Cambodian for Beginners by Richard K. Gilbert (Gane ws. Hostin ) Sovandy Hang ( any ging) PAIBOON PUBLISHING ISH!’ambodian for Beginners ‘opyright ©2004 by Paiboon Publishing *rinted in Thailand All rights reserved Paiboon Poomsan Publishing Paiboon Publishing 582 Amarinniwate Village 2 PMB 192, 1442A Walnut Street Nawamin 90 (Sukha 1), Bungkum Berkeley, California USA 94709 Bangkok 10230 Tel 1-510-848-7086 THAILAND Fax 1-510-848-4521 Tel 662-509-8632 info@paiboonpublishing.com Fax 662-519-5437 www.paiboonpublishing.com infowpaiboonpublishing.com www.paiboonpublishing.com Cover picture: Neary Hang Cover and graphic design by Randy Kincaid Edited by Ron Colvin II and Benjawan Poomsan Becker Transliterations: Paiboon Publishing ISBN 1-887521-35-6 Printed by Chulalongkorn University Printing House Tel 0-2218-3563, 0-2215-3612 March, 2006 [4905-215/1,000(2)] http://www cuprint chula ac thIntroduction Jum-riab-sua! Hello! Welcome to the kingdom and the language of Cambodia, one of Asia's most exotic lands and cultures. Today, many people are eager to learn the Cambodian language, officially known as Khmer, but until now there was no effective textbook to show them the way. This book solves the prob- lem. Cambodian for Beginners is easy to use and easy to understand. It teaches the four basic language skills: speaking, listening (with the compact discs), reading, and writing. The first part of each lesson teach- es vocabulary and sentence structure. As a helpful tool, a vocabulary list with Cambodian spelling, transliteration, and English definitions appears at the beginning of each chapter. The second part of each lesson teaches students how to read and write. At first glance, the Cambodian script looks exotic and difficult to understand, and many students wonder if it is worth the trouble. Their pri- mary goal is to learn how to hold an effective conversation, so why go to all the trouble of learning the alphabet? Through these lessons, though, students quickly discover that learning the script is much easier than it looks. Written Cambodian uses no spaces between words. But we do put spaces in, so that beginning students can master the script more easily. Students also quickly discover that learning the Cambodian alphabet is indeed worth the trouble. Because the written language 1s almost entirely phonetic, learning the alphabet greatly facilitates pronunciation and com- prehension. So we begin teaching the Cambodian alphabet from the very first lesson. The book includes three appendixes with important learning tools. The first appendix helps students plunge right into using the lan- guage: it lists many common Cambodian phrases that students can use te make conversation with Cambodians or to use in their travels. The sec- ond contains an introduction and summary of the Cambodian alphabet And the third gives the answers to the drills and quizzes that are set fort! in each chapter. Although this book is designed for beginners, it is also an idez tool for people who want to improve their basic skills in Cambodian an build a foundation for future studies. It is also very useful for individt als preparing a trip to Cambodia. The book can be used either for ind vidual study or as a formal classroom textbook.4 The Cambodian language differs from English in many ways. Here are the basics: Q Adjectives follow the noun. In Cambodian we say “dog big” (chgae tom) instead of “big dog.” Q There are no verb conjugations in Cambodian. Even though there are official ways to classify tenses, they are not commonly used in practice. Tenses are understood from the context of the sentence or from other identifying words that indicate time. Q There are no articles (a, an, the) Q There is no “to be” verb used with adjectives. “He is skinny” would be “He skinny.” (goat sgoom) of. Q Written Cambodian is almost 100 percent phonetic. Even though Cambodia is a somewhat obscure country, the Cambodian language is increasingly in demand. Now that Cambodia has overcome its recent history of war, it is once again open to the outside world. Foreign investment and economic development have begun to take hold in Cambodia, and the Angkor Wat temples have become a world-renowned tourist attraction. Foreign countries such as the United States also have large populations of Cambodian speakers. However, there are still very few individuals who have actually been able to learn the Cambodian language. This book will help those individuals over- come this language barrier in order to more fully enjoy Cambodia and its people. Note on Transliteration The transliteration system is designed to provide students with an introduction to Cambodian pronunciation. Every effort was taken to cre- ate a phonetically correct transliteration system. However, the system is not perfect because many sounds in the Cambodian language do not exist in English and cannot be properly represented phonetically. Therefore, it is imperative that the student begins his or her study of Cambodian with the help of the accompanying cassette tapes or a competent teacher. Even though it is important to thoroughly understand the translit- eration system in this book, the system should be considered nothing more than a crutch. No one in Cambodia has ever seen or heard of such a transliteration system. It should be discarded as soon as possible and replaced with the Cambodian alphabet.Table of Contents Guide to Pronunciation 9 Lesson 1 15 Greetings; yes-no questions; personal pronouns; numbers; the Cambodian writing system; consonant classes; determining vowel sounds in written Cambodian; consonants and vowels Lesson 2 39 nou (at); mian (to have); more pronouns; more consonants and vowels Lesson 3 61 Jong (to want), dta# (to go); verb combinations; asking for permission; more vowels and consonants Lesson 4 83 Jjeh, dang, and sgoal (to know); bpon-maan (how much, how many); modifiers; more vowels and consonants Lesson 5 107 Tenses; telling time; jaang lowercase script introduced; independent vowels Lesson 6 135 Months; days of the week; in order to; more sub-consonants ~ Lesson 7 153 Telephone conversations; tloab and dael; food; more sub-consonants Lesson 8 177 Body parts; everyday life; more sub-consonantsLesson 9 197 Comparisons; classifiers; more adjectives; other features of written Cambodian Lesson 10 221 Family and kinship terms; occupations; animals; the many forms of the word “you” Appendix I 247 Useful Words and Phrases Appendix II 265 Summary of the Cambodian Writing System Appendix HI 283 Test and Writing Exercise AnswersCambodian for Beginners 9 Guide to Pronunciation Sounds While Cambodian is not a tonal language, it does have its challenges. The hardest part is learning proper pronunciation. This can be especially difficult for English speakers because there are many sounds in Cambodian that are not represented in the English language. Also, there are many subtleties to master. If you pro- nounce a word or a phrase incorrectly, other people may not under- stand what you mean to say. But here is the good news: our transliteration script will help you immensely, as you will see below. We cannot possibly provide a fully accurate phonetic reflec- tion of each language sound, so students should use the compact discs for this book or a competent teacher when learning these sounds for the first time. Vowels Cambodian vowels can be short or long, and each vowel can have two sounds depending on the consonant used. Short vow- els are clipped and cut off at the end. Long ones are drawn out. This book shows short vowels with a single letter and long vowels with double letters (“a” for short; “aa” for long). Many of these vowel sounds have no comparable sound in English. While it is possible to find English words with vowels that are somewhat similar to the Cambodian vowel, the sound is not exactly the same. For this reason, it is imperative that the student uses the compact discs as a study aid to develop correct pronunci- ation. Vowels and consonants with little or no English equivalent are marked with an asterisk.10 Simple Vowels 3 like 9 in opportunity 99 like 99 in August a like a in apple aa like a in cat i like i in tip e like e in bet ii like ee in see ey like ey in hey 3 like 9 in gun 20 like 9a in teacher without the r sound uu like ya in ruler ° like o in note 00 like ow in show u like u in flute uu like 00 in soon ee like a in late ee similar to ee (not common) Complex Vowels Guide to Pronunciation jong - to want doob_ - bottle gat - tocut dtaa - grandfather jit - close jet - heart dtii - place dey - land * dang - to know jeeng - foot, leg * guu - is,tobe* ** dtok - table goon - child dtuk - to keep juun - to send deek - to sleep meen - real * The following dipthongs are combinations of the above vowels. aw gaut - to be born ia rian - to study wa jua - to believe ai dai - hand au jau - grandchildren oa groan - better ao gao - to shave ua suan- park ae daek - metal ei prei - forest ou now - at, present ea leak - to hideCambodian for Beginners 1 Consonant Combination Vowels The following vowels have a final consonant sound. om gom - “don’t” um __ bpro-jum - meeting om jom - exactly am jam - to remember oam noam - to lead eh beh - to pick, pluck ih nih - this oh joh - to descend uh pdtuh - to explode oh gch - island ang dtang - to appoint eang reang - dry, lack of rain eah dteah - to slap uah — bpruah - because am __ram-paab - excited ah bah - to touch Consonants g as in gold gat - to cut k as in kiss kam - to bite ng as in ringing ngiay - easy j as in jet jeek - banana * ch as in chin cheh - to burn i as in el nifio filam - to eat * d as in doll dau - to walk t as in tender toat - to be fat n as in need nok - to miss dt in between the dtaa - grandfather * d and t sound b as in baby baay - food, cooked rice p as in pretty pia-saa - language bp in between the bpuu - uncle * b and p sound m as in money mian - to have y as in you yiam - to guard Tr rolled like the rian - to study Spanish r 1 as in love luy - money vw a combination vwaen-dtaa - glasses * of the English v and w sound - s as in sand siaw-pou - book h as in honey haal - to dry12 Guide to Pronunciation Note on Consonants The /dt/ sound lies between the /d/ and the /t/. Similarly, the /bp/ sound is between the /b/ and /p/. (In linguistic terms, they are both unvoiced and unaspirated.) However, the /vw/ sound is a combination of both sounds, and both are voiced in one double consonant sound. However, when this consonant is used as a final consonant, only the /w/ sound is pronounced. Unlike English, /ng/ can occur at the beginning of words in Cambodian. Cambodian also has many initial consonant clusters that are not found in English. Some of these sounds are /jr/, /mk/, /pdt/, /dtr/, /tm/, /bd/, /km/, /kn/, and /gd/. Other final consonant sounds will be represented as fol- lows: /k/ for /g/ and /k/ final consonants; /b/ for /b/, /bp/, and /p/ final consonants; and /t/ for /d/, /dt/, and /t/ final consonants. The letter /y/ will also be used as a final consonant to represent a short /ii/ vowel sound. The /fi/ final consonant combines an initial /y/ final consonant with a final /n/ final consonant. Practice the Following Words A. Words with long vowels: 1. jaan (m8) - dish, bowl 2. ruub (jt) - picture 3. geeng ( tft) - to sleep, rest 4, bey ( i) - three 5. dtaam ( Mu) - to follow B. Words with short vowels: 1. gat (ma) - to cut 2. chob (Aut) - to stop 3. jet ( a) ~ heart 4. dtak = ( $n) - water 5. dtok () - tableCambodian for Beginners . 13 vA Pwno wPweye wPpwno C. Words with complex vowels: dau (187) - to walk pliang ( rays) - rain jaot ( img) - to accuse ruang ( i) - story gae ( in) - to Correct D. Words with consonant combination vowels: noam (81) - to lead seh (this) - horse jih (Bs) - to ride dteang ( Si) - including, both dam (fi) - to plant, grow something E. Words with double consonants: gruu ( 8 ) - teacher tmeefi ( 18M) - tooth pleeng ( 14 ) - music bdey (i) - husband gbaal ( Ape ) - head Similar Consonant and Vowel Sounds When you are not understood, you are often making subtle errors in pronunciation. Words with similar sounds can have com- pletely different meanings. The length of the vowel is also very important. Try to get the vowel length correct. If you do not, it is easy for others to misunderstand you. Practice saying the follow- ing words. Similar Sound, Different Meaning 1. dtaa (mm) - grandfather taa (&1) - to speak tom (fi) - big dom (8) - pile14 dtum ( §) tum (8) 3. jam (wi) jom (8) 4. dtroo ({$) dtrouw ( g i) 5. bat (mA) bak — (tafi) baat (tti/ mg) 6. bak joong (rit) baat joong — (titi) bot joong (ust) 7. dtaam (my) dam (eh) 8. gaat (fei) kaat (216i) gat (mii) Short and Long Vowels gaat (ffi) - card doob (BU) - bottle Pen joong (tt) - to tie, bind baat (tS) - yes (male) Guide to Pronunciation - ripe, mature to smell - to remember; to wait - exactly ' - to hold, support - correct; must - to lose, disappear - to break - bottom; foot; yes particle (male) - to break your foot - the bottom of your foot - to go to the bathroom - to follow - to plant, grow - card - to waste, lose - to cut jong (84) - to want bat (tf) - gone, lost gat (Mai) - tocut dob (BU) -tenLesson 1 Greetings; yes-no questions; personal pronouns; numbers, the Cambodian writing system; consonant classes; determining vowel sounds in written Cambodian; consonants and vowelsCambodian for Beginners mee-rian dtii muay veak-a-sab kfiom 8 nek Hifi boong Ut look tani chmuah thine jem-riab-sua inuag? jem-riab-lia/lia-sen-hauy Env / anessiiies sok-sob-baay dtee — WenTINuits sok-sob-baay Ajetwipty kfiom sgb-baay-jet baan juab look nypMtAMaguTANn ot-dtooh HfiTgIAN soom-dtooh fywignd min-ey-dtee sits 99-gun/soom 99-gun HiFNN/ EH UHIFNN joh vwifl Im baat tg jaa fh jia /gua-jia mh/ Bh siaw-pow —tagjite gaa-saet mint nia-le-gaa_ mgim bik iB kmau-dai 1gli8 ga-boob Mut twijs Go 17 Lesson 1 nAyese Vocabulary I, me you; person! you (for use with people of your same age group) you (for use with people who have a high social status) name “Hello.” “Goodbye.” “How are you doing?” to be fine “Nice to meet you.”3 “Excuse me.” “Tm sorry.” “Tt doesn’t matter.”4 “Thank you.” “So, (what about...?)” instead, again yes (male speaker)> yes (female speaker)> is, to be book newspaper watch, clock pen pencil bag, wallet18 nih 98 nuh {818 a-vwey FF ey i min/ot 8/ Hf dtee/ot-dtee ig / "tts dtau 1 dtee 1g meen {ug meen dtee iusig rea LL goo A dae igi yul wo yul dtee wists yul 05 min yul dtee Ssussiig Lesson 1 this that what a common colloquial abbreviation of the word a-vwey (what) no, not, do not no initial question particle final question particle? right, correct, really “u Tight?” or also and, too to understand “Understand?” “(1) understand.” “(1) don’t understand.” Note: 1. nek is the generic form of the English word “you.” However, it is not used in general speech, and it can actually be considered offensive when used in the wrong situation. For example, if a young person used this word when talking to someone older than them, this would be very socially offensive. Correct forms of the word “you” focus on age, kinship relation, and social status. 