Myanmar Digit Four

It marks the number four in Myanmar-script text.

Use it wherever Burmese needs a four — counts, dates, prices, list numbers. The script itself descends from a South Indian script in the Brahmi family, adapted around the eighth century to write the Mon language; its earliest known inscription dates to the 11th century, and the earliest surviving Burmese inscription on record is dated AD 1113.

Inscriptions from the 11th century were mostly dedicatory or religious records, so a digit's first jobs were marking dates, counts, and quantities — the same jobs it does today.

Where else does ၄ show up?

In old market measures and astrology tables — still meaning four.

A Myanmar Ministry of Information explainer dated June 19, 2024 records the traditional measure chain: ၄ တင်း is four units called တင်း, which together make one unit called တို့. The digit stays a count; the word after it names what is being counted.

A British Library catalog lists a Burmese astrology manuscript from the 19th century whose tables run on Burmese numerals — horoscope arithmetic with the same digit.