View source for Burmese numerical classifiers

{{Short description|Grammatical component}}
{{unsourced|date=May 2025}}
{{Contains special characters|Burmese}}

In [[Burmese language|Burmese]], [[classifier (linguistics)|classifier]]s or [[measure word]]s, in the form of particles, are used when counting or measuring nouns. They immediately follow the number, unless the number is a [[round number]] (ends in a zero), in which case, the measure word precedes the number. Nouns to which the classifiers refer to can be omitted if the context allows, because many classifiers have implicit meanings.

The only exceptions to this rule are measurements of time or age (minutes, hours, days, years, etc.), where a preceding noun is not required, as the time measurement acts as a measure word.

==Classifiers==
See [[Help:IPA/Burmese|IPA/Burmese]] for an explanation of the phonetic symbols used in this section.

{| class="wikitable"
!Burmese
!IPA
!Transliteration
!Main usage
|-
! colspan="4" | People and animals
|-
|{{lang|my|ကောင်}}
|{{IPA|[kàuɰ̃]}}
|kaung
|animals
|-
|{{lang|my|ပါး}}
|{{IPA|[pá]}}
|pa
|sacred persons (such as Buddhist monks and nuns)
|-
|{{lang|my|ယောက်}}
|{{IPA|[jauʔ]}}
|yauk
|persons (general classifier)
|-
|{{lang|my|ရှဉ်း}}
|{{IPA|[ʃíɰ̃]}}
|shin
|pairs of draught cattle
|-
|{{lang|my|ဦး}}
|{{IPA|[ʔú]}}
|u
|people, monks and nuns
|-
! colspan="4" | Other measure words
|-
|{{lang|my|ကုံး}}
|{{IPA|[kóuɰ̃]}}
|koun
|garlands, necklaces, stringed items
|-
|{{lang|my|ကျိုက်}}
|{{IPA|[tɕaiʔ]}}
|kyaik
|draughts gulped down
|-
|{{lang|my|ကျိပ်}}
|{{IPA|[tɕeiʔ]}}
|kyeik
|items in 'tens'
|-
|{{lang|my|ခါ}}
|{{IPA|[kʰà]}}
|kha
|number of times
|-
|{{lang|my|ခု}}
|{{IPA|[kʰṵ]}}
|khu
|items (general classifier)
|-
|{{lang|my|ခက်}}
|{{IPA|[kʰɛʔ]}}
|khet
|branches, sprays of flowers
|-
|{{lang|my|ခင်}}
|{{IPA|[kʰìɰ̃]}}
|khin
|skeins of wool or cotton
|-
|{{lang|my|ခေါင်း}}
|{{IPA|[kʰáuɰ̃]}}
|khaung
|skeins of yarn
|-
|{{lang|my|ခိုင်}}
|{{IPA|[kʰàiɰ̃]}}
|khaing
|bunches of flowers, fruits
|-
|{{lang|my|ခေါက်}}
|{{IPA|[kʰauʔ]}}
|khauk
|trips
|-
|{{lang|my|ခွေ}}
|{{IPA|[kʰwè]}}
|khway
|rings, coils
|-
|{{lang|my|ခွန်း}}
|{{IPA|[kʰúɰ̃]}}
|khun
|words
|-
|{{lang|my|ချီ}}
|{{IPA|[tɕʰì]}}
|chi
|performances or shows
|-
|{{lang|my|ချိုး}}
|{{IPA|[dʑó]}}
|cho
|components of a ratio
|-
|{{lang|my|ချက်}}
|{{IPA|[tɕʰɛʔ]}}
|chet
|strokes, blows, hits, points<br/>strokes of clocks, drums, gongs, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ချောင်း}}
|{{IPA|[tɕʰáuɰ̃]}}
|chaung
|thin, long items (like pencils, sticks)
|-
|{{lang|my|ချပ်}}
|{{IPA|[tɕʰaʔ]}}
|chat
|flat items (like tables)
|-
|{{lang|my|ခြည်}}
|{{IPA|[tɕʰì]}}
|chi
|rings, bangles
|-
|{{lang|my|စီး}}
|{{IPA|[sí]}}
|si
|vehicles and transport animals
|-
|{{lang|my|စည်း}}
|{{IPA|[sí]}}
|si
|bundles
|-
|{{lang|my|စင်း}}
|{{IPA|[síɰ̃]}}
|sin
|long-shaped items (like arrows, boats, cars)
|-
|{{lang|my|စောင်}}
|{{IPA|[sàuɰ̃]}}
|saung
|literary pieces, documents, letters, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|စုံ}}
|{{IPA|[sòuɰ̃]}}
|soun
|sets or pairs
|-
|{{lang|my|ဆ}}
|{{IPA|[sʰa̰]}}
|{{Not a typo|hsa}}
