A Civil Servant in Burma

Name: A Civil Servant in Burma
Author: White, Herbert Thirkell, Sir

White, Herbert Thirkell, Sir

Burma

XII. UNDER SIR CHARLES CROSTHWAITE, 1887-1890              201

 XIII. A VISIT TO THE SHAN STATES                            225

  XIV. RANGOON--MANDALAY                                     235

   XV. LOWER BURMA ONCE MORE                                 256

  XVI. MANDALAY: THE BOUNDARY COMMISSION                     266

 XVII. THE CHIEF COURT--LAST YEARS IN BURMA                  285

       GLOSSARY                                              307

       INDEX                                                 309

NOTE

Burmese words are spelt according to the Government system of
transliteration. Consonants have the same power as in English. _Y_
after _g_ combines to form a sound approximating to _j_: _gyi_ = “jee”;
after every other consonant it is short--_my̆o_. _Yw_ is pronounced
“yu.” Vowels and diphthongs have the sounds given below:

        _a_ = _a_ in “Ma.”
        _e_ = _a_ in “bane.”
        _è_ = _e_ in French “père,” without any sound of _r_ following.
        _i_ = _ee_ in “feet.”
 _o_ or _ô_ = _o_ in “bone.”
        _u_ = _oo_ in “fool.”
       _au_ = _ow_ in “cow.”
       _ai_ = _i_ in “line.”
       _ei_ = _ei_ in “vein.”
       _aw_ = _aw_ in “law.”

Every letter, except _y_ after _g_, is sounded separately, including
final vowels. Thus, _lu-gale_ is pronounced “loo-ga-lay.” These
instructions are crude and unscientific, and may excite the derision of
purists. They will enable anyone to pronounce Burmese words with some
approach to correctness. In the case of Shan names I have as a rule
adopted the Burmese forms rather than the Shan forms in official use,
which no one who does not know the language can pretend to pronounce
properly.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

 BUDDHA’S FOOT (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                 _Frontispiece_

                                                             FACING PAGE

 BURMESE HOUSES (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                            48

 CHIN-LON (_Photograph by E. G. N. Kinch_)                            58

 THE POTTER (_Photograph by E. G. N. Kinch_)                          64

 THE MY̆O-ÔK-GADAW (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                          64

 SNAKE PAGODA (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                              70

 BURMESE GIRL WORSHIPPING (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                  70

 WHEN THE FLOODS ARE OUT (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                   84

 THE CITY WALL, MANDALAY (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                  120

 ROW OF BUDDHAS (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                           128

 RELEASING TURTLE (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                         128

 A BURMESE FAMILY (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                         162

 THE SAWBWA OF THIBAW (_Photograph by London
    Stereoscopic Company_)                                           174

 MONASTERY WITH CARVING (_Photograph by A. Leeds_)                   184

 THE THATHA-NA-BAING (_Photograph by Watts and Skeen, Rangoon_)      190

Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.

A Civil Servant in Burma

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