853), which annexed Lower including Rangoon, the name "" became entrenched in British administrative nomenclature for the coastal provinces integrated into British India. The Third Anglo-Burmese War, launched on 7 November 1885 amid tensions over teak trade monopolies and French influence, resulted in the rapid capture of by 20 November and the deposition of King Thibaw. Upper 's annexation was formalized on 1 January 1886, designating the unified territory as the Province of under the British Indian government, extending the "" label to all governed areas regardless of ethnic or regional variations. Colonial censuses exemplified this standardization, with the 1901 Census of —enumerated on the night of 1 March 1901—employing "Burma" as the administrative shorthand for the province's 9,102,308 enumerated inhabitants across diverse ethnic groups. This usage prioritized an anglicized phonetic rendering suited to English over the indigenous formal endonym "Mranma", which denoted the historical kingdom and its core Bamar population but was not adopted in official British documentation. Such nomenclature facilitated governance but reflected a pragmatic simplification that overlooked the term's colloquial origins and the broader ethnolinguistic context of the region.

The 1989 Official Name Change

Process and Immediate Implementation

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), established after suppressing the 1988 pro-democracy uprisings, formally announced the from to on June 18, 1989, through the enactment of the Adaptation of Expression of the Names . This decree targeted the English-language exclusively, leaving the indigenous Burmese script (e.g., မြန်မာ for ) unaltered, and simultaneously standardized romanizations for other geographic features, such as Rangoon to , Pegu to Bago, and to . Implementation proceeded rapidly via official channels: SLORC submitted the revised nomenclature to the , which endorsed "Myanmar" as the state's designation in member records shortly after the decree, reflecting the regime's authority over international representation. Domestically, the change was enforced through mandates on state-controlled media and publications, requiring immediate adoption of "Myanmar" and associated place names in all official communications, without or legislative debate. This renaming formed an initial step in SLORC's post-1988 reassertion of control, preceding further symbolic overhauls by , including updates to currency denominations and the to align with the junta's consolidated rule.

Stated Rationales: Linguistic Accuracy and Inclusivity

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC) stated that adopting "" rectified a colonial-era distortion in English , as "" derived from the colloquial Burmese "Bama" (ဗမာ), which specifically denoted the Bamar ethnic majority and their language, whereas "Myanmar" accurately romanized the formal literary term "Mranma" (မြန်မာ) used historically for the encompassing diverse groups. This shift was presented as aligning with pre-colonial , where "Mranma" appeared in early records, potentially tracing to proto-Tibetan influences denoting a broader territorial entity predating Bamar ascendancy in the . SLORC further rationalized the change as enhancing inclusivity for the union's multi-ethnic composition, claiming "" neutralized ethnic favoritism by avoiding "Bama," which excluded non-Bamar populations comprising over 130 groups, and instead evoked a unified applicable to all citizens regardless of . Linguistic analysis confirms "Mranma" as the official, written form in Burmese since at least the Konbaung period, distinct from the spoken "Bama" for the , though post-1989 evidence shows persistent domestic reliance on "Bama" in dialects, media, and the , indicating the reform primarily affected formal English usage with minimal alteration to vernacular patterns.

Controversies and Debates

Political Legitimacy and Regime Motivations

The State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), which seized power in September 1988 following the violent suppression of the —a pro-democracy movement that began on August 8, 1988, and resulted in thousands of deaths—announced the from the Union of Burma to the Union of Myanmar on June 18, 1989. This timing, occurring amid international condemnation and domestic isolation after the junta's coup, has been interpreted by analysts as an effort to bolster the regime's legitimacy by invoking a term with roots in pre-colonial Burmese formal nomenclature, thereby projecting continuity with indigenous sovereignty rather than the colonial-era "Burma." However, "Myanma" had indeed appeared in official Burmese-language contexts and some international documents prior to 1989, such as references, undermining claims that the term was wholly fabricated for ; its elevation to the English standard name, nonetheless, served to rebrand the state under military control without broader consensus. The SLORC's motivations aligned with a package of administrative reforms, including the renaming of cities like Rangoon to and initial steps toward , but these were inextricably linked to consolidating power after the uprising's dissent, with no documented consultation involving opposition parties or ethnic representatives. Critics, including causal analyses of the junta's actions, argue the change functioned as a symbolic imposition to normalize the unelected government's authority, distancing it from the socialist "Burma" associated with the ousted regime while suppressing ongoing pro-democracy challenges. The (NLD), formed in September 1988 under , explicitly rejected the name, continuing to use "Burma" in platforms and communications, a stance that framed the alteration as an undemocratic decree lacking popular mandate—evident in the NLD's in the elections, which SLORC nullified. Exile groups and overseas dissidents, aligned with the NLD, similarly persisted in employing "Burma" to delegitimize the junta, viewing the rename as part of a broader pattern of coercive that prioritized regime survival over representative processes. While the military cited linguistic accuracy—arguing "" better reflected the multi-ethnic union's formal Burmese designation—this rationale has been contested for bypassing verification through inclusive dialogue, particularly given the absence of ethnic minority input in the decision-making records from the era. The change's dimension is thus not wholly dismissed but tempered by its basis in extant terminology, revealing a regime strategy that blended historical precedent with authoritarian fiat to project stability amid post-uprising fragility.