2. sok-sab-baay dtee is more colloquially pronounced sok-sob-baay ey. The word dtee is oftentimes abbreviated in speech to ey. 3. The word Jook is used in this phrase for the English word “you.” However, other forms of the word “you” can be used according to context. 4. min-ey-dtee has the following meanings: “It doesn’t matter.”, “That’s all right.”, “Not at all.”, “It’s nothing.”, “Never mind.”, “Don’t mention it.”, “Forget it.”, “You’re welcome.”, and more. 5. baat (for male speakers) and jaa (for female speakers) are generic forms of the English word “yes.” However, “yes” in this sense mainly means an acknowledgment of the other person. It does not always mean an affirmative answer to a question.Cambodian for Beginners 19 vwee-jia-goo opr Grammar You will be happy to know that Cambodian grammar is very simple. The grammar usually follows a subject-verb-object sentence structure. However, there are no articles (a, an, the) like in English. e.g. nih jia siaw-pow. = This is a book. (Literally: This is book.) nih jia a-vwey? = What is this? (Literally: This is what?) When telling or asking for a name, do not use the “to be” verb jia. Instead, simply use the structure shown below. e.g. kfiom chmuah so-paa. = My name is Sopha. 7 (Literally: I name Sopha.) goat chmuah ey? = What is his name? (Literally: He name what?) dtau (18) is the initial particle i: a question sentence. It is generally used in formal situations for question sentences that do not form yes-no answers. However, it is optional and is oftentimes not used at all, especially in informal situations. e.g. (dtau) nih jia a-vwey? = What is this? (Literally: This is what?) dtee (18) actually has several meanings. First, dtee (19) is a question particle that is always placed at the end of question words or phrases that demand a yes or no answer. e.g. yul dtee? = (Do you) understand? look yul, meen dtee? = You understand, right? In order to express a negative phrase in Cambodian, the word min or ot is placed before a verb or modifier to indicate that it is a negative phrase. In addition to being a question particle, dtee (19) is also used as a final particle in a negative phrase. e.g. min meen dtee. = That is not right. kfiom ot yul dtee. = I do not understand. meen (i88) is commonly used in a negative phrase with the verb jia. However, it is not used with other verbs. e.g. nih min meen jia ga-boob dtee. = This is not a bag.20 Lesson 1 Conversation 1 Sopha: jom-riab-sua. / age inves Hello. John: baat, jom-riab-sua. ts ms Snuege Hello. Sopha: kfiom chmuah so-paa. dtaw boong chmuah ey? am 68 min: mht My name is Sopha. What’s your name? John: kfiom chmuah joon. kiiom sob-baay-jet baan juab boong. us 8 imine ws & wypwin ms gu uu My name is John. Nice to meet you. Sopha: jaa, kfiom goo sob-baay-jet dae. am om § f ryperq fer Nice to meet you too.Cambodian for Beginners 241 Conversation 2 Vwan-nak: sok-sob-baay dtee? ing: ueuyw 1g How are you doing? Emily: jaa, kfiom sok-sob-baay. joh boong viii, 'sok-sob-baay dtee? tHE fh 8 menue = =6ofe UH Im Aen 1 I’m fine. How about you? Vwan-nak: baat kfiom sok-sob-baay. 99-gun. ing: me § ajenypes = wiRAN Tm fine. Thank you. Note: When practicing dialogues such as those above, use the appropriate gender acknowledgement particle (baat for males, jaa for females).22 Klia Lesson 1 un Sentences ou : nih jia siaw-pow meen dtee? iss th tujitml ius ts This a book, right? : baat nih jia siaw-pou. ms iss mm teufital Yes, this is a book. : nih jia nia-le-gaa meen dtee? ig mh «osm iss ig This is a watch, right? dtee, nih min meen jia nia-le-gaa dtee. i@ iss Bs ius th mgjim sg No, this is not a watch. : dtaw nih jia a-vwey? Howse th 6 What is this? : nih jia ga-boob. igs th my This is a bag. : dtaw nuh jia kmau-dai reu bik? oime m iis oy te Is that a pencil or a pen? : nuh jia bik. isis OG That is a pen. : yul dtee? wes 1g Do you understand? 2 yul. wot (Yes), I understand. : min yul dtee. Gs wi is No, I don’t understand.Cambodian for Beginners 23 6. A: soom-dtooh. ue Isa I’m sorry. B: min-ey-dtee. , Sskig That’s all right. 7. A: 99-gun. HIgaN Thank you. B: min-ey-dtee. Ssiiig You’re welcome. Note: 1. A lot of Cambodian people greet each other with yaang meek dae unrcigs (“How is it going?”) instead of using sok-sob-baay dtee. 2. The subject of a sentence is often omitted when understood from the context. e.g. A: kfiom sok-sob-baay. = baat/jaah, sok-sob-baay. (“I’m fine.”) 3. Cambodian usually has no direct “yes” or “no.” “Yes” or “no” is instead expressed by repeating the main verb or adjective used in the question. e.g. A: yul dtee. = Understand? B: yul. = Understand C: min yul dtee. = Don’t understand. Be careful not to use baat or jaa for “yes” all the time. Use this word mainly to acknowledge the other speaker. 4. When saying, “What is this?” the Cambodian phrase “draw nih jia a-vwey?” has the subject and object reversed from its English equivalent. However, Cambodian people often use the more colloquial phrase “sa-ey nih? ” as well. This puts the object first like in English.24 COIDARWNH OO — oO COHONIDANEKWKWHWWNHNNNH = SSSSSSANHFSANHKH SAN 100 leek ue. soon muay bpii bey buan bpram bpram-muay bpram-bpii (bpram-bpal) bpram-bey bpram-buan dob dob-muay dob-bpii dob-bpram-muay mpei mpei-muay mpei-bpii mpei-bpram-muay saam-seb. saam-seb-muay saam-seb-bpii saam-seb-bpram-muay sae-seb haa-seb hok-seb jet-seb bpaet-seb gau-seb muay rooy Lesson 1 Numbers 2 Gl Dea} «i ae e eT i jes pats ( {patiow)! 3 ee ee Gao Beg Be & ANU TO anuniun ANB LEED inoniy univ wn paddy dade india esisCambodian for Beginners 25 200 bpii rooy aw 600 bpram-muay rooy {yeas 1,000 muay bpoan ws 2,000 bpii bpoan tas 6,000 bpram‘muay bpoan [piytwens 10,000 muay muan yUeS 100,000 muay saen yUiAS 1,000,000 muay lian yUANS 1,000,000,000 muay bpoan lian yumsong Note: |. Officially this word is pronounced bpram-bpii. However, this pronunciation is only used in very formal situations. The word is commonly pronounced bpram-bpal. 2. For ordinal numbers, add dtii (§) in front of cardinal numbers. eg. dtii muay ($8) = the first dtii bpii (807) = the second dtii bey (Si) = the third dtii dob ($88) = the tenth26 Lesson1 Drills 1. Write and say the following sentences in Cambodian using the transliteration system. Also practice saying the sentences. How are you doing? My name is This is a book. That is not a pen. 2. Use the following words to help form five complete sentences. chmuah bik sok-sob-baay nuh jia gaa-saet boong meen dtau dtee baat ey jaa nih kfiom min look a-vwey 3. Practice saying each word in the vocabulary list in conjunction with the audio recordings. Say the word first, and then wait and lis- ten to the recording. This will help you hear how accurately you are pronouncing the words. It will also help you learn the transliteration system. Then repeat the word again after hearing the correct pro- nunciation.Cambodian for Beginners 27 Test 1 Match the English words with the Cambodian words. 1. watch a. a-vwey i 2. book b. bik UG 3. pen c. nih 88 4. this d. kfiom 8 5. I,me e. nia-le-gaa gin 6. also f. nuh ims 7. pencil g. goo fi 8. name h. chmuah seine 9. what i. ga-boob mut ~* 10. bag j. siaw-pow * infin k. kmau-dai_ telia Translate the following sentences into English or Cambodian. 1. dtau boong chmuah ey? fi ouh ominm F 2. baat, kfiom sok-sob-baay. ms § AjenoypeD 3. dtau nih jia siaw-pow rau ga-boob? Wieoiseth wifi gy my 4. How are you doing? 5. This is a newpaper, right?28 Lesson 1 The Cambodian Writing System The Cambodian writing system may look difficult at first, but you will soon find that it is much easier than it appears. Cambodian is a phonetic alphabet that, unlike English, has very few exceptions to it rules. The alphabet has thirty-three basic con- Sonant symbols and thirty-two lower-case sub-consonant symbols. There are also twenty-four vowel symbols. In addition, there are eleven independent vowel symbols. Altogether that makes 100 dif- ferent symbols in the Cambodian alphabet, and that does not include punctuation markers. However, don’t let this discourage you. Cambodian script is very easy to learn, and you will soon be Teating and writing Cambodian yourself. We promise! In just a few pages, you will begin your study of the Cambodian script. By learning the script from the beginning, you will reap many benefits. Your pronunciation and comprehension will improve. If you are traveling to Cambodia, you will be able to Immediately recognize many street signs and symbols. Learning the Script will also solidify a base of knowledge for future study. The transliteration system in this book strives to provide the best possible representation of the sounds in the Cambodian lan- Suage. However, this is not easily accomplished. We encourage you to use the transliteration system in your early days of study, but It is wise to stop using it as soon as possible. This will help you learn the script more quickly by not forcing you to rely on the transliteration. Eventually you will be able to read Cambodian so well, you will not have to rely on the transliteration at all, and you may even have trouble reading it!Cambodian for Beginners 29 Consonant Classes There are two classes of consonants: /99/ consonants (a- koo-sa) and /oo/ consonants (koo-sa). There are fifteen /99/ con- sonants and eighteen /oo/ consonants. The only difference between the two classes of consonants is fairly obvious. The /99/ conso- nants emit a natural /90/ vowel sound and the /oo/ consonants emit a natural /oo/ vowel sound. When combined with a vowel, the class of the consonant affects what vowel sound is rendered. This book will introduce you to both consonant classes at once. In just a short time, you will be able to start making sense of all the squig- gly lines you have been seeing so far! u*30 Lesson 1 Consonants jms: pjuafi-jia-nea These are the first ten consonants in the Cambodian alpha- bet. They are a mixture the of /o9/ and /oo/ consonants. The consonant class can be determined by the natural vowel sound. Consonant Pronunciation Sound fi goo /g/ 8 koo /k/ fi goo /g/ Ww koo Iki wd ngoo /ng/ fs joo jl PX choo /ch/ qi joo ijl bus choo /ch/ M1 fioo /iv/31 Cambodian for Beginners Practice Writing Consonants Practice writing the following consonants. Remember to use the proper stroke order as shown below.Lesson 1 32 Ich/ chao Ichi chooCambodian for Beginners 33 fi foo. Vowels ju: sra Cambodian has twenty-four basic vowel symbols which can have different sounds depending on the consonant used. Most of these vowels have two sounds, one for /99/ consonants and one for /oo/ consonants. However, many vowels have only one sound for both consonant classes. Vowels can either have long or short sounds. All standard vowels must be combined with a consonant. Consonant sounds always precede the vowel sound. However, the vowel can be placed in front of, on top of, below, or around the consonant. In fact, many beginning students may think they are reading in circles! In the vowels below, the consonant is repre- sented by a dash. The sounds for /99/ and /oo/ series consonants are both shown. Cambodian also has eleven independent vowels that are used without an accompanying consonant. These vowels are not used very often, and they will be introduced later. Vowel Vowel Name Sound /99/-/o0/ -1 sra aa /aa/-/ia/ a sra e /el-fi/ a a sra ey 7 ley/-fii/34 Lesson 1 a as srao fel a im sra wu /ea/ ' 7 sra 0 /o/-/u/ _ sta 00 /oo/-/uu/ uU Consonant Vowel Combinations Here are some examples of consonant-vowel combina- tions to show you how consonant-vowel sounds are produced. fi (go9) + V(aa) = 71 (gaa) -- (/09/ series consonant produces the /aa/ sound) Fi (goo) +17 (ia) = M (gia) -- (/oo/ series consonant produces the /ia/ sound) bli (choo) + (es) = oii (chaa) 3 (jo0) +, (00) = B (joo) £1) (Hoo) + (ii) = m (fii) 8 (ko9) +1 (aa) + TH (ngoo) = S14 (kaang) Note: Final consonants do not emit their natural /99/ or /oo/ vowel sound.Cambodian for Beginners 35 Practice Writing the Following Vowels Use fi as the consonant when practicing the following vowels. 33 33 3 3 3 t ¥ ™) —™§>v =? ™? Q $d 2 Re ™ 0 Mh =o 35 Om? -m% m2 Me -3% =m -% me -3 =e ~-3 mM eR he, she, him, her they, them itCambodian for Beginners 43 1. hauy is generally used for the word “and” when setting off a seperate clause. hauy-nang or simply nang can be used as “and” when listing seperate items. 2. bpro-dteeh is more formal than srok, but both are acceptable. 