The country known in English as Burma, or Myanmar, has undergone changes in both its official and popular names worldwide. The choice of names stems from the existence of two different names for the country in Burmese, which are used in different contexts.
The official English name Burma () was an old name used by Myanmar Country, yet later was changed by the Burma's government from the "Union of Burma" to the "Republic of the Union of Myanmar". Since then, those name changes have been the subject of controversies and mixed incidences of adoption.
Burmese names
In the Burmese language, Burma is known as Myanmar Pyi (). Myanmar Pyi is the written, literary name of the country, while Bama is the spoken name of the country. Burmese, like Javanese and other languages of Southeast Asia, has different levels of register, with sharp differences between literary and spoken language.
Both names derive ultimately from the endonym of the largest ethnic group in Burma, the Burmans, also known as Bama or Mranma in the spoken register and in the literary register, respectively. As such, some groups—particularly non-Burmans minorities—consider these names to be exclusionary.
"Bama" The colloquial name Bama is supposed to have originated from the name Myanma by shortening of the first syllable, from loss of nasal final "an" (), reduced to non-nasal "a" (), and loss of "y" () glide), and then by transformation of "m" into "b". This sound change from "m" to "b" is frequent in colloquial Burmese and occurs in many other words. Although Bama may be a later transformation of the name Myanma, both names have been in use alongside each other for centuries. King Mindon in the mid-19th century was the first to refer to himself as the king of the 'Mranma people', in an attempt to ethnicise his rule, at a time when his rule was largely confined to the Irrawaddy Valley and the Myanmar ethnic group. In 1930s, Ba Thaung, founder of the Dobama Asiayone (We Burmans Association), referred to the country as 'Bamapran' (ဗမာပြည်). He felt that the pronunciation of Mranma is "weak" and that of Bama is "strong". He also added that Bama refers to, not only the Mranma ethnic group, but all ethnic groups present in the country.
"Mranma" The etymology of Mranma remains unclear. The "Burmans" who entered the central Irrawaddy river valley in the 9th century founded the Pagan Kingdom in 849, and called themselves Mranma. 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 Myanma.
Ma Thanegi records that the first use of the name 'Mranma' for the country is to be found on a high stone inscription dated 597 ME (Traditional Burmese calendar) or 1235 CE. The stone is from the reign of Kyaswa, (1234-1250) son of King Htilominlo (Nadaungmya), Bagan. It is written in early Burmese script. Although the middle of the front side of this stone is damaged, the first line of the better-protected reverse side clearly shows မြန်မာပြည် ("Mranma kingdom"). The inscription is known as the 'Yadana Kon Htan Inscription'. At present it is in Bagan recorded as stone number 43 in the Archaeological Department's collection.
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 the decades preceding independence, independence parties were in search of a name for the new country to be born, which would be made up not only of Burmese-speaking people, but also of many minorities. In the 1920s, some favoured the name Mranma, which had been the name applied to the old Burmese kingdom conquered by the British Empire in the 19th century. In the 1930s, the left-wing independence parties favoured the name Bama, as they thought this name was more inclusive of minorities than Mranma.
The Burmese puppet state set up by the Japanese occupation forces during the Second World War was officially called Bama. When the Japanese used their own syllabary, they transliterated the three consonants of the Dutch name "Birma" and ended up with the name Biruma (ビルマ). At the time of independence in 1948, the "Union of Burma" was the name that was chosen for the new country, being further amended as the "Socialist Republic of the Union of Burma" in 1974, following a 1962 military coup.