|number of times per equal amount
|-
|{{lang|my|ဆူ}}
|{{IPA|[sʰù]}}
|hsu
|sacred objects and ''[[parabaik]]'' (Pali manuscripts)
|-
|{{lang|my|ဆောင်}}
|{{IPA|[sʰàuɰ̃]}}
|hsaung
|buildings (like houses, monasteries and royal buildings)
|-
|{{lang|my|ဆိုင်း}}
|{{IPA|[sʰáiɰ̃]}}
|hsaing
|work shifts, work teams, packets of gold foil
|-
|{{lang|my|တန်}}
|{{IPA|[tàɰ̃]}}
|tan
|different legs of a journey, component parts of abstract concepts
|-
|{{lang|my|တန်&#4151;}}
|{{IPA|[ta̰ɰ̃]}}
|tan
|bars, stripes, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|တုတ်}}
|{{IPA|[touʔ]}}
|touk
|carcasses of hares
|-
|{{lang|my|တွဲ}}
|{{IPA|[twɛ́]}}
|twe
|items in pairs, bunches or clusters
|-
|{{lang|my|တွက်}}
|{{IPA|[twɛʔ]}}
|twet
|snapping of fingers
|-
|{{lang|my|ထပ်}}
|{{IPA|[tʰaʔ]}}
|htat
|layers, strata, storeys of buildings, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ထမ်း}}
|{{IPA|[tʰáɰ̃]}}
|htan
|loads carried with a [[shoulder pole]] (yoke)
|-
|{{lang|my|ထောက်}}
|{{IPA|[tʰauʔ]}}
|htauk
|stages of a journey, width of a point or tip of something
|-
|{{lang|my|ထည်}}
|{{IPA|[tʰɛ̀]}}
|{{Not a typo|hte}}
|articles of clothing
|-
|{{lang|my|ထုပ်}}
|{{IPA|[tʰouʔ]}}
|htout
|packages
|-
|{{lang|my|ထုံး}}
|{{IPA|[tʰóuɰ̃]}}
|htoun
|knots, coils, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ထွာ}}
|{{IPA|[tʰwà]}}
|htwa
|number of hand spans
|-
|{{lang|my|ထွေ}}
|{{IPA|[tʰwè]}}
|htwei
|varied items; melds of playing cards
|-
|{{lang|my|နပ်}}
|{{IPA|[naʔ]}}
|nat
|meals
|-
|{{lang|my|ပါး}}
|{{IPA|[pá]}}
|pa
|sacred persons or objects (such as Buddhist monks)
|-
|{{lang|my|ပေါ}}
|{{IPA|[pɔ́]}}
|paw
|bundles of seedlings
|-
|{{lang|my|ပေါက်}}
|{{IPA|[pauʔ]}}
|pauk
|dots or drops
|-
|{{lang|my|ပိုင်}}
|{{IPA|[pàiɰ̃]}}
|paing
|monk's robe; piece of silk used as headdress
|-
|{{lang|my|ပိုင်း}}
|{{IPA|[páiɰ̃]}}
|paing
|part or division of something
|-
|{{lang|my|ပတ်}}
|{{IPA|[paʔ]}}
|pat
|weeks
|-
|{{lang|my|ပင်}}
|{{IPA|[pìɰ̃]}}
|pin
|tall upright things (trees, plants, poles, etc.); long strands (hair, thread, etc.).
|-
|{{lang|my|ပိုဒ်}}
|{{IPA|[paiʔ]}}
|paik
|paragraphs
|-
|{{lang|my|ပုဒ်}}
|{{IPA|[pouʔ]}}
|poud
|pieces of writing (such as articles,verse, songs, etc.)
|-
|{{lang|my|ပုံ}}
|{{IPA|[pòuɰ̃]}}
|poun
|piles of material
|-
|{{lang|my|ပျစ်}}
|{{IPA|[pjiʔ]}}
|pyit
|mats of palm thatching
|-
|{{lang|my|ပြူး}}
|{{IPA|[pjú]}}
|pyu
|items in twos or pairs.
|-
|{{lang|my|ပြိုက်}}
|{{IPA|[pjaiʔ]}}
|pyaik
|frequency of rain and snow
|-
|{{lang|my|ပြင်}}
|{{IPA|[pjìɰ̃]}}
|pyin
|doctrines, concepts, dictums, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ပြာ}}
|{{IPA|[pjàɰ̃]}}
|pyan
|number of times
|-
|{{lang|my|ပွဲ}}
|{{IPA|[pwɛ́]}}
|pwe
|dishes; offertories
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖီး}}
|{{IPA|[pʰí]}}
|hpi
|hands of bananas or plantains
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖောင်}}
|{{IPA|[pʰàuɰ̃]}}
|hpaung
|height or depth equal to the height of a person standing with upraised hands (i.e. from the soles of his feet to the tips of his upraised hands)
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖုံ}}
|{{IPA|[pʰòuɰ̃]}}
|hpoun