3. The word gam-bpu-jia (fit?) is the formal name for Cambodia. It is not necessary to use srok or bpro-dteeh in front of this word. 4. nah is a common emphasizer that can mean either “very,” “very much,” ete. 5. yaang means “all of us.” yaang kfiom means a group of people on the speaker's side of the conversation. 6. goatis usually used when talking about people who are either older or have a higher social status than the speaker. gee can be used when talking about people who have the same or lower age and social status as the speaker. However, goat is a more polite term even under these circumstances. There are no gender distinctions in either of these word’.44 Lesson 2 vwee-jia-goo opr Grammar The words now and nau-ae have several similar meanings. The first meaning is equivalent to the word “at” or “to be at.” e.g. kfiom now pdteah. = I’m at home. (Literally: I at home.) Another meaning is “to live at.” e.g. kiiom now ook-lun. = I live in Oakland. (Literally: I live at Oakland.) ae also means “at.” It can be used with nau. e.g. dtau goat now-ae naa? = Where is he? (Literally: He at where?) naa acts as a modifier to form the equivalent of the words “which”. agd “where.” It is important to again note that modifiers generally come after the words they modify. e.g. ruub muay naa? = Which picture? (Literally: Picture one which?) goat now naa? = Where is he? (Literally: He at where?) dtau boong mook bpii naa? = Where are you from? (Literally: You from where?) mian means “to have” and is used as shown below. e.g. kfiom mian dtuu-re-sab. = I have a telephone. (Literally: I have telephone.) dae can be used at the end of phrases that start with the word joh to form “And, so...” type questions. e.g. joh boong chmuah ey dae? = And, so what’s your name? (Literally: So you name what also?) In Cambodian, modifiers are placed after the word they modify. Unlike English, there is never a “to be” verb placed between a word and a modifier. The “to be” verb jia is only placed between a subject and an object. e.g. pia-saa kmae srual. = Cambodian is easy. Verbs can also modify a modifier. e.g. pia-saa kmae srual rian. = Cambodian is easy to learn.Cambodian for Beginners 45 Sopheap: agen Tom: Bu Tom: bu Conversation 1 dtau look mook bpii naa? hoimnA ui |= am Where are you from? kfiom mook bpii srok aa-mee-rik. joh nek mook bpii naa dae? & oun Of [wn andin Ge Hn un oom ies I am from America. So, where are you from? kiiom mook bpii srok kmae. kiiom now pnom bpeefi. dtau look now ae naa dae? @ oun A qn ter é isi G im =i tanh isi Do am ies I am from Cambodia. | live in Phnom Penh. Where do you live? kfiom now roat kaa-lii-hvwoo-fiaa. & isl ig ensdiumen ] live in California.46 Note: Lesson 2 Conversation 2 dtau look rian kaang ey?!.2 i ima js au Ff What are you studying? kfiom rian kaang pia-saa kmae. & js ew man ier Tam studying Cambodian. pia-saa kmae bpi-baak rian dtee? man fei fim js 1s Is Cambodian difficult to learn? a min bpi-baak dtee. pia-saa kmae srual nah. joh boong rian pia-saa ey dae? Gs fmm i man igi juami ge UH js oman Hf ids It’s not difficult. Cambodian is very easy. So, what language are you studying? kfiom rian pia-saa jen. pia-saa jen min srual rian dtee. & ws man ts man ts 8s fu ujs is lam studying Chinese. Chinese is not easy to learn. 1. kaang is normally used to show direction (kaang nih = this way), but kaang can also mean a direction of study (i.e. what you are studying). 2. Be sure to remember that ey is a colloquial abbreviation of a-vwey. It is used frequently.Cambodian for Beginners 47 klia 1. un Sentences : bik now naa? us ts} am Where is the pen? : bik now nih. UG ts] igs The pen is right here. : Tuub-toot now naa? juts isi am Where is the photograph? + Tuub-toot now graom gau-ey. jun isl ime inf The photograph is below the chair. : boong kim now naa? ua Ge isi am Where is Kim? : boong kim now srok baa-rang. uM We isl funda Kim is in France. : vwaen-dtaa nou ae naa? Yism isl a am Where are the glasses? : vwaen-dtaa nou laa gree. Vism isl wi ipa The glasses are on top of the bed. : gau-ey now naa? ii isl am Where is the chair? : gau-ey now knong bon-dtub-geeng. ili isl ph usury The chair is in the bedroom. : bpro-dteeh kmae now ae naa? ise = ig? sisi a am Where is Cambodia?48 Lesson 2 : bpro-dteeh kmae now gon-daal bpro-dteeh tai nong bpro-dteeh vwiat-naam. ies igi isl mmm puis «is By (bis iijiamy Cainbodia is in-between Thailand and Vietnam. : bon- dtub- dtak nau kaang naa? ustsi isi am am Which way is the restroom? : bon-dtub-dtak nau kaang chvweeng. ustsn isl em igh The bathroom is on the left. : bon-dtub-dtak now kaang sdam. usti isl ay an The bathroom is on the right. : dtat’ goat mian a-vwey? omi me § What does she have? : goal mian maa-sin-toot-ruub. mai ine inajseayu She has a camera. : pdteah goat mian bon-dtub-dtak dtee? a oma ims usugn ig Does his house have a bathroom? : jaa, pdteah goat mian bon- dtub- dtak. mh gs mi ms usta Yes, his house has a bathroom. : pdteah goat ot mian bon-dtub-dtak dtee. B mi nams wsiA is His house does not have a bathroom. : bon-dtub-geeng goat mian a-vwey? usurit ma ws i What does she have in her bedroom? : bon-dtub-geeng goat mian gau- -ey dtok nong gree. ustiat mai ws ini ai gu itn Her bedroom has a chair, table, and bed.Cambodian for Beginners 49 ll. Note: A: dtau goat rian pia-saa ong-glee dtee? iho oma wjs man sihga is Is she learning English? B: baat, goat rian pia-saa ong-glee. mS MA WSs MAN Hain Yes, she is learning English. C: goat min rian pia-saa ong-glee dtee. mi fs ujs man siinu 6 She is not learning English. A: dtav goat rian pia-saa kmae bpii naa? ii oma js oman je ff am Where did he learn Cambodian? B: goat rian pia-saa kmae bpii vweah-ja-naa-nu-groom. mi wjs man ier fi | inmsyiu He learned Cambodian from a dictionary. A: dtau so-paa rian pia-saa a-vwey? io oh js man What language does Sopha study? B: so-paa rian pia-saa baa-rang. Am js man we Sopha studies French. Some English translations of these sentences assume a certain tense. Most are in the present tense. However, these same sentences can be correctly translated into other tenses as well. This is because tenses in spoken Cambodian are often determined through context.50 Lesson 2 Drills 1. Write and say the following sentences in Cambodian. The paper is on top of the table. Susan is in Cambodia. I am studying Cambodian. Sopha is from Phnom Penh. 2. Using the transliteration system, write a paragraph with sentences explaining the following: Where you are from. Where you live. What language you are studying. Whether the language is easy or difficult. 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. now srual boong a-vwey loa goat knong chvweeng dtee kiiom rian mian kaang luy gree graom ot sdam pdteah dtuu-re-sab pia-saa ong-glee gau-ey . srok aa-mee-rik pia-saa kmae gon-daal bon-dtub-dtak bon-dtub-geengCambodian for Beginners 51 Test 2 Match the English words with the Cambodian words. ____ 1. America ____ 2. table _____ 3. money _ 4. left ____ 5. ~ Cambodia _____ 6. language 7. in __ 8. house 9. under ___ 10. telephone 11. bedroom ___12. from ____ 13. he/she ___ 14. easy __-15. between a.chvweeng 1% b. graom 1[Mb c. gam-bpu-jia Alt d.naa tsi ‘ e. bon-dtub-geeng Ugtisriit f.knong fit g. srok-aa-mee-rik [unenidin h. bpii & i. ltty™ oye j. stual [tues k. dtok 1. pdteah 8 m.gon-daal Aamo n. sdtam a} 0. pia-saa MAN p. bon-dtub-dtak ustGn q. dtuu-re-sab gino r goat ma52 Lesson 2 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. Juy nau knong ga-boob. : otis! AM MYL 2. kfiom mian gree nang dtok. é ome ip sg a 3. dtau goat mook bpii bpro-dteeh aa-mee-rik rae bpro-dteeh baa-rang? oma un ff [wigs | amvin oy [pis wane 4. The telephone is on top of the table. 5. Iam studying Cambodian and Chinese.Cambodian for Beginners 53 Consonants «jens: pjuaf-jia-nea These are seven more consonants in the Cambodian alpha- bet. These consonants are also a mixture the of /99/ and /oo/ con- sonant classes. Consonant Pronunciation doo noo dtoo too dtoo too mM st tH) GR P xt noo Sound /d/ /n/ /dt/ Al /dt/ Atl /n/Lesson 2 54 Practice Writing Consonants Remember to Practice writing the following consonants. use the proper stroke order as shown below. Ing/ngoo /ng/ngoo Ing/ngoo Ing/ngoo55 Cambodian for Beginners56 Lesson 2 More Vowels fi: sra The following vowels are the next seven vowels in the Cambodian alphabet. Remember to distinguish between the /99/ and /oo/ consonant classes when forming vowel sounds. However, most of these vowels have only one sound for both classes of con- sonants. Vowel Vowel Name Sound /99/-/o0/ bd sra ua /ua/ " = t ied sra au /ax/-/20/ 5 a sra va /aa/ t sra ia fia/ 5 sra ee /ee/ °° 3 i sra ae /ae/-/ee/ “ 5 i sra ai /ai/-/ei/Cambodian for Beginners 57 Practice Writing the Following Vowels Use fi /-/ as the consonant when practicing the following vowels. A Ff A fi wv aS a ij fi of fi io fi ion fi in fof of io oof io. of58 2. ro} W u ag sa sap sanjsan eS3 ef) eG 2 el Read The Following Aloud iB ifi it iy wy a2 tai] teat iG} i0f 18 ig] isf tg ty tay 1 ig} isf is ° » th OTR ion ton iti 9] Lesson 2Cambodian for Beginners Reading Exercise: Read the following words and them in Cambodian. wood partner month wn 5 eR Reem 3 7. body, shape 9. which, where i. BF them 13. is Thai * N s S 7 s a et me SS Fe Shy FS 59 practice writing to correct table to care for to believe question particle hand, arm cabinet60 Lesson 2 Writing Exercise 2 Transcribe the following sounds into Cambodian script. There may be several ways to spell some of the sounds. 1. dtia 11. ngua 2. taa 12. nae 3. tia 13. dee 4. chei 14, neo —* - 5. noo 15. gua 6. fiua 16. ney 7. ti 17. tao 8. dtaa 18. fia 9. jai 19. dtei 10. jua 20. dtoLesson 3 ong to want), dtau (to go); verb combinations; asking for permission; more vowels and consonantsCambodian for Beginners 63 mee-rian dtii bey tutijs gm Lesson 3 veak-a-sab AAA Vocabulary psaa fyi market yun-hoh —wigitme airplane vwial-yun-hoh —heutigtime airport saa-laa/saa-laa-rian anen/ ansniijs school mo-haa-vwi-dtyia-lay sUTiigy ies college sa-gool-vwi-dtyia-lay annnigp ten university tmak/tnak-rian HA HAtjs class ban-naa-lay Bameies .« elibrary poo-ja-nii-taan imigains restaurant haang/psaa_ Uni/ wpa store haang-jak-sang umnumnaiy gas station haang-lok-siaw-pow unuaouritegfiteT book store staa-nii Anse station ro-dteh-ploong ngs train staa-nii ro-dteh-pleeng ansesnigstaa mon-dtii-bpeet ugiingy bprai-sa-nii/bpoh ifueuniius/qeu to-nia-gia/bong EEIENi/UL staan-dtuut ANSgti soom jt dtow gi ni-yiay Stine sdab and jong ta din Sq fam om baay Tatu train station hospital post office bank embassy please to go to speak to listen; understand to want to buy to eat, ingest! food; cooked rice?64 tvwao iG tvwoo-gaa tifiid jool-jet BouBA meal 1805 gon fis roong-gon inifis dtuu-re-dtuah = gignyyé geeng/deek 1ftt/ 18h leeng i001 gey-laa/bal fign/ moi bal-dtoat tis bal-dteah — teige pleeng fH aaik int baan 7S klah 98 jeh 15s bon-dtek-bon-dtuuik UswUSt aan #98 soo-see fUItEUT ak-soo HFT ak-soo kmae angie ak-soo ong-glee/ok-soo baa-rang npadiges / anpme ak-soo tai. HAplis ak-soo jen HTfiGS Lesson 3 to do; to make to work to like, prefer to watch movie movie theater television to sleep to play sports, athletics3 soccer volleyball music 7 can possible; to get some to know how to do something a little bit to read to write alphabet, script Cambodian alphabet Roman alphabet Thai alphabet Chinese characters 1. fiam commonly means “to eat.” However, the word can also mean “to drink.” The literal meanin; has several other words with tl , is “to ingest.” Cambodian is same meaning that are used according to context. fiam is also very rarely used alone. It is commonly used before the word baay. 2. In Cambodian, baay can mean either food or cooked rice. This double meaning is most likely due to the fact that Cambodians eat rice with almost every meal. Due to the abundance of rice in Cambodian society, Cambodian has other words for different forms of rice. 2 halic a cammanhy ced tarm far enarte that nce a hallCambodian for Beginners 65 vwee-jia-goo Heap Grammar You will now be introduced to verb combinations in the Cambodian language. This is the equivalent to a verb plus a infini- tive phrase. Cambodian combines verbs to form such phrases. e.g. kfiom jong dtaw psaa. = I want to go to the market. (Literally: I want go market.) goat jong dteu fiam baay. = He wants to go eat. (Literally: He want go eat food.) baan is a very important word in the Cambodian language and has several meanings. baan roughly means “can,” “possible,” or “able.” It is always used at the end of a sentence. e.g. kfiom dtow baan. = I can go. (Literally: I go possible.) + “When asking permission in Cambodian, baan is placed at the end of the sentence followed by the final question particle dtee. e.g. kfiom soom dtow psaa, baan dtee? = May I please go to the market? Answers to permission questions also include baan. dtay baan = (You) may go. baan can also be used with the negative particle dtee to form negative phrases, including negative answers to permission questions. e.g. nek dtau min baan dtee. = You cannot go. kfiom tvwae min baan dtee. = IJ cannot do it. : aaik also means “can” and is often inserted before the verb in sentences where baan is used. e.g. kfiom aaik tvwae baan. = I can do it. (Literally: I can do possible.) Jeh means to know how to do something. e.g. kfiom jeh aan. = I can read. / I know how to read. _ klah literally means “some” and is often used at the end of question sentences. Even though this particle is optional, a sen- tence can sometimes sound awkward if it is not used. e.g. bong jong tvwaa ey klah? = What do you want to do? (Literally: You want do what some?) : A more literal translation would be “What are some of the things you want to do.”66 Sopia: «im John: GS Sopia: am John: GS Sopia: om John: GS Lesson 3 Conversation 1 dtau boong jong dtow naa? wi ou Ga ots} am Where do you want to go? kiiom jong dta# maal gon. & wi tsi tw ns I want to go watch a movie. kfiom min jong dtow meal gon dtee. & 8s oa isl i8m as is I don’t want to go watch a movie. dtau boong jong dtow naa vwifi oun Ba Tt am In Where would you like to go instead? kfiom jong dtau maoal gey-laa. dtav baan dtee? & wi isl iu fim isi ws ig I want to go watch a sporting event? Can we go? baan. 7S That’s fine.Cambodian for Beginners 6s Sovann: e9igg Jill: Bo Sovann: aig Jill: Bo Conversation 2 dtaw nek jeh ni-yiay pia-saa kmae dtee? iio yn ite Sun man ier is Can you speak Cambodian? jaa, kiiom jeh ni-yiay pia-saa kmae. th 8 we Sunt man fer Yes, I can speak Cambodian. dtaw nek jeh soo-see ak-soo kmae dtee? iH oun tue avin omy fer tg Can you write the Cambodian alphabet? jaa, kiiom jeh soo-see bon-dtek-bon-dtuuik. fH 8 tes putes ussusE Yes, I can write a little bit. .68 Lesson 3 klia un Sentences ou 1. A: boong dtow naa? uy ots] am Where are you going? B: kfiom dtow to-nia-gia. 8 isl asim Tam going to the bank. C: kfiom dtew vial-yun-hoh. 8 isl hesusgiune lam going to the airport. 