Originally Posted by
InfoMofo
I suppose. I can assure you that however people are pronouncing "Myanmar" it sounds nothing like the original name.
In either case, you'll find that most expats don't recognize the right of the junta to change the name of the country. However, it does vary from country to country- I'm speaking from a US resident's point of view.
OK, I'll bite...what is the original name?
My opinion is simply based on what a friend in RGN told me last November.
I didn't research it.
edit: now I did, a bit....seems complex, but doesn't sound like "Burma".
The etymology of Mranma remains unclear.[3] The Burmans who entered the central Irrawaddy river valley in the 9th century founded the Pagan Kingdom in 849,[4] and called themselves Mranma.[5] The earliest record discovered of the word was in a Mon inscription dated 1102, inside which the name was spelled Mirma. The first record of the name in a Burmese inscription is dated 1190, in which inscription the name was spelled Mranma.[3] Today in Burmese the name is still spelled Mranma, but over time the "r" sound disappeared in most dialects of the Burmese language and was replaced by a "y" glide, so although the name is spelled "Mranma", it is actually pronounced Myanma. In Chinese, the name appeared for the first time in 1273 and was recorded as 緬 (pronounced "Miǎn" in Mandarin).[3] This is still the name used by other East Asians, such as the Vietnamese (Miến Điện) and Japanese today. The current name in Chinese is 緬甸 (pronounced Miǎndiàn).