Burmese

edit

Pronunciation

edit

Etymology 1

edit

Probably from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *tsa ~ za (though this is not mentioned by STEDT). Cognate with သား (sa:, son, child), စာ (ca, to sympathise with; to be considerate to; to have consideration for). Compare Old Chinese (OC *ʔslɯʔ, “child”), (OC *zlɯs, “to bear; to give birth; to breed; to love; Chinese character”); see the latter for more.

Another theory by Luce compares the word to (OC *sjaːʔ, “to carry, write, copy”).[1]

Noun

edit

စာ (ca) (classifier ရွက် or လုံး or ပုဒ်)

  1. writing
  2. (in compounds) written language
    ဗမာစာ/မြန်မာစာba.maca/mranmaca(written) Burmese
    အင်္ဂလိပ်စာangga.lipca(written) English
  3. letter (written or printed communication)
  4. writing or works
  5. poetry, verse
  6. lessons (for study)
  7. birthmark
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 2

edit

Inherited from Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-tsa (sparrow). Compare Old Chinese (OC *ʔsewɢ, “sparrow”) and (OC *sʰaɡ, “magpie”) (STEDT).

The "shrill" sense is likely a semantic extension of the "sparrow" sense, via "to chirp like a sparrow" > "to be shrill" (supported by MED), though this is disputed (based on STEDT not linking the entry "ca 'shrill ( obs. )'" to the root page).

Noun

edit

စာ (ca)

  1. sparrow

Verb

edit

စာ (ca)

  1. (of a voice) to be shrill
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 3

edit

From Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m-dza-k (to love). Cognate with Tibetan [script needed] (mdza-ba, idem), Jingpho [script needed] (ndźaʔ, to show love) (STEDT).

Verb

edit

စာ (ca)

  1. to sympathize with, be considerate to, have consideration for
  2. to compare to or with
Derived terms
edit

Etymology 4

edit

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *dza (to eat). See also စား (ca:, to eat) (STEDT).

Noun

edit

စာ (ca)

  1. food (something kept for consumption)
  2. diet, cuisine
  3. meal
  4. fodder, feed, prey, bait
  5. subsistence, means
Derived terms
edit

Particle

edit

စာ (ca)

  1. (derogatory) particle suffixed to nouns to connote that someone is deserving of being victimized or hit by someone or something
  2. particle suffixed to nouns to denote supportive material for a certain function
  3. particle suffixed to nouns to denote sufficiency for a certain number or utility over a certain length of time
  4. particle suffixed to nouns to denote a waste product

References

edit
  1. ^ Luce, G. H. (1981) “-A Finals (34. Writing)”, in A Comparative Word-List of Old Burmese, Chinese and Tibetan, London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, →ISBN, page 2

Further reading

edit

Pa'o Karen

edit

Etymology

edit

From Proto-Karen *caᴬ (sell). Cognate with S'gaw Karen ဆါ (hsah).

Verb

edit

စာ ()

  1. to sell
  NODES
eth 2
orte 1
see 3