Ethnic Minority Perspectives and Objections

Non-Bamar ethnic groups, comprising over 40% of Myanmar's population, have frequently critiqued the 1989 name change to "" as emblematic of Bamar dominance, arguing that the term—derived from the Bamar self-designation Mranma—imposes a majority-centric identity on a envisioned under the 1947 as comprising autonomous states of equal standing. This view posits that "Burma," a colonial-era term neutral to ethnic hierarchies, better aligns with federalist principles by avoiding privileging of the Bamar, who form approximately 68% of the populace and control central institutions. Ethnic armed organizations (EAOs), including the (KNU) and factions, persisted in using "Burma" during interactions with the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC), interpreting the name shift as part of broader unitarist policies that eroded minority autonomies post-independence. The Kachin Independence Organization (KIO), after signing a 1994 ceasefire, later attributed the 2011 breakdown to unresolved grievances over centralization, including symbolic impositions like the "Myanmar" designation that sidelined ethnic self-determination in national nomenclature. Similarly, Karen insurgents under the KNU, who rejected SLORC ceasefires into the late 1990s, framed resistance against regime renaming practices—evident in forced Burmanization of local toponyms—as extensions of the national name change's exclusionary logic. Shan groups, fragmented across alliances, echoed these concerns in fragmented ceasefire pacts from 1989 to 1997, where demands for federal restructuring implicitly contested "Myanmar" as reinforcing Bamar-led integration over devolved governance. Rohingya advocates have linked "" to intensified marginalization, noting that while 1950s-1960s Burmese administrations issued recognitions of Rohingya via broadcasts and appointments, post-1989 policies under the new name codified their exclusion from the state's 135 officially listed indigenous groups, rendering them stateless per pre-2017 assessments. reports from this era documented Rohingya denials of tied to non-recognition as a Myanmar ethnic nationality, contrasting with historical claims under "." Although some Mon representatives have referenced pre-colonial Mranma usages in shared historical narratives, predominant minority sentiments attribute resistance to causal patterns of central consolidation, where the name symbolizes diminished leverage for ethnic pluralism.

Arguments for Retention of "Burma"

The designation "Burma" maintains historical continuity with the nation's founding documents, including the 1947 Constitution establishing the "Union of " and the , which formalized ethnic alliances under that name during independence negotiations with Britain. Retaining it preserves legal and archival precedents in international treaties ratified by Burma prior to 1989, avoiding disruptions to references in diplomatic records and scholarly works spanning centuries. A primary argument centers on non-recognition of the regime's , as the name change was enacted unilaterally by the State Law and Order Restoration Council without public or broad consensus, prompting opposition from pro-democracy groups who view "Burma" as a rejection of junta-imposed nomenclature. This stance aligns with the preferences of the and exiled activists, who have consistently used "Burma" to delegitimize post-1962 governance. Post-2021 coup, practical policy shifts underscore retention's utility: the U.S. State Department explicitly reverted to "" in official memos, sanctions designations, and reports—such as the 2021 Country Reports—to signal non-recognition of the , facilitating targeted measures against coup perpetrators without implying endorsement of their terminology. Similar reversions by allies like the and emphasize "" for diplomatic clarity amid the regime's isolation. Linguistic critiques of "" as inaccurate are contested, given its direct derivation from "Bamar," the self-designation of the dominant ethnic group comprising approximately 68% of the population, with attestations in 19th-century European maps and transliterations predating colonial . Phonetic familiarity further supports retention, as "" remains entrenched in global lexicons, reducing miscommunication in trade, literature, and discourse compared to the less intuitive "," which was altered solely in English renderings without altering non-English equivalents.