2. A: dtaw nek jong dtifi a-vwey? oun wi Sm What would you like to buy? B: kfiom jong dtifi dtuu-ra-dtuah. § sh Sm gignys I want to buy a television. 3. A: dtau goat jool-jet tvwoa ey klah? oma guia 1 OH es What does she like to do. B: goat jool-jet leeng pleeng. Mi GUBR wo Ta She likes to play music. 4. A: boong jong dtow ban-naa-lay dtee? ua oat isl unm = ig Do you want to go to the library? B: baat, kfiom jong dtow. ms 8 wi isl Yes, I want to go.Cambodian for Beginners C: kfiom min jong dtow ban-naa-lay dtee. & Gs sh isi wunmiu is I don’t want to go to the library. 5. A: dtaw boong jong dtow fiam baay now ae naa? ie uh oA isl mM mM isl a am Where would you like to go eat? B: kfiom jong dtew fiam baay now poo-ja-nii-taan. & wi isl gi wu isi imegunhs I want to go eat at a restaurant. C: kfiom jong dtau fiam baay now pdteah. & wisi om mu isl ts I want to go eat at home. 6. A: kfiom soom dtou bon-dtub-dtak baan dtee? & wy isi wusiéi ms is May I please go to the bathroom? B: baan. ms Yes, you may.! C: min baan dtee/dtow min baan dtee. ts ms is/ isi ts ms ig No, you may not. 7. A: kfiom soom dtou leeng bal-dteah baan dtee? 8 ay isl mH toss ms is May I please go play volleyball? B: baan. ms Yes, you may. C: min baan dtee/dtau min baan dtee. Ss ms is/igl §s ms tg No, you may not. 6970 Note: Lesson 3 : dtau nek jeh pia-saa a-vwey klah? ion ts man 8 ge What languages do you know? : kfiom jeh pia-saa ong-glee nang pia-saa kmae. 8 ie man itn 81 man ier I know English and Cambodian. : dtaa boong jeh soo-see ak-soo jen dtee? ii UN Tue fu HA fs 16 Do you know how to write Chinese? : baat, kfiom jeh soo-see ak-soo jen. mg «68 «ius mit? NA Bs Yes, I can write Chinese. : dtee, kfiom min jeh soo-see ak-soo jen dtee. ig 8) «Gs tus mmul HT Bs is No, I don’t know how to write Chinese. . kfliom jeh soo-see ak-soo jen bon-dtek-bon-dtuuik. & ie wil An ts useugE I can write a little Chinese. . 1. A simple answer of baan to a yes-no question literally means “You may” or “It 1s possible.” However, in the sentences above, alternate figurative meanings could be “That’s all right” or “That’s fine.”Cambodian for Beginners 71 Drills 1. Practice asking and answering the following questions in Cambodian. Where are you going? Can I go see a movie? May I please speak in English? Do you know how to speak Cambodian? 2. Write a dialogue between two people that includes at least one of the following. A discussion between two people asking what they want to do and where they want to go. ” Asking permission to do something. Asking someone if they can speak a certain language and if they can write in that language.2 Lesson 3 Use the following words to help form ten sentences. kmae kfiom goat tee Soom Jen dtaw gee-laa dtow baan dtifi rian ak-soo gee jool-jet ga-boob ae jeh a-vwey ni-yiay now pleeng aaik ong-glee siaw-pou Test 3 mon-dtii-bpeet vial-yun-hoh haang-jak-sang meal geeng leeng pia-saa jong Match the English words with the Cambodian words. SS se MELEE ELE LECT N S hospital to go to buy market music alphabet to play to like, prefer bank can . possible . movie rome ao op BoB Towser ° . dtii Sem . jool-jet BouBA gon fis . to-nia-gia seni . mon-dtii-bpeet wSnNg] . baan tS . ak-soo HiT . fam cin meal 1865 psaa pi . aaik WMG leng tt dtow 131 ywial-yun-hoh Heswgiuns . pleeng tftCambodian for Beginners 73 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. kfiom jeh soo-see ak-so9o jo-bpun. 8 ie wii sm tts ¢ 2. kiiom soom dtou bon-dtub-dtak baan dtee? 409° uu isl wusiéi ms is 3. goat jong dtau leeng bal. ma oh isl wun mo 4. He is going to study at the library. 5. May I please go watch a movie?74 Lesson 3 Consonants jms: pjuafi-jiah-nea Here are eight more consonants in the Cambodian alpha- bet. These consonants are also a mixture the of /99/ and /oo/ con- sonant classes. Consonant Pronunciation boo poo bpoo poo moo yoo roo aBar-egaxz2xRrea loo Sound /b/t ~"Ip/ /bp/ /p/ /m/ /yl /t/ Mt Note: 1. When sra aa (1) is added to boo (ij) the combined new character set becomes tf for baa. This is because the normal combination would make the U1 character which could be easily confused with the character hoo (1). For this reason, an alternate character set was developed. Also, when U is combined with sra au (1-1) or sra ao (1-1), it respectively forms tti or ttn this same manner.75 Cambodian for Beginners Practice Writing Consonants Remember to Practice writing the following consonants. use the proper stroke order as shown below. Jo/ booLesson 3 76 aaagh boos --724 potas /m/ mooCambodian for Beginners 77 More Vowels jf: sra The following vowels are the next six vowels in the Cambodian alphabet. Remember to distinguish between the /o9/ and /oo/ consonant classes when forming vowel sounds. Vowel Vowel Name Sound /99/-/o0/ 3 -] sra ao /ao/-/oo/ 3 -] sra au /au/-/ox/ ° aa sra om /om/-/um/ 1 °o an sra om /om/-/om/ ° -] sra am /am/-/oam/ -1t had /ang/-/eang/! Note: 1. This vowel is actually not listed as a vowel in the Cambodian alphabet because it is simply a sra am with a ngoo on the end. However, it does have a completely different vowel sound than what this phonetic combination would suggest. For that reason, it is listed in this book as a seperate vowel.78 Lesson 3 Practice Writing the Following Vowels Use fi /-/ as the consonant when practicing the following vowels. im fifi fi im Mo «amMo 3. nh fi fi Ah Ff fi A fe fi A U6 A UO OU q 3}.Cambodian for Beginners Read The Following Aloud 1 tm id g 2. th i 8 3. tm sm A 4. im tal a 5. ini @ 6. ttn teal eG 7 in i 8. ton tol 6 t 8 Bo Mo ano ti mi 3. Tm wi mis my my eit ais 7980 Lesson3 Reading Exercise: Read the following words and practice writing them in Cambodian. ° 1, ter youngest child 271 to dance ° ° 3. CH to cry 4. nN dry, without rain a 5. $b above 6. th leader ° 7. tt] grandchildren 8. 6 not (formal) 9. ti) Ox, COW JQ. ii] playing cards ° ° nh firm, stable 12. f§ big Final Consonants Final consonant sounds in Cambodian are very similar to their English equivalents. A final consonant emits its natural con- sonant sound without its accompanying vowel sound. e.g. Sit = kaang (not kaa-ngoo) Not all the consonants in the Cambodian alphabet are com- monly used as final consonants. Below are some of the most com- mon final consonants and their respective final consonant sounds. fi /-k/! 1i/-ng/ 0 /-fi/ fi /-v? 8 /-n/ U/-b4 5 /-m/ bu /-1/ Less common final consonants include the following: 8 /-k/! fi /-k/! B/-t/2 BN /-n/ B/-v72 S /-/2 fi /-t/2 01 /-b/3 Fi/-bfCambodian for Beginners 81 Some final consonants do not emit their natural consonant sound. For example, a ti yoo does not have a final /y/ sound when it is used as a final consonant. Instead, it is more like an /ii/ sound. Don’t worry! English is no different. Just think of a final /y/ sound in the word “soy” or “buy.” Cambodian is the same. Another important exception is jroo. If this letter is the final consonant, the letter is silent as if there was no final consonant at all. These and other exception final consonants are listed below. tH /-ii/ GW /ik/ T/-ik/ T/-silent/ fi /-h/4 7 /-w/4 Note: 1. Even though these consonants may have different consonant sounds, they all have a virtually identical /k/ final consonant sound. 2..Even though these consonants may have different consonant sounds, they all have a virtually identical /t/ final consonant sound. 3. Even though these consonants may have different consonant sounds, they all have a virtually identical /b/ final consonant sound. 4. These consonants will be mtroduced im the next chapter. Reading Exercise: The following words have final consonant sounds. Practice reading and writing them in Cambodian. 1. TU period of time 2. inti grandmother Ps 3. ws to study 4. SF to be born = s. HUA to lift 6. Bo one 7. THU bira 8. CH) long 9. 3s broken 10. $9 i story un. Me to follow 12. gm to buy ° 2 13. SESE to throw away 14. STi metal82 Lesson 3 Writing Exercise 3 Transcribe the following into Cambodian script. There may be several ways to phonetically spell some of the words. If neces- sary, remember to use the appropriate final consonant. Try to use the most common final consonants as shown on pages 80-81. 1, juab 1l. gul 2. rum 12. yiay 3. laan 13. joong 4. jaan 14. lia 5. bang 15. gaot 6. now 16. chiang 7. dtifi 17. jom 8. dteang 18. juut 9. soom 19. dom 10. niang * 20. IvanLesson 4 and sgoal (to know); bpon-maan (ho how many); modifiers; more vowels and consonantsCambodian for Beginners mee-rian dtii buan t8ta}s Bc veak-a-sab sgoal Ane dang Bu plouw gi aa-saay-a-taan inegesths leek dtuu-re-sab invegitin taa bpuak-maak grin Le grua-saa pau bpon-dtae tig iis bpon-maan tgs rial 19jou hauy dol-laa gak ma chnam 1 kae ig aa-yu mej muay naa ywnm anam sage nek naa yook Wifi daw ifs tai ig taok iti . nah amei jraun i[es nA 85 Lesson 4 Vocabulary to know of, recognize to know road, path address phone number that friend : family 7 but already how much, how many riel (Cambodian currency); dollar dollar one-tenth of a riel year month age which one anyone, who to take to walk expensive cheap very, much many, a lot86 tom & dtooik gt Imoom WU luan inijs yeut titi laan gps vweeng ii yuu Oj7 kley 2 lo-09 aa-grok {Ait reng WM dton $8 jit Ba chngaay ity bpeek tf bpoa anh (bpoa) gro-hoom = (naif) ;AUIS (bpoa) kiaw (mnh)tefi (bpoa) bai-dtoong (na) twats (bpoa) luang (nny nif (bpoa) tnaot (na) snei (bpoa) kmau (nai) ie1 (bpoa) soo (Hinh) fa aa-nih #88 aa-nuh igs we aa-tom Wt aa-dtooik = MiG Lesson 4 big small enough, just right fast slow car long (length) long (time) short good bad! hard soft near far too (as in “too much”) color red blue/green2 green? yellow brown black white this one that one the big one the small oneCambodian for Beginners 87 Note: 1. aa-krok is a very harsh word and should only be used when the word “bad” is used in a very harsh context. For other situations, it is more appropriate to use min 19-99 or ot 19-09 which means “not good.” 2. Many students of Cambodian find it odd that the word kiaw means either blue or green. Apparently Cambodians don’t see a need to distinguish between the two. If it is absloutely necessary to distinguish between the two, the word bai-dtaong can be used for green, but this word is rarely used in common speech. Note on Cambodian Monetary System Cambodia’s monetary system is very complicated. The national currency 1s the Khmer riel. However, due to fears of inflation, Cambodia has also adopted the US. dollar as a favorite currency, and both are used together. To make things even more complicated, dollars are commonly called riel. However, at the time this book went to press, one dollar is equal to approximately 3800 riel, so the dif- ference is easy to distinguish. Hypothetically, if you were given a price of bey tial bpii kak, that would mean three dollars and two tenths of one dollar (760 niel). However, the smallest common denominator is 100 Riel so you have to round up or down. You would pay by providing the desired amount in both cur- rencics (three dollars, 800 riel). If you just gave them four dollars, they would give you 3000 riel in change. Cambodia does not currently use coin money, so don’t try to use U.S. change. It can be very complicated to figure all of this out, so if you are not good at math, don’t forget your calculator!88 Lesson 4 vwee-jia-goo ep Grammar You have already learned one form of the word “to know.” This is the word jeh which means “to know how to do.” Cambodian has two separate words for other forms of the English word “know.” The first word is dang which means to know some- thing or to have knowledge of something. e.g. kfiom dang. = I know. kfiom min dang dtee. = I don’t know. The word faa is also commonly added after the word dang to form the phrase “know that.” e.g. kfiom dong taa goat nou pdteah. = I know that he is at home. 7 The second word is the word sgoal. This means to “know “ es of e.g. dtau look sgoal boong Tim dtee? = Do you know Tim? bpon-maan is a very useful Cambodian word. It is com- monly used in combination with the word tlai to form the phrase “how much.” The word is also almost always used at the end of the sentence. e.g. aa-nih tlai bpon-maan? = How much is this one? (Literally: This one expensive how much?) However, bpon-maan can also mean “how many” when followed by a classifier. e.g. dtau boong mian luy bpon-maan rial? = How many riel do you have? (Literally: You have money how many riel?) bpon-maan can also mean “that much.” e.g. pia-saa kmae min bpi-baak bpon-maan dtee. = Cambodian is not that difficult. (Literally: Cambodian not difficult that much.) This chapter also includes a basic introduction on Cambodian modifiers. In general, a modifier comes after the word it