The Myanmar Language Commission Transcription System (1980), also known as the MLC Transcription System (MLCTS), is a transliteration system for rendering Burmese in the Latin alphabet. It is loosely based on the common system for romanization of Pali, has some similarities to the ALA-LC romanization and was devised by the Myanmar Language Commission. The system is used in many linguistic publications regarding Burmese and is used in MLC publications as the primary form of romanization of Burmese. The transcription system is based on the orthography of formal Burmese and is not suited for colloquial Burmese, which has substantial differences in phonology from formal Burmese. Differences are mentioned throughout the article.

Features

Transcription system

Initials and finals

The following initials are listed in the traditional ordering of the Burmese script, with the transcriptions of the initials listed before their IPA equivalents: 1Sometimes used as a final, but preceding diacritics determine its pronunciation. The Burmese alphabet is arranged in groups of five, and within each group, consonants can stack one another. The consonant above the stacked consonant is the final of the previous vowel. Most words of Sino-Tibetan origin are spelt without stacking, but polysyllabic words of Indo-European origin (such as Pali, Sanskrit, and English) are often spelt with stacking. Possible combinations are as follows: 1ang ga. lip is uncommonly spelt ang ga. lit (အင်္ဂလိတ်). All consonantal finals are pronounced as glottal stops, except for nasal finals. All possible combinations are as follows, and correspond to the colors of the initials above: Nasalised finals are transcribed differently. Transcriptions of the following diacritical combinations in Burmese for nasalised finals are as follows: Monophthongs are transcribed as follows:

Tones

1 Oral vowels are shown with -. 2 Nasal vowels are shown with -န် (-an).

Medial consonants

A medial is a semivowel that comes before the vowel. Combinations of medials (such as h- and -r-) are possible. They follow the following order in transcription: h-, -y- or -r-, and -w-. In Standard Burmese, there are three pronounced medials. The following are medials in the MLC Transcription System: †The two medials are pronounced the same in Standard Burmese. In dialects such as Rakhine (Arakanese), the latter is pronounced. ‡When the medial ှ is spelt with ra. (ရ), its sound becomes hra. (ရှ), which was once represented by hsya. (သျှ).

Abbreviated syllables

Formal Burmese has four abbreviated symbols, which are typically used in literary works: