who were we

Here is a sample of loan words found in Burmese:

suffering: (doʔkʰa), from Pāli dukkha
radio: (rèdìjò), from English "radio"
method: (səniʔ), from Mon
eggroll: (kɔ̀pja̰N]), from Hokkien 潤餅 (jūn-piáⁿ)
wife: (zəní), from Hindi jani
noodle: (kʰaʊʔ sʰwé), from Shan [kʰaw3 sʰen3]
foot (unit of measurement): (pè), from Portuguese pé
flag: (əlàN), from Arabic language علم ʕalam
storeroom: (godaʊN), from Malay gudang

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/