modifies. Again, the “to be” verb jia is not used between a word and a modifier. e.g. laan tom = big carCambodian for Beginners 89 laan nih tom. = This car is big. (Literally: Car this big.) jia can be used in sentences with modifiers only if it is used in the standard subject-verb-object sentence structure. nih jia laan tom. = This is a big car. (Literally: This is car big.) Verbs are modified in the same way as nouns. e.g. ni-yiay Ivan = speak fast goat dau yaut. = He walks slowly. (Literally: He walk slow.) It is important to understand the difference between the modifiers nah and jraun. nah modifies adjectives or adverbs while jraun modifies nouns or verbs. nah can also modify jraun in the same sentence in order to provide extra emphasis. e.g. laan nih luan nah. = This car is very fast. goat ni-yiay jraun. = He talks a lot. look mian siaw-pow jraun. = You have a lot of books. look mian siaw-paw jraun nah. = You have tons of books! This chapter also teaches a new meaning of the word hauy. hauy can also mean “already” and is used very frequently in Cambodian speech at the end of a sentence. e.g. gee jeh ni-yiay hauy. = He already knows how to talk. (Literally: He knows how to talk already.) kfiom meaal gon nih haay. = I’ve already seen this movie. hauy is also commonly used to as a word to indentfy past tense. As discussed earlier, Cambodian usually does not show tens- es through verb conjugation. Instead, tense is often understood through context or other identifying words. hauy is one of these words. Tenses will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 5. e.g. kfiom dtow psaa hauy. = IJ went to the store. (Literally: I go store already.)90 Bob: wU Sopha: Sopha: um Bob: UU Sopha: aut Notes: Lesson 4 Conversation 1 kfiom jong dtau maal gon. & wi isi iw As I want to go watch a movie. kfiom jong dtow meal dae, bpon-dtae kfiom min sgoal roong-gon muay naa now jit nih dtee.! & wh isl iim i iis & §s ansi inays yt am isi Biss ts T also want to go, but I don’t know of a movie theater near here. now plauw nih mian roong-gon tom muay. isl gi iss ms imtns § HW This street has a big movie theater. roong-gon nuh now jit rau chngaay? iniAs imeisi fay | mw Is that theater close by or far away? noe jit. jong dtaw dtee?2 isl fi wi isi tg It’s close by. Do you want to go? jaa, kfiom jong dtou. mH 868 6 isl Yes, I want to go. 1. muay naa means “which one,” but it can also mean the rough equivalent of the English article “a.” 2. Notice how the subject is omitted in both sentences. This is very common in colloquial speech.Cambodian for Beginners a Kim: we Vendor: Hnoon Kim: we Vendor: HAO Kim: we Conversation 2 aa-nih tlai bpon-maan? mse ig tims How much is this one? * bpii rial bpram gak. fi ufos ph ma Two dollars and fifty cents. tlai nah. joh, aa-nuh tlai bpon-maan dae? ig ama ue oamse ig ome ia Oh, that’s expensive. Well, how much is that one. aa-nuh muay rial. iniges Bes TY That one is one dollar. taok dae. kfiom yook muay. maid 868 oon Be That’s cheap. I'll take one.92 klia Lesson 4 un Sentences ou : dtau boong sgoal goat dtee? i uy anol ma is Do you know him? : kfiom sgoal. 8 anos I know | him. : kfiom min sgoal goat dtee. & §s an mai ie I don’t know him. : dtau look sgoal nek naa klah? iH tan and HA aM es Who do you know? : kfiom sgoal boong so-paa boong tim hawy-neng boong so-kaa.! & mo va am uh fu iiwsa wang I know Sopha, Tim, and Sokha. : kfiom min sgoal nek naa dtee. & #3 and yn am is I don’t know anybody. : dtau boong sgoal Jeek dtuu- -Te~ -sab kfiom dtee? io ua ime = gid) 8 is Do you know 1 my phone number? : : sgoal. ano Yes. : ot/min sgoal dtee. nwvis ans is No. : dtau goat mook bpii naa? io oma un foam Where is she from?Cambodian for Beginners i B: kfiom min dang dtee. & ts #1 1s I don’t know. C: kiiom dang taa goat mook bpii pnom-" bpeefi. 8 i wh mi un odin I know that she is from Phnom Penh. 5. A: dtaa boong mian laan bpon-maan?? ii vi ms gps tgs How many cars do you have? B: kfiom mian laan bpii. & ws gps fi Ihave two cars. 6. A: dtaw boong mian luy bpon-maan rial.? 1 ous Ms ML ims jos How many dollars ‘do you have? B: kfiom mian bey rial. & me Oo jw Ihave three dollars. 7. A: dtau look rian pia-saa kmae bpon-maan chnam hauy? 1H innujs man igi isis Hi whes How many years have you been studying Cambodian? B: kfiom rian muay chnam hauy. @ oujs yo gi ous Ihave been learning for one year. 8. A: ot-dtooh. dtaa boong aa-yu bpon-maan? uti «61 6 na gis Excuse me. How old are you? B: kfiom aa-yu mpei-bpram chnam. g my tgp ow Tam twenty-five years old. 9. A: goat ot jeh ong-glee bpon-maan dtee. mA Hats Haig tgs tg He doesn’t know that much English.94 15. Lesson 4 goat mian luy jraun. Mei we oyE I[Bs He has a lot of money. pdteah nuh tom nah. Rs iss Game That house very so big. goat jeh kmae jraun nah. mi tes je: tes amed She knows so much Cambodian! 7 dtaw look jong baan bpon- -maan? fi wn oi ms tims How much do you want? B: kfiom jong baan jraun. -+ 2 wi ws ifs a I want a lot. goat ni-yiay jraun. mii Sunw ibs He talks a lot. kfiom dtow psaa hauy. & isl ap wie Talr ready went to the store. goat mian laan hauy. ma ws gps wie He already has a car. : pdteah goat now chngaay. gs oma isl me His house is far away. : pdteah goat now jit. ge oma isl oa His house is close by. : gree nih rang nah. ii ise Fa amed This bed is very hard. : gree nih dton nah. ih ise ss ama This bed is very soft.Cambodian for Beginners 95 19. A: aa-nih dtooik bpeek. iss fu ri This one is too small. B: aa-nih tom bpeek. ims: & inn This one is too big. 20: Jaan nih Ivan nah, bpon-dtae kném min jong dtifi vwia dlee. gnsissinjsama is & 83 wi Sm h is : This car is very fast, but I don’t want to buy it. 21. pia-saa jen srual rian, bpon-dtae kfiom ot jeh dtee. man 8 [uw wjs tig & Hi ius 19 Chinese is easy to learn, but I don’t know it. 22. gon nih Io-99 meal. kfiom jong dtaa meal vwia. fs ise mw tim 8 wh isl tBu fh This movie is good. | want to go see it. Notes: 1. In this sentence, the word boong 1s used as a prefix placed before the names of individuals not participating in the conversation. This is very common in Cambodian speech This indicates that these individuals are either older than the speaker or friends with the speaker. The word look can be used in the same manner when speaking of individuals who are much older or of a high social status. 2. When you are asking “how many,” use the word bpon-muan after the obyect you are trying to account for. e.g. pdteah bpon-maan? = How many homes” However, if you are asking “how many” with a classifier, then the classifier should be placed after bpon-maan More Cambodian classifiers will be introduced in later chapters e.g. bpon-maan dol-laa? = How many dollars?96 Lesson 4 Drills 1. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. If it is a question, practice answering it as well. I know that the market is close by. How old is John? 1 want to go to Thailand, but I don’t speak Thai. 2. Do at least one of the following: Write a two person dialogue describing how much something is and if it is cheap or expensive. Write a paragraph describing your car. You must use at least three modifiers. Write six sentences, using jeh, dang, and sgoal. Use each word twice.Cambodian for Beginners 97 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. boong so-paa aa-nih tom grua-saa pdteah bpeek tlai jong kfiom rial taok nih dtooik now dang mian nah bpon-maan min Test 4 laan sgoal jit « bpon-dtae chngaay bpii dtau taa jraun luy Match the English words with the Cambodian words. MELT L TELL | 1. far 2. soft 3. family 4. road 5. cheap 6. telephone number 7. short 8. month 9. to know of, recognize 10. very ll. age 12. a lot 13. to know something 14. long a.sgoal ansi b. grua-saa [Bani Cc. aa-yu Wty d.chngaay mti e. bpon-dtae tig fikae ig g.Imoom WH h. kley 8 i. vweeng i? j. jraun i[is- k.deng #4 1. taok itn m.reng “TH o.plouw Bi p.dton 38 q. leek dtuu-re-sab muegiin r. nah amped98 Lesson 4 Word Exercise Insert the correct form of the word “to know” (jeh, dang, or sgoal) in the fol- lowing sentences. You may need to add the word taa after dang. 1. kiiom laan nih tlai. é gps iss ig 2. goat ni-yiay pia-saa jen. ma Sunt man &s 3. boong so-paa pdteah kfiom. ww Am 8 8 4. kfiom min vial-yon-hoh now jit nih dtee & fs hoswigims isifmiss is 5. kfiom goat jeh pia-saa jraun. ma ius man tbs =t0d0 6. so-pia leeng pleeng bon-dtik-bon-dtuiik. um ih igh ussusECambodian for Beginners 99 Consonants jms: pjui-jia-nea os Here are the final eight consonants in the Cambodian alphabet. These consonants are also a mixture the of /99/ and /oo/ consonant classes. Consonant Pronunciation Sound. 7 vwoo /vw/ fu Hy v ray hoo /h/ gj loo MV rr 90 Ioa/ u too I! Gq doo las! bh too i Note: 1. These three consonants are obselete and rarely used.Lesson 4 100 ting Consonants Wri Practice writing the following consonants. use the proper stroke order as shown below. Practice Remember to101 Cambodian for Beginners I to9More Vowels Lesson 4 [u: sra The following vowels are the final vowels in the Cambodian alphabet. Remember to distinguish between the /o9/ and /oo/ consonant classes when forming vowel sounds. Vowel Vowel Name Sound /99/-/oo/ ° “=o sra ah /ah/-/eah/ eo ° . -o sra eh /eh/-/ih/! ° 7 ° sra oh /oh/-/uh/ 1-3 | ° sra eh /eh/-/ih/' $-18 ° sra oh /oh/-/uah/? Notes: 1. These two vowels produce identical sounds, but the second one is much more common. 2. Sometimes /oo/ series consonants can also produce an /uh/ sound with this vowel.Cambodian for Beginners 103 Practice Writing the Following Vowels Use fi /-/ as the consonant when practicing the following vowels nef A fi =e Ai fi. Ai Ai oo -— —™) 00 A Ai A A tis fi Ai A ALesson 4 104 Read the Following Aloud 0° eo © 8 §& i we rary ee 0° o° oo = 2 8 ee ry we oo oo oe t2 5 4Cambodian for Beginners 105 Reading Exercise: Read the following words and practice writ- ing them in Cambodian. 1. 8 3. igju 5. BUS 7. $78 9. MG 11, 58 to slap to rise horse island a field to know how to do something * N ru oo Z an on 0° ~ -3 0° 10. #13 12.18 to fly to ride to operate to descend shirt placeWriting Exercise 4 Transcribe the following into Cambodian script. These are Il real Cambodian words. However, you may be able to phoneti- ally spell them several different ways. . saab ll. vwia 2. lauy 12. doh 3. reah 13. beh 4. haam 14. leah 5. bpuah 15. aaik 6. boh 16. saen 7. aa 17. jih 8. nih 18. luh 9. huah 19. liang 10. geh 20. hauLesson 5 Tenses; telling time; jaong lowercase script introduced; independent vowelsCambodian for Beginners mee-rian dtii bpram 1wtijs St veak-a-sab Hnjeua bpeel/vwee-lia t01nu/tian bpeel-bprak/bprak/bprak bpro-lam nou Fey [inv Pingo bpeel-ro-sial/ro-sial/tngai-dtrong Slo THefOu/ITANTOU/ TB TAA bpeel-Ingiak/Ingiak/ inmANs / ant bpeel-yub/yub/ria-dtrey toswst/eut/ nf maong wy nia-dii 19 vwi-nia-dtii gon-lah_ figs dtiat t9ffi dol Bob bpii/dtang-bpii we ‘Img G/ mae ong-gaal Hinoy bpii ong-gaal Haines juab gu juay Gti jab-pdaam = mirity job wi Jia-muay myti knia mm baan ws gom-bpung fini neng gu 109 Lesson 5 Vocabulary : time; when! morning afternoon evening night hour, o’clock minute second half more at, to arrive from, since, ever since when (future) when (past) to meet to help to start, begin to end with together past tense identifier? present tense identifier? future tense identifier?110 bpeel-vee-lia iinstinn maong-bpon-maan (hawy) tents (stew) 12:00 1:00 am 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 pm 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 maong-dob-bpii/aa-dtriat maong-muay (gon-loong aa-dtriat) maong-bpii (gon-loong aa-dtriat) maong-bey (plu) maong-buan (plu) maong-bpram (bprek) maong-bpram-quay (bprok) maong-bpram-bpii (bprak)/ maong-bpram-bpol (bprak) maong-bpram-bey (bprak) maong-bpram-buan (bprek) maong-dob (bprak) maong-dob-muay (bprek) maong-dob-bpii/ tngai dtrong maong-muay (ro-sial) maong-bpii (ro-sial) maong-bey (ro-sial) maong-buan (ro-sial) maong-bpram (Ingiak) Lesson 5 Time What time is it? reed / apps Tew (ASHA TNL) Tenan (SHH TREE) rent (#3 renwus (fi) seneapan ( [Fin) renappiees ({firi) reneaqndhe (fin) rena uitien ( (fin) rehapid (fin) reapius (fin) seed ({fin) rehsediwsen ({fn) tenaediy / tepna sernsigey (st6a jou) senuats (atH5f5) TEWIT (steyjo0) TeTaUS (itAAfNs) Tena (AN) maong-bpram-muay (Ingiak) apg (An) maong-bpram-bpii (Ingiak)/ sénaygity (qne)/ maong-bpram-bpol (Ingiak) tiipitins (ane) maong-bpram-bey (yub) maong-bpram-buan (yub) maong-dob (yub) maong-dob-muay (yub) Tehapid (wd) Thapiys (tt) rennet (esti) tihadd yes (wh)Cambodian for Beginners 411 Note: 1. vwee-lia is more formal than bpeel. However, the two can also be used to form the combination word bpeel-vee-lia in some circumstances. 2. Please see the section on tenses on page 114 for more details. 