|things in heaps, batches or packs
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖန်}}
|{{IPA|[pʰàɰ̃]}}
|hpan
|denotes frequency
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖြာ}}
|{{IPA|[pʰjà]}}
|hpya
|denotes variety, diversity
|-
|{{lang|my|ဖွာ}}
|{{IPA|[pʰwà]}}
|hpwa
|number of puffs (from cigarettes, etc.)
|-
|{{lang|my|မည်}}
|{{IPA|[mjì]}}
|myi
|ingredients of a drug; kinds of dishes served
|-
|{{lang|my|မြူ}}
|{{IPA|[mjù]}}
|myu
|pots of [[Palm wine|toddy wine]]
|-
|{{lang|my|မျက်}}
|{{IPA|[mjeʔ]}}
|myet
|bundles of loops in a skein of cotton
|-
|{{lang|my|မှုတ်}}
|{{IPA|[m̥ouʔ]}}
|hmout
|number of scoops with a dipper or ladle
|-
|{{lang|my|မြွှာ}}
|{{IPA|[m̥wà]}}
|hmwa
|segments of fruit (such as cloves of garlic); parts of a multiparous birth (such as twins)
|-
|{{lang|my|မြှောင်&#4151;}}
|{{IPA|[m̥ja̰uɰ̃]}}
|hmyaung
|longitudinally divided segments (such as cloves of garlic)
|-
|{{lang|my|ယာ}}
|{{IPA|[jà]}}
|ya
|[[betel]] quids
|-
|{{lang|my|ယှက်}}
|{{IPA|[ʃɛʔ]}}
|shek
|thin slices of food (such as pancake, waffle, etc.)
|-
|{{lang|my|ရန်}}
|{{IPA|[jàɰ̃]}}
|yan
|objects in pairs
|-
|{{lang|my|ရပ်}}
|{{IPA|[jaʔ]}}
|yat
|itemisation; expressing things in terms of a man's height
|-
|{{lang|my|ရေး}}
|{{IPA|[jé]}}
|yei
|periods of sleep
|-
|{{lang|my|ရေစီး}}
|{{IPA|[jè zí]}}
|yei zi
|leaves in a ''parabaik'' (Pali manuscripts)
|-
|{{lang|my|ရိုက်}}
|{{IPA|[jaiʔ]}}
|yaik
|lengths measured with a bamboo pole
|-
|{{lang|my|ရစ်}}
|{{IPA|[jiʔ]}}
|yit
|instalments, stages, chevrons, stripes, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ရွက်}}
|{{IPA|[jwɛʔ]}}
|ywet
|counting sheets
|-
|{{lang|my|လား}}
|{{IPA|[lá]}}
|la
|races in a contest consisting of a series of cart or boat races
|-
|{{lang|my|လီ}}
|{{IPA|[lì]}}
|li
|multiples, frequencies
|-
|{{lang|my|လေး}}
|{{IPA|[lé]}}
|lei
|used in connection with multiples or in replicate, parts of a ratio
|-
|{{lang|my|လော}}
|{{IPA|[lɔ́]}}
|law
|number of times
|-
|{{lang|my|လက်}}
|{{IPA|[lɛʔ]}}
|lek
|elongated items; turns in the game of dice
|-
|{{lang|my|လုတ်}}
|{{IPA|[louʔ]}}
|lout
|mouthfuls of food
|-
|{{lang|my|လုံး}}
|{{IPA|[lóuɰ̃]}}
|loun
|round, globular items
|-
|{{lang|my|လှိုင်း}}
|{{IPA|[l̥áiɰ̃]}}
|hlaing
|sheaves of paddy
|-
|{{lang|my|လွှာ}}
|{{IPA|[l̥wà]}}
|hlwa
|layers, strata, etc.
|-
|{{lang|my|ဝါး}}
|{{IPA|[wá]}}
|wa
|handsbreadth
|-
|{{lang|my|သား}}
|{{IPA|[θá]}}
|tha
|number of ticals or fractions of a tical or viss
|-
|{{lang|my|သုတ်}}
|{{IPA|[θouʔ]}}
|thouk
|movements in groups or operations in shifts
|-
|{{lang|my|သွယ်}}
|{{IPA|[θwɛ̀]}}
|thwe
|long, sinuous things (such as strands of pearls, garlands of flowers); paths, ways, methods, means, etc.
|-
|}

==See also==
{{wiktionary category|category=Burmese classifiers}}
*[[Burmese units of measurement]]
*[[Burmese language]]
*[[Burmese numerals]]
*[[Measure word]]

{{Burmese language}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Burmese Numerical Classifiers}}
[[Category:Burmese language|Numerical Classifiers]]
[[Category:Lists of words]]
[[Category:Myanmar-related lists|Numerical Classifiers]]
[[Category:Parts of speech]]