English and Western Usage

Pre-1989 Conventions

Prior to 1989, "" served as the standardized for the country in international treaties, diplomatic correspondence, and official publications, reflecting its entrenched use since British colonial administration. Upon achieving independence from the on January 4, 1948, the nation adopted the official English designation "Union of ," as enshrined in its inaugural constitution and recognized in bilateral agreements such as the 1947 with . This nomenclature persisted in post-World War II accords, including Burma's accession to the on April 19, 1948, where it was listed and referenced as "Burma" in assembly records and resolutions until the . The term's prevalence in English owed much to British colonial influence, with "Burma" appearing in authoritative references like the , whose earliest citation dates to 1891 in Rudyard Kipling's writings, though adjectival "Burmese" (denoting , , or attributes) emerged earlier in 1823. By the mid-20th century, "Burma" had solidified as the dominant form in English-language corpora, diplomatic texts, and encyclopedic works, supplanting sporadic earlier variants like "Birmanie" derived from continental European transliterations. The adjectival "Burmese" consistently applied to nationals, the (a Sino-Tibetan tongue), and cultural elements, as standardized in linguistic and governmental usage without contention. This convention underscored a practical anglicization prioritizing phonetic accessibility and historical continuity over strict Pali-derived forms like "Myanma," which remained confined to formal Burmese script and literary contexts pre-independence. English-speaking governments, media outlets such as the and , and scholarly publications uniformly employed "Burma" through the , ensuring consistency in global discourse absent any domestic push for alteration until the military regime's 1989 decree.

Post-Change Policies in Governments and Media

The formally acknowledged the name change to the "Union of Myanmar" following notification from the Burmese government on June 18, 1989, and most member states adopted the term in official usage during the early 1990s. countries swiftly followed this lead, incorporating "Myanmar" into diplomatic and organizational documents without recorded policy reversals even after the 2021 military coup. In contrast, the maintained "Burma" as its official designation to signal non-recognition of the military junta's authority in enacting the 1989 change, a policy unchanged through partial democratic reforms in the and reinforced post-2021 coup via legislation like the 2022 BURMA Act. The shifted to "" in 2016 amid engagement with the government, diverging from earlier alignment with opposition preferences for "Burma." Major media organizations largely converged on "" following the democratic openings of the : the incorporated it into its by 2014, prioritizing the term in headlines and summaries. The formalized "" (noting it as formerly ) in its 2021 style updates amid coverage of the coup, though some U.S.-based outlets retained "" in contexts to underscore illegitimacy during unrest. As of 2025, no widespread governmental or media reversions to "Burma" have occurred despite the coup's escalation of conflict, with empirical patterns showing sustained "Myanmar" usage in international forums like ASEAN summits and limited U.S. divergence tied explicitly to sanction enforcement rather than broader efficacy debates.

Adjectival Forms, Demonyms, and Stylistic Preferences

In English usage, "Myanmar" functions primarily as a noun denoting the country, with the adjectival form "Myanma" occasionally employed to reflect the Burmese linguistic structure where the noun and adjective share the root but differ slightly in tone and pronunciation. However, "Myanma" remains rare outside specialized contexts, as "Burmese" continues to predominate for adjectival descriptions of the people, language, culture, and associated phenomena, such as "Burmese language" or "Burmese cuisine," irrespective of the 1989 name change. This persistence stems from pre-existing conventions in English that associate "Burmese" with ethnic Bamar (Burman) heritage and broader national identity, rather than strictly the polity. Demonyms for citizens of include "Burmese," which applies to all inhabitants regardless of ethnic background, and "Myanmar citizen," the latter formalized in official documents like passports issued by the Republic of the Union of Myanmar since 1989. While "Myanmarese" appears in some style guides as an alternative for people or attributes, it has not gained widespread traction, with "Burmese" favored empirically in both domestic and self-identification. communities, particularly in Western countries, often retain "Burmese" in organizational names and personal narratives, reflecting cultural continuity over official shifts. Stylistically, "" is invariably capitalized as a in English, aligning with conventions for country names, with no substantive debate on this point. Post-2011 political reforms under the quasi-civilian government, English-language media outlets like shifted to unqualified use of "Myanmar" for the country while retaining "Burmese" for adjectival and demonymic purposes, creating a hybrid practice that prioritizes clarity over uniformity. This approach avoids neologisms like "Myanmar" as an adjective in most prose, opting instead for constructions such as "government of " to maintain precision and readability.

