Papers by Patrick McCormick
Routledge Handbook of Theravada Buddhism, 2022
The right of Stephen C. Berkwitz and Ashley Thompson to be identified as the authors of the edito... more The right of Stephen C. Berkwitz and Ashley Thompson to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
Oxford Handbook of Southeast Asian Englishes, 2024
INa large Burmese city like Yangon, written English is everywhere, often seemingly to the exclusi... more INa large Burmese city like Yangon, written English is everywhere, often seemingly to the exclusion of Burmese.' Much written communication features English or is sometimes only in English. The careful listener will hear English words and phrases in Burmese speech and the speech of other local languages. Yet English is not a language of regular or natural medium of communication between Burmese, unlike in India, Malaysia, or the Philippines. While many people have a basic skill in English, far fewer have conversational fluency. A close examination of the use of written and spoken English in Burma reveals sometimes contradictory roles, a situation which appears to have become natural and unquestioned for the majority of people. I review the historical context of British colonialism, which brought English to the new colony called Burma. The English language came to be a symbol of power, prestige, and influence, a role which it has maintained through to the present. I explore how speakers of Burmese and other local languages use English, whether in speech or writing, to signal their allegiance to power, so that the use of English is not merely functional in the sense of making up for words which local languages lack. Traditional pedagogies, largely unaltered despite the colonial legacy of the British, appear to fuel those practices. Ihave based my analysis on my observations living and working in Burma for 16 years. No doubt those observations are biased towards Yangon, the former capital and the largest city, which for many years was the only place where (white) foreigners were allowed to live. The | The single term Myanmar is not sufficient to designate country, language, and ethnicity in English, which normally marks a distinction at least between country and language/ethnicity. In this chapter I use Burma for the country, Burmese for any citizen (or local resident) of the country, and Burman for the ethnic majority, called Bama in Burmese. Myanmar is now the official name of the country, but only in English, not Chinese, Thai, or most European languages. Below, I address the Burmese desire to control foreign perceptions through the English language.
Education and Globalization in Southeast Asia: Issues and Challenges, 2017
between the central government and various armed Mon groups, whose goals have been greater autono... more between the central government and various armed Mon groups, whose goals have been greater autonomy if not some kind of independence. Within Mon State, there were until recently a number of so-called "brown" areas, those under partial government control, and "black" areas, which were not under government control. Mon State is fairly prosperous, with high levels of emigration to neighboring Thailand. A number of international organizations, such as UNICEF, the Myanmar Peace Support Initiative (MPSI), and Norwegian People's Aid, have funded education programmes there. In Yangon Region we conducted interviews with the Ministry of Education officials. Yangon Region has the country's largest city and a great diversity of socio-economic backgrounds among its population.
Routledge International Handbook of Language Policy in Asia, 2019
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 selection and e... more Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business © 2019 selection and editorial matter, Andy Kirkpatrick and Anthony J. Liddicoat; individual chapters, the contributors The right of Andy Kirkpatrick and Anthony J. Liddicoat to be identified as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
The Center for Southeast Asian Studies asked me to write a short piece on what I've seen in Yango... more The Center for Southeast Asian Studies asked me to write a short piece on what I've seen in Yangon related to Covid19.
The historiography of the Mons of Burma reflects the larger intellectual world in which Mon schol... more The historiography of the Mons of Burma reflects the larger intellectual world in which Mon scholars have been schooled and trained. Under British Colonialism, British scholars introduced a number of ideas and practices related to history. These included ways of seeing and evaluating sources, and concepts of ethnicity. Local intellectuals, including Mon scholars, have made these colonial inheritances part of their own historiographical practices. A result is that Mon scholars often project anachronistic readings on to their own past.
Journal of Burma Studies, 2014
This Focus moves forward a long-stalled reconsideration to argue that the relationship between la... more This Focus moves forward a long-stalled reconsideration to argue that the relationship between language, ethnicity, and identity in Burma is not necessarily set in stone. Rather, language may be one element informing an ongoing process which various groups engage in to define themselves in relation to others
In lieu of an offprint/proof of the book chapter, I'm providing a pdf of the nearly-identical pap... more In lieu of an offprint/proof of the book chapter, I'm providing a pdf of the nearly-identical paper. See McCormick, Jenny, and Baker, eds. _The Mon Over Two Millennia: Monuments, Manuscripts, Movements_. Bangkok: Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, 2011, pp. 123-147. Please cite the published version, which also includes some minor corrections.
The historiography of the Mons of Burma reflects the larger intellectual world in which Mon schol... more The historiography of the Mons of Burma reflects the larger intellectual world in which Mon scholars have been schooled and trained. Under British colonialism, British scholars introduced a number of ideas and practices related to history. These included ways of viewing and evaluating sources and concepts of ethnicity. Local intellectuals, including Mon scholars, have made these colonial inheritances part of their own historiographical practices. A result is that Mon scholars
often project anachronistic readings on to their own past.
Chapter from Jenny and Sidwell, _Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages_ (Brill 2015). Includes hist... more Chapter from Jenny and Sidwell, _Handbook of Austroasiatic Languages_ (Brill 2015). Includes historical background of the Old Mon language, the relationship and distance between Old Khmer and Old Mon, phonology, word and syllable structure, phoneme inventory (consonants, vowels, and suprasegmentals), word formation, derivational affixes, compounding, reduplication, phrase and clause structure, non-verbal predicates, negation, simple and complex sentences, and all the other elements of basic grammatical description. Includes sample glossed text from the Myazedi inscription, 12th century Pagan.
Part of the British project to classify the peoples of Burma was the practice of equating languag... more Part of the British project to classify the peoples of Burma was the practice of equating language with "race," or what is now called "ethnicity." While language can reveal much about people and speech communities, this simple equation of language = ethnicity also leaves out much complexity. Local understandings of identity and community have been as much informed by this official technology bequeathed from the British, as by ideas and practices rooted in the pre-colonial, Burmese imperial past.
This publication is the outcome of a joint workshop organized by the EFEO Rangoon and the British... more This publication is the outcome of a joint workshop organized by the EFEO Rangoon and the British Academy, held in Yangon on February 14th, 2015. While many Burmese see English as the natural language of higher education in Myanmar, using Burmese may serve the best long-term interests of students, teachers, and societies. This report summarizes the presentations by experts familiar with the region. Views do not necessarily represent those of the EFEO or the British Academy.
This publication is the outcome of a joint workshop organized by the EFEO Rangoon and the British... more This publication is the outcome of a joint workshop organized by the EFEO Rangoon and the British Academy, held in Yangon on February 14th, 2015. While many Burmese see English as the natural language of higher education in Myanmar, using Burmese may serve the best long-term interests of students, teachers, and societies. This report summarizes the presentations by experts familiar with the region. Views do not necessarily represent those of the EFEO or the British Academy.
Mon has long been in contact with the dominant Burmese and Thai languages. The documented history... more Mon has long been in contact with the dominant Burmese and Thai languages. The documented history of more than a thousand years allows us to trace changes in the language over time. This study looks at the divergent Mon varieties spoken today in Burma (Myanmar) and Thailand respectively, both influenced to different degrees and in different domains by the dominant national languages, Burmese and Thai. The study brings together insights from areal linguistics and history, painting a picture of the development of Mon in the two countries and its changing structure.
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Papers by Patrick McCormick
often project anachronistic readings on to their own past.
often project anachronistic readings on to their own past.