lonely-planet-myanmar-burma-11-edition

nat pwe – dance performancedesigned to entice a nat topossess a nat-gadawngwe – silvernibbana – nirvana orenlightenment, thecessation of suffering, theend of rebirth; the ultimategoal of Buddhist practiceoozie – elephant handler ormahoutpagoda – generic Englishterm for zedi or stupa as wellas temple; see also payapahto – Burmese word fortemple, shrine or otherreligious structure with ahollow interiorPali – language in whichoriginal Buddhist texts wererecorded; the ‘Latin’ ofTheravada Buddhismpa-lwe – bamboo flutepaq-ma – Myanmar bass drumparabaik – folding Buddhistpalm-leaf manuscriptsparinibbana – literally,final nibbana; the Buddha’spassing awaypattala – bamboo xylophoneused in the Myanmarorchestrapaya – a generic Burmeseterm meaning holy one;applied to buddha figures,zedi and other religiousmonumentspe-sa – palm-leafmanuscriptspin – (bin) banyan treepi ze – traditional tattooing,believed to make the wearerinvulnerable to sword or gunpwe – generic Burmeseword for festival, feast,celebration or ceremony;also refers to publicperformances of song anddance in Myanmar, often allnight(and all-day) affairspyatthat – wooden,multiroofed pavilion, usuallyturretlike on palace walls, asat Mandalay PalaceSanskrit – ancient Indianlanguage and source ofmany words in the Burmesevocabulary, particularlythose having to do withreligion, art and governmentsao pha – ‘sky lord’, thehereditary chieftains of theShan peoplesaung gauq – 13-stringed harpsawbwa – Burmesecorruption of the Shan wordsao phasaya – a teacher or shamansayadaw – ‘master teacher’,usually the chief abbot of aBuddhist monasteryshinpyu – ceremoniesconducted when young boysfrom seven to 20 years oldenter a monastery for a shortperiod of time, required ofevery young Buddhist male;girls have their ears piercedin a similar ceremonyshwe – goldensikhara – Indian-style,corncob-like temple finial,found on many temples inthe Bagan areasima – see theinsoon – alms food offered tomonksstupa – see zedit’ămìn zain – (htamin zain)rice shopTatmadaw – Myanmar’sarmed forcestaung – (daung) mountain,eg Taunggyi means ‘bigmountain’; it can also meana half-yard (measurement)taw – (daw) a commonsuffix, meaning sacred, holyor royal; it can also meanforest or plantationtazaung – shrine building,usually found around zedithanakha – yellowsandalwood-like paste, wornby many Myanmar women ontheir faces as a combinationof skin conditioner, sunblockand make-upthein – ordination hall; calledsima in PaliTheravada – literally ‘Wordof the Elders’; the school ofBuddhism that has thrivedin Sri Lanka and SoutheastAsian countries such asMyanmar and Thailand; alsocalled Southern Buddhismand Hinayanathilashin – nunThirty, the – the ‘30comrades’ of BogyokeAung San who joined theJapanese during WWIIand eventually led Burma(Myanmar) to independencethoun bein – motorisedthree-wheeled passengervehiclesTripitaka – the ‘threebaskets’; the classic Buddhistscriptures consisting of theVinaya (monastic discipline),the Sutta (discourses of theBuddha) and Abhidhamma(Buddhist philosophy)twin – (dwin) well, hole orminevihara – Pali-Sanskrit wordfor sanctuary or chapel forbuddha imagesviss – Myanmar unit ofweight, equal to 3.5lbvotive tablet – inscribedoffering tablet, usually withbuddha imageswa – mouth or river or lake;Inwa means ‘mouth of thelake’wa leq-hkouq – bambooclapper, part of theMyanmar orchestrayagwin – small cymbalsYama pwe – Myanmarclassical dancing based onIndian epic the Ramayanaye – water, liquidyodaya zat – Ayuthayatheatre, the style of theatrebrought into Myanmar withThai captives after the fall ofAyuthaya in 1767yoma – mountain rangeyouq-the pwe – Myanmarmarionette theatreywa – village; a commonsuffix in place names suchas Monywazat pwe – Myanmar classicaldance-drama based onJataka storieszawgyi – an alchemist whohas successfully achievedimmortality throughthe ingestion of special393LANGUAGE GLOSSARY