International Variations

Southeast Asian Language Equivalents

In Thailand, the traditional exonym "พม่า" (phūmā), derived from historical references to "," coexists with the official post-1989 adaptation "เมียนมา" (mīanmā), a phonetic of "" used in government and diplomatic communications to align with regional . This dual usage reflects Thailand's close historical ties with the Burmese kingdoms, yet official adoption followed the 1989 announcement to facilitate consistency, as evidenced in bilateral treaties from the early 1990s. Vietnam transitioned from "Miến Điện" (Miến Điện), an older term rooted in colonial-era designations for "Burma," to "Myanmar" or its phonetic equivalent "Miến-ma" in official state media and foreign policy documents after 1989, mirroring broader diplomatic realignments. This shift emphasized phonetic fidelity over legacy nomenclature, influenced by Vietnam's participation in regional forums where "Myanmar" became standardized by the mid-1990s. In Cambodia, the renders the name as "មីយ៉ាន់ម៉ា" (miyɑnma), adapting the Burmese pronunciation while drawing on shared Brahmic script elements prevalent in Buddhist cultures across ; official adoption post-1989 aligned with protocols, appearing in joint declarations by the 1990s. Laos similarly employs "ມຽນມາ" (mīanmā) in formal contexts, supplanting the colloquial "ພະມ້າ" (phamā) from "Burma," with changes evident in diplomatic exchanges following Myanmar's 1997 accession, prioritizing phonetic accuracy and intergovernmental uniformity. These adaptations underscore causal influences from proximity, script similarities, and post-1989 political incentives for regional cohesion, as seen in standardized in documents from the late 1990s onward.

South, East, and Other Asian Adaptations

In and , the post-1989 official name is transliterated as म्यांमार (Myanmaar), aligning with the Burmese government's request for international recognition of the updated designation. This adaptation reflects phonetic rendering in and scripts, adopted in official Indian government documents and media by the early 1990s. However, among Burmese communities—numbering around 2 million historically due to British colonial labor migration from the late — "Burma" endures in colloquial and familial usage, tied to pre-independence economic networks in sectors like trading and textiles that peaked in the 1930s with over 1 million Indian residents. Chinese maintains 缅甸 (Miǎndiàn) as the standard term, derived from transliterations of "Burma" traceable to records in the , prioritizing historical phonetic consistency over the change despite formal diplomatic acceptance of "" in state communications since 1990. Japanese shifted to ミャンマー (Myanmā) in , with the Foreign Ministry issuing guidelines for its use in official contexts by 1990 to match UN protocols, abandoning earlier kanji-based forms like 緬甸 influenced by Chinese precedents. Korean followed suit with 미얀마 (Miyanma), standardized in government and broadcasting post-UN adoption in , reflecting Hangul's direct phonetic mapping to the new English form. These variations stem from entrenched practices shaped by script phonetics, colonial-era trade routes, and selective policy alignment, rather than uniform global deference to the 1989 decree. The 2021 coup, which displaced the elected government on , prompted no substantive revisions in these Asian usages, as linguistic inertia—rooted in decades of media and educational embedding—outweighs episodic shifts.

European and Global Transliteration Practices

In Romance languages such as French, the traditional transliteration "Birmanie," derived from the English "," persists in media and official usage despite the name change, reflecting phonetic adaptation to where "Birmanie" approximates the spoken form "Birmanye." French diplomatic contexts occasionally employ "" for formal international alignment, but "Birmanie" remains dominant in journalistic and encyclopedic references as of 2025. German practices show a partial shift post-1990s, with "Birma" retaining colloquial and historical usage akin to the English "Burma," while official documents and standards bodies favor "Myanmar" to match the government's preferred , incorporating the Burmese script's "Myanma" more directly without the 'r' alteration common in spoken dialects. This duality arises from orthographic conventions prioritizing phonetic fidelity in , where "Birma" simplifies the vowel cluster, but standardization efforts post-1989 promote consistency with ISO . In Cyrillic-script languages like Russian, "Бирма" (Birma) endures in everyday and skeptical geopolitical , transliterating the pre-1989 English form, whereas "Мьянма" (Myanma) serves as the official rendering since , adapting the formal Burmese "Myanma" by preserving nasal consonants and omitting extraneous vowels for Slavic phonetics. Russian media often juxtapose both amid reservations about the regime's legitimacy, with no full supplantation as of 2025. Arabic transliterations contrast "بورما" (Būrmā), a direct borrowing from colonial-era "" suited to Semitic script's structure, against the official "ميانمار" (Myānmār), which incorporates diacritics for Burmese aspirates and long vowels to approximate the 1989 formal name, though "بورما" prevails in historical and informal contexts due to entrenched phonetic familiarity. Global standards, including , adopted "" as the short name on December 5, , superseding "" (code BU) with code MM, influencing orthographic practices in international databases and constructed languages like , where "Mjanmao" mirrors the English "" by blending with auxiliary rules. No uniform global shift has occurred, as national conventions prioritize local over the Burmese original, resulting in persistent variants across scripts without a singular authoritative beyond technical standards.

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