It's officially been the Republic of Myanmar since 1989, but a lot of countries don't acknowledge that name. Notably the US still refers to the country as Burma (Myanmar).
My understandinf is that "Mranma" has been the endonym of the place in the Burmese language since ancient times and "Bama" (like Burma) was a colloquially shortening of Mranma that English speakers picked up on. I think it's still the case in their language that Myanmar and Burma can sound like the same word depending on accent or how it's said.
Officially though it's the Republic of Myanmar. When international diplomats still call it Burma, they're being stubborn.
I've only known one person from Myanmar, and he didn't like the name Burma, because it implied that the Bamar people are the dominant ethnic group. This guy had Indian heritage, so that's where he was coming from.
I think internally the two terms are more interchangable than they are in English, since I think they're much closer in pronunciation in the Burmese language.
I would be interested to know if the Communist Party of Burma wants to be called that or if that's just a holdover because they've been around since before the country changed its English name. I don't know their outlook at all or much about them. I know that it was some kind of reactionary military dictatorship that initially changed the English name to Myanmar, but then again "Burma" is what the British colonizers named the country
"China" is what Westerners named China, but they still call it Zhongguo in, well, Chinese while, in their English-translated documents, they (officially) refer to themselves as China to give an example.
Oh, so it's just western stubbornness like always, I get it. Same reason why I still hear westerners refer to "Burma"
....Oh.
Oh dear.
All this time, I thought it was the other way around.
I know Burmese that use the word "Burma."
is it not Burma?
God, I hope I wasn't making that mistake.
It's officially been the Republic of Myanmar since 1989, but a lot of countries don't acknowledge that name. Notably the US still refers to the country as Burma (Myanmar).
My understandinf is that "Mranma" has been the endonym of the place in the Burmese language since ancient times and "Bama" (like Burma) was a colloquially shortening of Mranma that English speakers picked up on. I think it's still the case in their language that Myanmar and Burma can sound like the same word depending on accent or how it's said.
Officially though it's the Republic of Myanmar. When international diplomats still call it Burma, they're being stubborn. I've only known one person from Myanmar, and he didn't like the name Burma, because it implied that the Bamar people are the dominant ethnic group. This guy had Indian heritage, so that's where he was coming from.
Oh, I see.
But I believe that the ML communists fighting in Myanmar call it "Burma."
Or are they call the Communist Party of Myanmar?
Yeah, I'm confused, but I'll double-check right now.
I think internally the two terms are more interchangable than they are in English, since I think they're much closer in pronunciation in the Burmese language.
I would be interested to know if the Communist Party of Burma wants to be called that or if that's just a holdover because they've been around since before the country changed its English name. I don't know their outlook at all or much about them. I know that it was some kind of reactionary military dictatorship that initially changed the English name to Myanmar, but then again "Burma" is what the British colonizers named the country
"China" is what Westerners named China, but they still call it Zhongguo in, well, Chinese while, in their English-translated documents, they (officially) refer to themselves as China to give an example.