3. plau, bprak, ro-sial, and Ingiak only need to be added to a certain time of day when the context of the conversation does not already reveal this information. For example, if someone asks you when you get up, and you want to reply that you get up at 6:00, you do not need to add the word bprak to your answer because it is already assumed from the context of the question that you get up in the morningtime.112 Lesson 5 vwee-jia-goo iUpAIMAN Grammar The main purpose of this chapter is to teach how to express time in Cambodian. Telling time in Cambodian is actually very simple! The phrase maong bpon-maan hauy literally means “hour how many already.” All that is required for an answer is the word maong followed by whatever number is required. Usually hauy is added to the answer as well to show that it is already that time. e.g. maong bpon-maan hauy? = What time is it? maong bey (hawy). = It’s three o’clock (already). When asking a question regarding a time in the future, hauy is obviously dropped. e.g. jong dtow maong bpon-maan? = What time do you rl want to go? 7 jong dtea maong buan. = I want to go at 4:00. As you can probably already tell from our earlier lesson, the phrase bpon-maan maong means “how many hours.” It can also figuratively mean “how long,” and it is always used at the end of the sentence. e.g. boong nou pdteah bpon-maan maong? = “How many hours were you at home?” Or figuratively, “How long were you at home?” When expressing times which do not fall exactly on the hour, all you have to do is add the number of minutes after the time. e.g. 4:25 = maong-buan mpei-bpram ni-dtii. The only exception is the half hour where the word gon-lah is used. e.g. 9:30 = maong-bpram-buan gon-lah. It is also important to note that you reverse the word order to show an amount of hours. Two o’clock would be maong-bpii, but two hours would be bpii maong.Cambodian for Beginners 113 The word bpii, or dtang-bpii, roughly means “since” or “ever since.” e.g. goat now nih dtang-bpii maong bpram bprok. = He’s been here since 5:00 am. pit can also be used in combination with ong-gaal which means “when.” When the word bpii i is added to the beginning of ong-gaal, this indicates that “when” means “when in the past.” If bpii_is omitted and ong-gaal is left by itself, this means “when in the future.” ong-gaal and bpii ong-gaal are always used at the end of a sentence. Both of these words are also examples of words that imply a tense through context. e.g. goat dtow bpii ong-gaal? = When did she go? goat diow ong-gaal? = When will she go? goat mook nih bpii ong-gaal? = When did she come here? The word bpeel can be used to make the non-question equivalent of the word “when.” Sometimes the word nau is added before bpeel to form the phrase naw bpeel. This literally means “at the time.” Many Cambodians also use the word gaal for the the word “when” as well. e.g. bpeel kfiom dtau psaa... = When I go to the store... now bpeel kfiom now pdteah, kfiom aan siaw-pow. = When | am at home, I read books. The word jia-muay means “with.” It is used just like in English. e.g. kfiom dtaw saa-laa jia-muay goat. = I go to school with him. When you add the word knia to the end of jia-muay, this means “together.” e.g. bpuak-gee dtau saa-laa jia-muay knia. = They go to school together.114 Lesson 5 Tenses Students of the Cambodian language are usually very excit- ed to learn that Cambodian has no complicated verb conjugation based on tenses. In fact, most tenses are identified by context or by other identifying words, not by language conjugation. However, Cambodian still has three specific words to identify tenses where the tense cannot be recognized through context. These words are used before the verb to indicate the tense. The word baan identifies the past tense. It is very rarely used in speech. e.g. kiiom baan dtow srok kmae. = I went to Cambodia. baan is more commonly used in another way when describ- ing the past tense in combination with statements involving aum- bers. In this circumstance, baan is placed before the number. e.g. kiiom rian pia-saa kmae baan bpii chnam. = I have studied Cambodian for two years. The most common way to represent the past tense is to insert another word into the sentence that indirectly identifies the tense. Cambodian people understand this much more easily. e.g. kiiom dtow srok kmae havy. = “T’ve already been to Cambodia.” or more figuratively “ve been to Cambodia.” or “I went to Cambodia.” The word gom-bpung identifies the present tense but only the immediate present tense. In other words, use it only to identify the tense for something that is happening at that very moment. Unlike the terise identifiers for the past and future, this identifier is used very commonly in colloquial speech. e.g. dtau boong gom-bpung tvwae ey? = What are you doing right now? kfiom gom-bpung aan siaw-pow. = I’m reading a book. The word nang denotes the present tense, but it is also rarely used in common speech. However, do not confuse this with other forms of the word nang which are used very frequently. nang is used the same way as baan. e.g. kfiom nong dtau psaa. = I will go to the market.Cambodian for Beginners 115 As shown earlier, it is more common and more easily under- stood to use other words in the sentence that indirectly identify the tense. kfiom dtaa psaa maong-bpram-bpal Ingiak. = 1am going to the store at 7:00 p.m.116 Robert: ita Sopheap: sgene1 Robert: ida Sopheap Sopheap ame Lesson Conversation 1 bprak nih boong dtaw naa klah? {fin iss uM isi am es Where are you going this morning? prak nih kfiom daw saa-laa hauy dtow psaa dae. fin tes 8 isl anon ihe isi gp ies This morning I’m going to school and the market. dtou psaa maong bpon-maan? isl apr tin tgs What time are you going to the market? kfiom diay maong bey. boong jong dtax jia-muay kfiom dtee’? isl to Fou isl thew & is rm going at three o’clock. Do you want to go QD9-Lad= with me? baat, kfiom jong dtax. kfiom soom dtew baan dtee? us € sh isl & wu isl me ig ; ‘ Yes, I do want to go. May I come? baan. min-ey-dtee. juab kfiom now -saa-laa naw maong bpii gon-lah hawy yaang nang dtow jia-muay knia. ms isiig_ = gu asta tal rh fogs iti itis Ba tsi hyo mM Yes, no problem. Meet me at school at 2:30, and we'll go together.Cambodian for Beginners - Neang: ct Rick: Neang: tba) Rick: in Neang: 4 Conversation 2 dtau look gom-bpung tvwae ey? ioiann | ina eH What are you doing? kfiom gom-bpung rian pia-saa kmae. kiiom rian bpii maong hawy. 8 fina = js man tei & js fr ria adits Iam studying Cambodian. I have been studying for two hours already. dtau pia-saa kmae bpi-baak rian dtee? ii omen igs finn ws 1s Is Cambodian difficult to learn? baat, bpi-baak nah. soom juay kfiom baan dtee? ne fun ami au gu & ms is Yes, it is very difficult. Could you please help me? juay look baan, bpon-dtae kfiom dtau juab bpuak-maak now maong bpram. Sw ian ms ig 8 isl ou gna isl heh Sure, I can help, but I’m going to meet a friend at five o’clock.118 klia Lesson 5 un Sentences ou + dtaw boong jool-jet rian new bpeel naa? owe | gevee js wal ines Am What time of day do you like to study? + kfiom jool-jet rian now bpeel bprok. & gua wjs isi 0 fn I like to study in the morning. + kfiom jool-jet rian now bpeel yub. & yooeq wjs tel te wi L like to study at night. kfiom jool-jet rian new bpeel Ingiak. & gweq wjs isi 11 ans Llike to study in the evening. + saa-laa jab-pdtaum maong bpon-maan? anon itis Te ime What time does school start? : saa-laa jab-pdtaym maong-bpram-bey bprak. anon wigs HT hn School starts at 8:00 in the morning. : saa-laa jab-pdtaum maong-bpram-bpal gon-lah. anon =i Te quit rige School starts at 7:30. : saa-laa job maong bpon-maan? anon ou te igs What time is school over? : saa-laa job maong-bey rosial. anon wo ora Haye School is over at 3:00 in the afternoon.Cambodian for Beginners at C: saa-laa job maong-bpii-sae-seb-bpram nia-dtii. anon wo oti fi immuppi aig School is over at 2:45. 4, A: dtaw boong mook dol bpii ong-gaal? i oun oun BM iN ' When did you get here? B: kfiom mook dol bpti maong-bpram. & oun a oi sop I've been here since five o’clock. C: kfiom mook dol dtang bpii maong-buan pluu. & oun ao ma f thous = Fi I’ve been here since 4:00 am. 5. A: dtaw boong jong dtau pnom-bpeefi ong-gaal? i ou isl | Aim anny When do you want to go to Phnom Penh. B: kiiom jong dtow chnam nih. @ wis) miss I want to go this year. 6. A: dtau look now psaa bpon- maan maong hauy. ii tana isl apr dims in ihies How many hours have you been at the market? B: kfiom now psaa bpii maong hauy. é isl apr fi me wie J have been at the market for two hours. C: kfiom nou psaa gon-lah maong hauy. 8 isi apr ose | ithe ities I have been at the market for half an hour. D: kfiom now psaa dob nia-dtii hawy. & isl ap gd ms tin Ihave been at the market for ten minutes.120 Lesson 5 : dtau look jong tvwae-gaa bpon-maan maong dtiat? Wioina wi ims tims mh tejr How much longer do you want to work? : kfiom jong tvwae-gaa bpii maong dtiat. & wh tim fi ithe igia I want to work for two more hours. : kfiom jong tvwee-gaa muay maong gon-lah dtiat. @ Bh iim: yu rhe ongs gin I want to work for another hour and a half. : kfiom jong tvwae-gaa dob-bpram nia-dtii dtiat. & who iim 8 «6atph Sif I want to work for fifteen more minutes. : kfiom min jong tvwoo-gaa dtiat dtee. & 8s wh iim isja is I don’t want to work any longer. . dtaa boong jong dtow srok kmae jia-muay nek naa? 1h UH GH tel an ef omye oan am Who do you want to go to Cambodia with? : kfiom jong dtow srok kmae jia-muay bpuak-maak. & sa tei pun igi mew gnc I want to go to Cambodia with friends. : kfiom jong dtow srok kmae jia-muay grua-saa. € sa isi pun tgs mew gan I want to go to Cambodia with family. : kfiom min jong dtow srok kmae jia-muay grua-saa kfiom dtee. & $8 si tsi jun fer chew an & 1 I don’t want to go to Cambodia with my family.Cambodian for Beginners 121 Drills |. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. Some sentences can be said in different ways. If the sentence is a ques- tion, practice answering it too. When did you get here? When are you going to Cambodia? Class starts at 7:00 in the morning. I am going to play sports with my friends. 2. Do one of the following. Create a two person dialogue about a certain activity and what time it will take place. The dialogue must have at least two parts for each participant. Notice where you are right now. Tell yourself or someone else in Cambodian how long you have been at that place. Tell them in two different ways.122 Lesson 5 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. job maong bpram dtang-bpii now tvwoao-gaa haay mpei jong buan dtee muay saa-laa kfiom ong-gaal bpeel bprak gon-lah dtow jia-muay knia yub jab-pdtaam bpon-maan hauy nih jool-jet Ingiak nia-dtii sae-seb ro-sial mook dolCambodian for Beginners 123 Test 5 Write these times in Cambodian. 1. 4:00 am 2. 6:00 pm 3. 12:00 am 4. 3:50 pm 5. 11:30 am 6. 10:45 pm inal 7. 5:05 pm Write these times in English. Each time may or may not specify am or pm. 1. maong-bpram-bpel Ingiak 2. maong-bey pluw 3. maong-bpram-muay-gon-lah bprok 4. maong-bpii ro-sial sae-seb-bpram nia-dtii 5. maong-dob-muay mpei-bpram nia-dtii 6. tngai-dtrong 7. maong-buan ro-sial124 Lesson 5 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. kfiom now pdteah dtang bpii maong-bey. 2 isl ge ome ff thet goat dtow tvwee-gaa maong-bpram bprek. mi isl iim tha fin so-paa jool-jet geeng bpeel-bprak. Am BBR Tn sows ffi . Tom’s class ends at 4:00 pm. . Jenny is reading a book right now. Do you want to go to the movie theater together?Cambodian for Beginners 425 Independent Vowels Cambodian has eleven more vowel symbols which are called independent vowels. These vowels differ from the other vowels because they stand alone and do not require an accompa- nying consonant. Some of these vowel symbols recreate the sounds of other vowels while others have their own unique sound. Since these vowels do not interact with consonants, the /oo0/ and /oo/ consonant rules do not apply to these vowels. Also, many of these sounds are so similar that it is difficult if not impossible to distinguish the differences with the transliteration system. Independent vowels are not very common, but there are many com- mon Cambodian words which use them. Vowel Vowel Name Sound A sra-ei /ei/ nj sra-ee /ee/ q sra-00 /oo/ 5 sra-ow /ow/ U sra-1a /ra/ U sra-Trau » ree!Lesson 5 126127 Cambodian for BeginnersLesson 5 128Cambodian for Beginners 129 Reading Exercise: Read the following words with independent vowels, and practice writing them in Cambodian. 1. nq to be located at 2. Agi right now 3. § 1 father 4. Bg to bow ° 5. pi Siat to remind 6. 0) to listen, hear Nn ™“ 70 or s. UA root a ~ 9. ny oneself 10. Bu to hug130 Lesson 5 Sub-Consonants We will now introduce you to a brand new part of the Cambodian alphabet: sub-consonants or jeong script. Almost every consonant has a sub-consonant, i.e. lowercase, counterpart. These sub-consonants are always used after a normal uppercase consonant to form a double consonant sound. A sub-consonant can be placed in front of, below, or in back of a consonant, but the sub- consonant always gives the second part of the double consonant sound no matter where it is placed. For this reason, students can sometimes think that they are reading in circles. Nevertheless, this system is very easy to learn once you get the hang of it. It is also important to note that all sub-consonants are of the same consonant class as their parent uppercase character. Also, the vowel sound attached to the double consonant combination gener- ally follows the consonant class of the lowercase character because its sound comes last. However, there are exceptions which will be noted in Chapter 7.Cambodian for Beginners 131 Sub-Consonants id jeong These are ten sub-consonants in the Cambodian alphabet. The dash represents an absent uppercase consonant. Consonant Pronunciation Sound a goo /g/ n a koo /k/ 3 _ i. I EB goo ot i joo iil we J J - . hil w Joo ‘J = doo/dtoo /d/, /dt/ an too Mf a132 Lesson 5 Practice Writing Lowercase Consonants Use fi/-/ as the consonant when practicing the following lowercase consonants. qo orm 3:3 2st IzsB ep BZwmrrxsz.Rr sa 32232322 3 BRemMmmrm IRI I B om OF Sy em omCambodian for Beginners 133 gaa-bpon-yul Maes jou Explanation The following words are examples of double-consonant sounds in written Cambodian that involve lowercase consonants. The character-by-character explanation is presented in the order of the sounds made, not in the order of the written characters. Dashes represent absent consonants. 1. HB (sgoom) = H+ -+ B (s + goo + m) 2. tHN8 (Ikaon)= + -+1-1+8 d+k+ao+n) 3. BU (mjul) = B+ 5 +-+05 (m+j+u+l) 4. fd) (sdtam) = §§ + = + -1 (s + dt + am) 5. Gi (sgoo)= M+ -+3 (s + goo + rj) Note: 1. Don’t forget that final roo ( 7 ) consonants are silent.134 Lesson 5 Reading Exercise: Read the following words with sub-conso- nants, and practice writing them in Cambodian. 