# Burmese: shwe bama (ရွှေဗမာ)



## Blacklack

Hello.
Could this expression — shwe bama, ရွှေဗမာ — have been used as a political slogan or something like that?
Many thanks in advance.
Not sure that the script will display correctly, so adding a screenshot.


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## J.F. de TROYES

ရွှေဗမာ  means _golden Burma _and refers to the famous pagodas decorated with golden leaves. So the phrase is not uncommon as names for restaurants , firms and so on and I don't think  it can be used as a political slogan.


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## Blacklack

Thank you. The context is as follows:
There's a novel being translated from Chinese. The authors depicts a surge of nationalistic feeling in Burma during the Japanese invasion of 1942. The local anti-British insurgents use a slogan with the general meaning of "Burma for Burmese".
The author renders it with Chinese characters to the effect of "shu ba ma". "Bama" (ဗမာ) certainly means "Burma". But what about "shu"? I couldn't find anything.


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## Blacklack

I beg your pardon. The people that need my help didn't send me the Chinese transcription. Having asked for it I see now it is in fact "du bama" — 獨巴馬 / 独巴马.


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## J.F. de TROYES

Never mind. So it was definitively a political slogan : Independent Burma, is'nt it ?


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## Blacklack

According to the author it was. I don't know how well he would be acquainted with the matter.


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## Flaminius

တို့ဗမာ (Dobama) is "Our Burma."


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## Blacklack

Yes, that's it. Thank you very much.


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