In the Burmese language, there have been controversies about the name of the country since the 1930s, but the decision of the military regime in 1989 carried the controversy into the English language. Although the military regime thinks that Myanma is more inclusive of minorities than Bama, it was shown above that historically this is not true, Myanma being only a more literary version of Bama. Quite the opposite of being more inclusive, opposition parties and human rights groups contend that the new English name "Myanmar" is actually disrespectful of the minorities of Burma/Myanmar. Minority people, many of whom do not speak Burmese, had become accustomed to the English name "Burma" over the years, and they perceive the new name "Myanmar" as a purely Burmese name reflecting the policy of domination of the ethnic Burman majority over the minorities.But, the issue as to whether to refer to ethnic Burmese, as either 'Burmese' or 'Burman' seems unresolved. I'm also not sure as to whether or not 'Myanma' may be used to refer to Burma proper. Or if its appropriate to use it in formal settings, as it is linguistically a polite word. Apparently Aung San Suu Kyi has been heard to use in it speeches before. One thing is sure though, the name issue is mainly symbolic, as names usually are. I think its important to understand how the name issue is connected to the relationship between Burma proper, and the ethnic minorities. But we probably all have better things to be discussing.
funlink: outside the beltway