ဘၣ်

S'gaw Karen

Etymology

From Proto-Karen [Term?]. Cognate with Eastern Pwo ၜး (bá), Western Pwo ဘၪ, Pa'o Karen ဗာႏ.

Verb

ဘၣ် • (bà)

1. hit (a mark)
2. come into contact with, encounter, face, contract (a disease)
3. pre-verbal modal verb: must
4. post-clausal modal verb: can, be able to

Usage notes

The verb ဘၣ် is used in a patient-promoting construction which is similar to the English passive voice. Examples:

• စီၤပၤဘၣ်တၢ်မၤသံအီၤ

  saw̄ pābàta̱ mā thee ʼaw̄

  The king was killed.

Adjective

ဘၣ် • (bà)

1. correct

Proper noun

ဘၣ် • (bà)

1. a Karen name

Particle

ဘၣ် • (bà)

1. Sentence-final negative particle used together with the negative prefix တ (ta), which precedes the verb.

   ယတသ့ၣ်ညါဘၣ်

   ya ta thaỳ nyahbà

   I do not know.