Burmese

edit

Etymology

edit

From အ- (a.-) + a component မဲ (mai:) which traces back to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *m(y/w)an ~ min (flesh, meat, animal); cognate with Lepcha [script needed] (a-mán, flesh, meat). Luce additionally adduces Old Chinese (OC *ban, “to cook meat for a sacrifice or offering”) as a cognate;[1] though semantically appealing, the differing initials (perhaps a relic of lost morphology?) would have to be explained, if related.

Pronunciation

edit
  • Phonetic respelling: အ'မဲ
  • IPA(key): /ʔəmɛ́/
  • Romanization: MLCTS: a.mai: • ALA-LC: ʼamai • BGN/PCGN: ămè: • Okell: ămè

Noun

edit

အမဲ (a.mai:)

  1. game (meat)
  2. easy prey; mark

Derived terms

edit

References

edit
  1. ^ Luce, G. H. (1981) “-AY Finals (35. Meat; Flesh of game)”, in A Comparative Word-List of Old Burmese, Chinese and Tibetan, London: School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, →ISBN, page 20

Further reading

edit