SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This paper provides a descriptive account of the main patterns found in the adaptation of English loanwords in Burmese. First, English segments missing from the Burmese inventory are replaced by native Burmese segments. Second, coda obstruents are represented by laryngealized tones. Third, consonant clusters are resolved through vowel epenthesis or consonant deletion. Finally, various phonotactic gaps native to Burmese, some with rather idiosyncratic distributional properties, are consistently maintained in loanwords via a number of different strategies. The data suggest overall that Burmese phonology heavily constrains the adaptation of English loanwords, and a brief sketch of an Optimality-Theoretic analysis is presented.