1 2. flower 2. ans place to force, compel 4. ti thunder to speak 6. wes star ae crab 8. wns to care for Writing Exercise 5 Transcribe the following into Cambodian script using sub- consonants. These are all double consonant sounds but not all are real words. Some words can be spelled different ways. Do not use independent vowels in this exercise. - pgaa pdtet - pgoo gjoh . gdaam 6. mdaay 7. mjah 8. Ikaon 9. staa 10. sjiaLesson 6 Months; days of the week; in order to; more sub-consonantsCambodian for Beginners 137 mee-rian dtii bpram-muay 1uitijs $3 Lesson 6 veak-a-sab nya tngai ig aa-dtit/sa-bdaa nGay/agui kae i chnam #1 ingai-jan igi tngai-ong-gia tngai-bput ig tngai-bpra-hoa ipa tngai-sok igen ingai-sau ipituli tngai-aa-dtit ipsnday tngai-nih piss som-raak Ad[EF tngai som-raak ipaupEnn bpii tngai_ Firig bey tngai aig tngai naa igam graoy tyme mun ¥§8 gon-loong = figt aa-dtit-graoy mGapyymuy aa-dtit-mun/aa-dtit gon-loong dtow inSAYS / NSAynguisl kae-graoy ferpmes kae-mun/kae-gon-loong dtow ius / ienguigl tngai-graoy Terpmey 8 gains Vocabulary day week! month year Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday today to rest day off; holiday two days three days which day after, later before past, already occured next week last week next month last month a later day138 sa-aek/tngai-sa-aek iurviginmn kaan-sa-aek ersten msel-mifi 8yutm msel-mngai §yostg kae-meah-ga-raa/kae-muay feunn/ tents kae-gom-peah/kae-bpii tenus / tet kae-mi-nia/kae-bey jeusi/ eu kae-mee-saa/kae-buan jetuan / weus kae-o0-sa-pia/kae-bpram ~ fegnim / tem kae-mi-to-naa/kae-bpram-muay teBBM/ te [Mee kae-gak-ga-daa/kae-bpram-bpol terifg / teqmany kae-sey-haa/kae-bpram-bey tedium / teat kae- “gaii- yaa/kae- ‘bpram-buan iencm/ ieqriys kae- dto-laa/kae- -dob req / tenu kae-vwi-je-gaa/kae-dob-muay ietim / edges kae-tnuu/kae-dob-bpii teu / tenuni mok ue bpii aa-dtit graoy fiensAppMes bey kae graoy Uierpmes Lesson 6 tomorrow day after tomorrow yesterday day before yesterday January? February March April May June July August September October November December ahead, front two weeks from now three months from nowCambodian for Beginners kae-mee-saa kaang mok nih jeranemyerse kae-mun/kae-gon-loong-dtow teug/iengingl bey-kae-mun/bey-kae-gon-loong-dtou fieua/itengural bpii kae Fite bey kae tie kae naa ienm dau-leeng Bat dtaw-leeng 1g1tni8 dom-naa Sinz tvwee dom-naw teeny git An tom-mdaa sum juan-gaal sims daum-bey ey ro-hoot Uti (ro-hoot) dol (zt) B60 jool gu yt jeefi ium Jool geeng goutet graok-laung —imntgyss Note: 1. sa-bdaa is more formal than aa-dtit. 139 this coming April last month three months ago two months three months which month to go out, recreate to visit, vacation trip to go ona trip ~= to think normal; usually sometimes in order to forever, indefinitely until to enter to leave to go to sleep to wake up 2. It is more common to identify a month by using the word kae and then adding the number of the month. The official names of months are usually used only in formal situations or broadcasts.140 Lesson 6 vwee-jia-goo opm Grammar This chapter will teach you how to use the days of the week and the months of the year in Cambodian sentences. In Cambodian, the day or month usually appears at the beginning or end ofa sentence. However, there is no commonly enforced grammatical rule for this. e.g. kae dob-bpii kfiom dtou-leeng grua-saa. = I am going to visit my family in December. e.g. kiiom jool-jet dau-leeng now tngai sau. = T enjoy going out on Saturday. When asking a question using a time identifier, always place the identifier at the end of the sentence. e.g. dtau boong jong dtow kae naa? = When doyou want to go? - It is very simple to express a period of time with multiple days or months. bpii is inserted before the time indicator phrase and dtou, dol, or ro-hoot dol is inserted between the two time identifying words in the following manner. The word ro-hoot gives the indication that the action performed was uninterrupted. e.g. kfiom dtau saa-laa bpii tngai-jan dol tngai-sok. = I go to school from Monday to Friday. €.g. goat tvwaa-gaa bpii maong-bpram ro-hoot-dol maong bpii. He works from 5:00 until 2:00. The words juan-gaal or tom-mdaa are usuallly used at the beginning of a sentence. The time indicator word then comes at the end. e.g. tom-mdaa kfiom fiam baay now bpeel-Ingiak. = ] usually eat in the evening. As you may have already noticed, the word leeng can be com- bined with other verbs. Since Jeeng means “to play,” this indicates a playful and pleasant nature to the verb. Oftentimes, there is no object when this type of verb is used. The following are some examples. e.g. aan-leeng - This means to read for enjoyment. Studying a book for a test would not be the proper situation to use this word, but reading a newspaper or novel would be. e.g. dtou-leeng - This means to go somewhere for pleasure. In other words, a vacation. Something like a business trip would not quali- fy as proper usage of this word.Cambodian for Beginners 144 an iL g Sue: cal Sophal: agiieu Sue: Bt Sophal: RIB Sue: eB Sophal: agian Conversation chnam nih kfiom jong dtow srok-kmae. gi oiss 8 ow isl [unite I would like to go to Cambodia this year. jong dtew srok-kmae tvwaa ey? wi isl qunies i 8 What do you want to do in Cambodia? kfiom jong dtow daum-bey tvwoo-gaa. 8 wi isl Wy imi I want to go in order to work (there). dtau boong jong dtaw ong-gaal? fe uh Ge isl Hin When do you want to go? kfiom git taa dtou kae-bpram. 8 fin h isl ie I think that I want to go in May. hawy jong now bpon-maan kae? wis wi isl) fms ie And how many weeks do you want to stay there? kfiom jong nou bey kae, bpii kae-bpram ro-hoot dol kae-bpram-bpol. 8 wisi o ie ff epi igs em tepehts I would like to go for three months, from May to July. baa boong dtau meefi, kfiom goo jong dtau dae. i oun ssi tus 8 = Bh isi te If you’re really going, I want to go too.142 klia Lesson un Sentences ou : tngai-nih jong tvwao ey? igiss och oi 8 What do you want to do today? + tngai-nih kfiom jong dau-leeng. piss = 8a Baron I would like to go out today. : msel-mifi boong dau-leeng now ae naa? Hum vy nw isi a am Where did you go yesterday? : msel-mifi kiiom dau-leeng now bat-dom-boong. Houig 2 nue isl mitus Yesterday, I went to visit Battambang. : sa-aek look jong dtou-leeng nek naa klah? jun inn oi isl tw ym am gs Who would you like to visit tomorrow? : sa-aek kfiom jong dtew-leeng grua-saa nong bpuak-maak. ium 8 wh isin pans Ba gntha Tomorrow | want to visit family and friends. : dtau boong dtifi pdteah bpii ong-gaal? ou Smoke When did you buy a home? : kfiom dtifi pdteah dtang-bpii kae dob. & Sm we mun fe ad I bought a home in October. : kfiom dtifi pdteah bey kae hauy. 8 sm ge ot ie wie Three months ago, I bought a house.Cambodian for Beginners 143 5. A dtau boong jong dtifi laan ong-gaal? fi ou wi Sm gps Hine When do you want to buy a car? : kiiom dtifi laan kae-graoy. 8 Sm gps ferme I will buy a car next month. : kfiom neng dtifi laan kae-dob-muay kaang-mok-nih . & 84 Sm gps iexduw arnueige I will buy a car this coming November. : bpii aa-dtit dtiat, kfiom nong dtifi Jaan. ti méay isfi «68 =| «8H Sm ps I will buy a car in two weeks. tw : dtau boong jong som-raak now tngai naa? 1% ooh sh owt isi ig am What day do you want to rest? kfiom jong som-raak now tngai sau. 8 wi owpnn isl ig init I want to rest on Saturday. : dtaa look tvwoe-gaa nou tngai naa klah? ii imi imi isl ig am es What days do you work? : kfiom tvweo-gaa bpii tngai-ong-gia dtow tngai-sau. 8 imi =f —ipains = isl igsasi I work from Tuesday to Saturday. kfiom now saa-laa bpii maong-bpram-bey dol maong-bpii. 8 isl ann ff thapid Boi thats Tam at school from 8:00 until 2:00. : tom-mdaa, look jool geeng maong bpon-mann? GM TNA Go Tit | fin ugs When do you usually go to sleep?144 10. 12, 13. Lesson 6 tom-mdaa kifiom jool geeng maong-dob-muay. sum 28 gu ti | theives I usually go to bed at 11:00. : juan-gaal boong jool-jet tvwaa a-vwey klah? gsmuy ug tC What do you occasionally like to do? juan-gaal, kfiom jool-jet maal dtuu-ra-dtuah. gsmu = 8 BER im = gigayyS Occasionally, I like to watch television. tom-mdaa, kfiom nou bpro-dteeh-jo-bpun bpii kae-gom-bpeah ro-hoot dol kae-mee-saa. sum & isi [bistnis a “7 fens mgm ae feruan Tam usually in Japan from February until April. kfiom tvwea-gaa daum-bey luy. & simi Bey cus I work in order to have money. goat rian pia-saa kmae daum-bey juab bpuak-maak kmae. mai ws man ja ey gu anthn ier She studies Cambodian in order to meet Cambodian friends.cambodian for Beginners 145 Drills 1. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. Some sentences can be said in different ways. If the sentence is a ques- tjon, practice answering it too. Yesterday, I went to the movie theater. I go to Cambodia in order to study the Cambodian language. I usually read the newspaper in the morning. When did you go to Phnom Penh? When were you in France? 2. Do the following. Create a two person dialogue about a trip you are planning. Include when you are leaving and the length of time that you will be gone in months. Compose a paragraph telling when you usually go to sleep, how long you sleep and when you usually wake up.146 Lesson 6 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. boong tngai-sok daum-bey ro-hoot dol bpii rian dau-leeng dtou-leeng kae-mun tngai-jan kae-muay msel-mngai kiiom kae-bpram baan goat gon-loong-dtaw juab kae mok dtau now tvwae juan-gaal dom-naw jong tom-mdaa pram maong - \saa-laa kae-graoy buan aa-dtit srok kmae tvwoe-gaa srok jen jool jeefi geengCambodian for Beginners Test 6 Match the following days and months with the appropriate Cambodian word. Months ____ 1. January _____ 2. February ___ 3. March ___. 4. April ____ 5. May 6. June —___ 7. Iuly —_ 8. August —_____ 9. September _____ 10. October —___ 11. November —____ 12. December Days ——— |. Monday —__ 2. Tuesday —_— 3. Wednesday —— 4. Thursday —_— 5. Friday —_ 6. Saturday —— 7. Sunday a. kae-mee-saa_ feruan b. kae-dto-laa fenan c. kae-gak-ga-daa iennm d. kae-gom-bpeah ienys e. kae-oo-sa-pia fegnim f. kae-sey-haa fediun g. kae-tnuu ieg h. kae-meah-ga-raa An i, kae-mi-to-naa ietem j. kae-vwi-je-gaa isifm k. kae-gafi-yaa ienem |. kae-mii-nia fgg a. tngai-bput a 1 b. tngai-sok igen c. tngai-jan ivug d. tngai-aa- st ipinda Sey etngai-sau igtarit f. tngai-ong-gia igaym g. tngai-bpra-hoa ipa148 Lesson 6 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. kiiom som-raak bpii tngai-sau dol tngai jan. & winn f iguell ad igs 2. juan-gaal, kfiom jool geeng maong dob-bpii. gsm 8TH raha 3. goat dtow psaa daum-bey dtifi siaw-pou. ma isl ape wey || Sm ufital ae 4. In two weeks, I am going to Vietnam. 5. He has been here since 6:00.Cambodian for Beginners 149 Sub-Consonants itu jeong These are six more sub-consonants in the Cambodian alphabet. The dash represents an absent uppercase consonant. Consonant Pronunciation Sound > dtoo /dt/ a =] boo /b/ i by “1 poo /bp/ n poo Ip! =<] soo /s/ i hoo /h/ wm ~ 20 lof H150 Lesson 6 Practice Writing Lowercase Consonants Use fi/-/ as the consonant when practicing the following lowercase consonants. 7 oH oR of a a) 3 I Ai Ai A fi fi hi Ai Ai. fi fi A fi A A A A A A cm 3 232 3 3m 3B S zm SmCambodian for Beginners 154 gaa-bpon-yul MIs joy Explanation When the /99/ ( = ) sub-consonant modifies the initial consonant in a word, it produces another syllable after the conso- nant it modifies. eg. igs (pa-aem) = f+ -+1-+ u (p +a +ae+m) ffi (sa-aat) = f+ -+ -1+ Fi (s+a+aa+t) Reading Exercise: Read the following words with sub-conso- nants, and practice writing them in Cambodian. oo oO 1. 6UTE small river 2. F385 ful, satisfied 3. Apu head 4. ans bridge 5. ant to touch 6. taf different _ : unm to show, reveal 8. ou pretty, clean oO 9. tej string 10. ru papaya > o = 11, tw twenty 12. tH] in order to152 Lesson 6 Read and translate the following sentences. 