Middle Burmese was a form of the Burmese language spoken from the 16th century to the 18th century. Its beginning roughly corresponds with the rise of the Taungoo Dynasty and its transition to Modern Burmese with the beginning of the Konbaung Dynasty. Its transition to Modern Burmese occurred in the 18th century. Middle Burmese is characterized by stabilization of Burmese orthography and steady evolution of the Burmese phonology, which accelerated during the transition from Middle Burmese to Modern Burmese.