A few days ago, I received an email from GV regarding my post, Daw Aung San Suu Kyi’s Birthday, translation to Bangla. The translator informed me that he had a hard time translating the word “Daw” but luckily he got some understanding of that word from the book he own, “Living Silence (Burma under military rule)” by Christina Fink. He understands it as a polite prefix for aunts or older women and likes to know if it’s safe to interpret as “respected“.

I guess his translation on the word is quite alright. Although it’s not exactly means as “respected”, it is the most suitable translation in this case. Burmese language is one of very confusing languages as one word can form many different meanings. Forget about the language, this kind of addressing someone is a tough job even for some Burmese themselves (eg. Me).

In English, they tend to address a person by their name directly (in many normal cases) and use Mr. or Mrs/Ms/Miss regardless of the age. Of course it’s a different story when the statuses involve. But I’m only talking about normal cases. In Burmese, to address a normal person, you need to consider the following factors:
# gender
# age
# level of association with that person

The following is how I understand. There are no set rules for this matter so this is just my own understandings. These titles are used regardless of blood relation between the two parties.

# General Association
Male Female
[ Same Age ] – direct name eg. Aung Tun
[ 20- yrs ] – “Maung” or “Mg” Aung Tun
[ 20 - 30 yrs ] – “Ko” Aung Tun
[ 30+ yrs ] – “U” Aung Tun		 [ Same Age ] – direct name eg. May Hnin Phyu
[ 30- yrs ] – “Ma” May Hnin Phyu
[ 30+ yrs ] – “Daw” May Hnin Phyu
# Younger to Elder
Male Female
[ 1 - 3 yrs older ] – “Ko Ko” (Bro)
[ 3 - 10 yrs older ] – “A Ko” (Bro)
[ 10 - 20yrs older ] – “U U” (Uncle)
[ 20+ yrs ] – “Ba Ba” or “A Foe” (grand)		 [ 1 - 3 yrs older ] – “Ma Ma” or “Ma” (Sis)
[ 3 - 10 yrs older ] – “Ma” or “A Ma” (Sis)
[ 10 - 20yrs older ] – “Aunty” (Aunt)
[ 20+ yrs ] – “Fwar Fwar” or “A Fwar” (grand)
# Elder to Younger
Male Female
[ 1 - 10 yrs younger ] – “Nyi Lay” (Bro by elder male) or “Maung Lay” (Bro by elder female) or just by name
[ 10+ yrs younger ] – “Thar” (Son)		 [ 1 - 10 yrs younger ] – “Nyi Ma Lay” (Sis) or just by name
[ 10+ younger ] – “Tha Mee” (Daughter)

Those are the most official ones that I can think of but there are many others slangs and names usage depending on situation, status, title, regional, relationship etc.

The above usages also act as a term to replace the word “You” while talking with a respected group. A direct translation of English word “You” in Burmese is “Nin” or “Min” but those terms are only used while talking among the same age group or between close friends. There are also many different ways of addressing oneself, the word “I“, depending on the situation. Though a direct translation of “I” is “Ngar“, that word is reserved to use only among close friends and is very rude to use with elders or distance friends/strangers. The following is how Burmese use to address themselves as, “I“, according to their age.

Male[ Same age ] – “Ngar”
[ < 15yrs or Teen] – “Thar”
[ > 15yrs ] – “Kya Naw”		 Female[ Same Age ] – “Ngar”
[ < 15yrs or Teen ] – “Tha Mee”
[ > 15yrs ] – “Kya Ma”

Again, all of the above are for normal situations between normal people. There are many more addresses to use with abnormal special cases such as talking to a Buddhist Monk or to King or Queen or Generals. Seriously, I get a headache whenever I have to talk with Burmese. I have to think about 2 – 3min before uttering a word in Burmese while the English “You, I, Mr, Mrs/Ms/Miss” words make addressing so simple.

Have been said and getting back to the main point, I simply used the word “Daw” in that post as an elderly woman of 30+ age with the meaning somewhat related to the lady or rather the respected lady. I feel very impolite to address her as just her name,”Aung San Suu Kyi”, and I don’t feel familiar enough to call her “Mother” or “Aunty” though she is older than my mom and suits the title. So using a respectable generalization is the best solution.

Another note on that post is that it was translated into 7 different languages. I’m getting scare to write for GV as it is viewed by many viewers from various background. With my incompetence language skill, I feel ashamed to post there. Online/web medium is a scary thing, one mistake will be caught by thousands eyes. I don’t care if people look down upon me for my mistakes but I don’t want them to look down upon my country/men for my lack of skills. Damn it’s a hard job being a writer. My respect for journalists grew these days. I’ve never been good at writing and never have an interest in professional writing. I only write for myself. As long as I understand what I write, I’m all fine. But ever since I started blogging, I can no longer write for myself only. I guess as your blog grow, you have to grow along with it. You have to mature along with your reader. So I must try to improve as best as I can. Yep, that’s the spirit May!!

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