1. UH tS ig] inufs 2. § YE Ins infil ms 1s 3 TTA BAA AM 4. Bp isl Pai ge s, TAN ts tS] aM ies Writing Exercise 6 Transcribe the following into Cambodian script. These are all real Cambodian words. However, you may be able to phoneti- cally spell them in several different ways. 1. psaeng ; 6. dtboong 2. sbpek 7. pa-aul 3. sdtuuik 8. mhoob 4. jbaa 9. msau 5. sa-ey 10. sdteahLesson 7 Telephone conversations; tloab and dael; food; more sub-consonantsCambodian for Beginners 155 mee-rian dtii bpram-bpii tutijs Srl Lesson 7 veak-a-sab bpraw ie haet a-vwey thH som yor ¢ goo-baan fills bpii-bpruah/bpruah Fiipene / tine som-rab int min souw Bangi tloab/dael u/ Ta aa-loo/jem-riab-sua anion / HnwALT Juab knia tngai graoy (dtiat) QUMIBI MUI Tsfei) jam wi muay-pleet Buntgti soom jam muay-pleet MutiEttAA jih Bs sii-kloo moo-dtoo mhoob ¥U mhoob kmae puter mhoob aa-mee-ri-gang yusmntdiniy mhoob tai yuis . ' mhoob baa-rang HUTA 9 a tvwaa baay/tvwea mhoob iimw/ibyD jet ta HAO Vocabulary to use why to ask (for something) okay, all right “ because for not so... to have ever done something, to experience hello (on the phone) “Tl see you later.” to remember; to wait! one moment “One moment please.” to ride pedicab motorcycle food? Cambodian food American food Thai food French food to cook to peel, slice156 bong-aem vive jong-graan-baay Sisnes klian (baay) / heew (baay) aw (tats) / ttn (mes) cha-aet inti chngafi mim min chngaf/ot chngaii Bain / wan pa-aem iu juu Wi bprai i Ivwiing/jot UH / BH Ae" saab antl bal thi bpeek thf jraun bpeek t[Bstnfi bon-dtek U8 bon-dtek dtiat wgergjai taem (dtiat) itu (igjf) soom ft slaab-bpria anuj gam-bet Mitt jong-geh wis baay tt saik ant saik-goo antim saik-moan anwing saik-jruuk anepin som-loo/sub fuy/AiU chaa ™ baay chaa WU plae-choa iin Lesson 7 dessert kitchen hungry full tasty, delicious not tasty sweet sour salty bitter > bland, tasteless spicy too... too much a little a little more more fork spoon knife chopsticks rice; food meat beef chicken pork soup stir fry fried rice fruitCambodian for Beginners bon-lae wig dtrey ia sot fg dtok $F dtak saab Smanu | * dtak sot/dtak boo-ri-sot Snag / Snving dtak maa-sin Snthiis dtak plae-chaa Snigind dtak krooik SAAB 157 vegetables fish pure water; fluid water purified water; bottled water tap water fruit juice orange juice, soda Note’ 1. yam has two different meanings, but it ts pronounced exactly the same. 2. Unlike the word baay which can mean either cooked rice or food, mhoob only means food.158 Lesson 7 vwee-jia-goo ep ; Grammar This chapter does not introduce much new grammar, but there are some new items that should be mentioned. In Cambodian, the words tloab and dae] are used to make inquiries regarding someone’s experience. When responding to a question of this nature, the word dloab is generally used to make positive responses and the work dael i is generally used to make negative responses. “e.g. dtau look dael dtaw srok kmae dtee? = Have you ever been to Cambodia? baat, kfiom tloab dtow srok kmae. = Yes, I have been to Cambodia. ot-dtee, kfiom min dael dtow srok kmae dtee. = No, I have never been to Cambodia. The phrase min souw means “not very...” or “not so...” and is used in the same way it would be used in English. e.g. nih min sauw tlai dtee. This is not very expensive. bpii-bpruah or bpruah means “because,” and it is used the same way as it is used in English. e.g. haet-avwey bong min jong dtow? = Why do you not want to go? kfiom min jong dtow bpii-bpruah kfiom jong meal gon. = I don’t want to go because I want to watch a movie. The word som is different from the word soom in one impor- tant aspect. soom is used for asking permission to do something. som is used when asking for something. e.g kfiom soom dtay fiam baay, baan dtee? May I please go eat? kiiom som baay taem dtiat, baan dtee? May I please have some more rice?Cambodian for Beginners 159 Note on Telephone Conversations The first dialogue in this chapter will show a typical exam- ple of a Cambodian telephone conversation. Unlike English, mere- ly asking if a person is home does not necessarily mean that you wish to speak to that person. Generally, you must first ask if the person is home and then ask to speak with the person after you have received your answer. A common way to ask if someone is home is as follows. e.g. dtau (name) now pdteah dtee? = Is (name) at home? This literally asks if that person is at the house. A more informal or colloquial expression is to omit the word dtaw and pdteah from the above question. This adjusted phrase asks if the person is “there,” not if they are “at tiome.” e.g. (name) now dtee? = Is (name) there? After you have established that a person is home, you must ask to speak with that person using the previously learned method of asking permission. e.g. kfiom soom ni-yiay jia-muay (name) baan dtee? = May I please speak with (name)? Perhaps the most awkward part of a phone conversation in Cambodian is the goodbye. Oftentimes, the word “goodbye” is not spoken at all. The conversation is simply (and abruptly) cut off when both parties realize that there is nothing left to say.160 Sambat: wig Ron: is Sambat: wyye Ron: is Sambat: wy Sokha: ar Ron: Sokha: 621 Ron: Lesson 7 Conversation 1 aa-loo? nian Hello? baat, boong so-kaa now pdteah dtee? mg uh aj isl ue is Yes, is Sokha home? baat, goat nou. tg oma ts Yes, she is here. kfiom soom ni-yiay jia-muay goat baan dtee? é qu Sunw thyw mi ms is May I please speak with her? baan, soom jam muay-pleet. TS AE Tl yMigA Yes, please hold on a moment. aa-loo? min Hello? baat, kfiom jia boong roon. dtau boong sok-sob-baay dtee? ms 8 m uw is ti uD aeuyNw 19 Yes, this is Ron. How are your doing? jaah, kfiom sok-sob-baay. h 8 = wey rm doing fine. yub nih, kfiom hawy-neng bpuak-maak kiiom jong dtou fiam mhoob kmae. dtau boong jong dtow dae rau dtee?Cambodian for Beginners 161 is Sokha: Ron: is Sokha: 621 wiiss 8 iwinse gin 8 oi oii ch gu ig oR oun oS isl tgs gis | Tonight my friends and I want to go eat Cambodian food. Do you want to go too? jaa, kfiom jong dtew. yaeng juab knia maong bpon-maan? fm 8 sh isl tin sum ihm ime Yes, I would like to go. What time are we going to meet? aaik juab nou pdteah kfiom maong bpram-muay baan dtee? imp gu isl ge 8 othe phew ms 19 ‘ Can you meet at my house at 6:00? baan. kfiom aaik juab boong now maong bpram-muay baan. ms 6 8 ine gu UH isl thy figs = as That’s fine. I’ll meet you at 6:00. baat. 99-gun. jom-riab-lia. me HiRoN = AnuAN Thanks. Goodbye. jaa. jom-riab-lia. tf = anuan Goodbye.162 Srey: Tom: Bu Srey: Tom: By Srey: Note: Lesson 7 Conversation 2 dtau look tloab fiam mhoob kmae dtee? iow md cn pu ote: ts Have you ever eaten Cambodian food? baat, kiiom tloab. ms 8 pt Yes, I have. dtau look git taa mhoob kmae chngafi dtee? ti tannin wh gu ig mm ts Do Jo you think that Cambodian food tastes good? kiiom taa chngafi bpon-dtae kfiom min souw~ jeh bprau jong-gah dtee.! é om ing tig 8 is wi tee eRe «tg ‘ I think it’s tasty, but I don’t know how to use chopsticks very well. min-ey-dtee. look aaik bprau slaab-bpria neng soom goo-baan dae. fsite mn ine 3 anu Ba we fime = tes That’s okay. You can use a spoon and fork. 1. In this sentence, taa is used without a vowel such as git or dang preceding it. This is very common in colloquial Cambodian speech,Cambodian for Beginners 163 klia un Sentences ou : dtau look dael mool gon nih dtee? iH nnn igo ie AS ise 1s Have you ever seen this movie? : baat, kfiom tloab meel gon nih. ms 2 mu iim qs tee Yes, I have seen this movie. : ot-dtee. kfiom min dael meal gon nih dtee. uiig «=i tam tim AS tse is No, I have never seen this movie. : dtaa boong tloab jih sii-kloo dtee? a a | Have you ever ridden a pedicab? : jaa, kfiom tloab jih. i 68) mt Bs Yes, I have ridden (one). : ot-dtee. kfiom min dael jih dtee. ntig & 8s gm fe tg No, I have never ridden (one). kfiom tloab dtau leeng srok tai. & md isi wn janis Ihave gone on a trip to Thailand. : mhoob kmae hol dtee? fuy{ wo igi th ts Is Cambodian food spicy? : mhoob kmae min souw hal bpon-maan dtee. 0 So yu igi US i | ums 1g Cambodian food is not very spicy.164 Lesson 7 A: laan goat tom dtee? gps mi & 19 Is his car big? : laan goat min souw tom bpon-maan dtee. gps mi fs ai G tgs 1g His car is not very big. : haet-a-vwey boong ot jool-jet mhoob ba-raang? we UN NA GER ou Te Why don’t you like French food? 7 bpii-bpruah mhoob ba-raang saab bpeek. fms eu a aN In Because Frénch food is too bland. : haet-a-vwey goat ot mian laan. ine = mA mS gps Why doesn’t he have a car? : bpruah goat ot mian luy dtifi laan dtee. tne mi HA ms cow Sm gens is Because he doen’t have money to buy a car. : haet-a-vwey goat ot jool-jet tvwao-baay? Wine = MAN GHEE | me Why doesn’t she like to cook? : goat ot jool-jet bpii-bpruah goat min jeh. ma HA goRE «© rym: = ma Bs te She doesn’t like to cook because she doesn’t know how. : som-loo nih chngajfi dtee? wy ie mm tg Does this soup taste good? : baat, chngafi. ms BM Yes, it tastes good.Cambodian for Beginners 165 C: ot-dtee, min sauw chngaii dtee. Haig) «8s oi 6mm is No, it’s not very tasty. D: min chngafi dtee. som-loo nih bprai bpeek. Ss mm i wy ise ify ton No, it doesn’t taste good. It’s too salty. 10. A: jong taem dtiat dtee? wi fee igji ts Would you like some more? B: baat, kfiom som bon-dtek dtiat. me 8 Use isin Yes, I would like a little more. C: min-ey-dtee kfiom cha-aet hauy. 9o9-gun. tsits 8 ign tiie «rman That’s all right. I’m full. Thank you. i. A: dtau boong jeh fiam mhoob hel dtee?! iio ou owe mm 6opu ot ts Do you like to eat spicy food? B: baat, kfiom jeh. mg 8 its Yes, I like it. C: ot-dtee, kfiom min jeh fiam dtee. wig = «8g tue om ig No, I do not like it. : 12. kfiom bprau gam-bet som-rab jet bon-lae. & i niin sind in vig Luse a knife to slice vegetables. 13. goat jool-jet fiam plae-choa hauy-nang dtak-sot. ma guia ch igi = wiBa «| Snag He likes to eat fruit and drink bottled water.166 16. 17. Note: 1. Lesson i goat fiam baay jraun bpeek. mi oh wes ths inn He eats too much food. dtau boong klian baay dtee? io UH uns mM is Are you hungry? : baat, kfiom klian baay. ns 8 ws mw Yes, I am hungry. : baat, kfiom klian baay nah. Pe Yes, Iam very hungry. : dtee, kfiom min klian baay dtee. is 8 #3 uns mu is } No, I am not hungry. : kfiom jam goat bpii maong hauy. 8 tiomi fi the wie Ihave been waiting for him for two hours already. kfiom ot jam goat dtee. 8 ai wl mai is I don’t remember him. kfiom dtifi siaw-pouw som-rab meal. 8 Sm wijiiml sind iim I buy books for reading. When asking if you like a certain food in Cambodian, you usually use the word jeh. In fact, you are literally asking if the person knows “how to eat the food.” Many foreigners find this strange and may be confused. In Cambodian, if you know “how to” eat something, that means you like it. If you don’t know “how to” eat it, that means you don’t like it. Now you will know not to answer this question by saying, “Put it in your mouth, chew it, and swallow it!”Cambodian for Beginners 167 Drills 1. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. If the sentence is a question, practice answering it as well. T have too many books. What foods do you like to eat? Have you ever visited Siem Reap? Why do you use chopsticks? She drinks bottled water, but she does not drink tap water. 2. Do the following. Create a dialogue asking someone what kind of food they like. Ask that person why they like it and have the person give an answer (because it’s sweet, delicious, etc.) Compose a short telephone conversation between two people that has each of the following parts: an opening greeting, asking if the person is home, and asking the receiver of the call if he or she wants to do something with the caller.168 Le 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. ot fam now aa-mee-ri-gang bpii-bpruah soom srok boong hal muay-pleet kmae jong goat Klah mhoob hauy kfiom baay-chaa chngafi dtee baa-rang pa-aem nah pdteah som-lo9 jia-muay min nong jeh bprai jool-jet tloab jam dtow yuu goat tai bpeek baay dael ey baanCambodian for Beginners tov Test 7 Match the English words with the Cambodian words. ____ 1. bitter a. bpeek tifi ___ 2. fish b.chngafi mm _____ 3. sour c. bpii-bpruah teens _____ 4. delicious d.soom sit ____ 5. food e. dtrey fi _____ 6. salty f.klian wns ____s7z.sbeef. g.juu Qi _ s&s full h. slaab-bpria anuj ______ 9. spoon i. bprai ip ___ 10. hungry j. saik-goo antim 11. because k. lvwiing ou ___ 12. fork 1. mhoob yu ° m.cha-aet 18170 Lesson 7 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. kfiom jeh fiam mhoob kmae, bpon-dtae ot jeh fiam mhoob vwiat-naam dtee. 209° uw tes vig oo witue dha wwe cin iijiamy is soy 2. boong so-kaa now pdteah dtee? uh one isl | 6gs iS 3. now bpeel kfiom fiam mhoob kmae, kiiom bprau jong-geh. isl ws 680 in sspsi‘idT:s Ce 4. This soup is too salty. 5. Ihave eaten French food before.Cambodian for Beginners 171 Sub-Consonants itu jeong These sub-consonants are all /oo/ class sub-consonants that do not determine the vowel sound of the word they are used with. When using only these sub-consonants, the vowel sound is deter- mined by the class of the uppercase consonant. Consonant Pronunciation Sound U ide ngoo . ing a fioo Ji! om ~ = fioo Jal! ~~ at noo Inf a mi moo /m/ wb -J yoo ly/ Ir Too hr] a loo M su vwoo /vw/ g Note: I. There are two different lowercase’consonants for [l fioo.172 Practice Writing Lowercase Consonants Use fi/-/ as the consonant when practicing the following lowercase sonants. n cm 2am SS ca $m 9X cm c3— cM Ai 3838 5,A% 2424 3 3 A III yt BV jt > 3 II It Bz 33 >Cambodian for Beginners 173 gaa-bpon-yul MINS} 65 Explanation Congratulations! You have now finally reached your first set of “exceptions” in the Cambodian writing system. Unlike other sub-consonants, all of the sub-consonants introduced in this chapter adopt the consonant class of the uppercase consonant to which they are attached. In other words, the consonant class of the uppercase consonant dominates the consonant class of the sub-consonant. These are the only sub-consonants in the alphabet that do not dominate the class of the uppercase consonant. e.g. B(to0) +, (jeong loo) + 1(sra aa) = 1 (tlaa) Please note that even though the sub-consonant sound is pronounced after the uppercase consonant sound, the class of the uppercase consonant dominates and determines the vowel sound. The word formed is tlaa, not tlia. Sometimes the consonant can also be an /oo/ class conso- nant just like the sub-consonant. In this case, you simply base the vowel sound off of the /oo/ class. e.g. fi (goo) + [(jeeng roo) + 1(sra aa) = [ff (gria) Here are some more examples of how words are formed with this class of subconsonants. 1. 18 (tngai) = 8+ - + f- (t +ng + ai) 2. dave (kfiom) = 8+ 5+ - ~ (k + fi + om) 3. [il (sraa) = f+ [-+ 7 (s + r # aa)174 Lesson 7 Some of these sub-consonants can change the sound of the uppercase consonant to which they are attached. First, if fi goo is attached to a = jeang noo or a = jeang moo, then the consonant sound of fi changes from a /g/ to a /k/. €.g. fi (goo) + = (jeang noo) + -1(sra aa) = i (knia) fi (goo) + = (joang moo) + ; (sra ua) + ti (yoo) = fits (kmuay) If a joong roo is added to a U boo, then the sound of the U changes from /b/ to a /bp/. e.g. 1 (b99) + [- (jaang roo) + ia (sra ai) = iw (bprai) (boo) + [- (jaang roo) + -1(sra am) = [ti (bpram) Reading Exercise: Read the following words with sub-conso- nants, and practice writing them in Cambodian. » 1. ANG mango 2. tf day 2 o a 3. 8 ginger 4. 8 rock 5. anu wing - 6. Hi to hang rf ° 2 7. medication 8. [fi fish a 9. tay guest 10. GUIFT label ~n wu ll. i) in 12. (Uist countryCambodian for Beginners 175 Read and translate the following sentences. 1. [fut 1e7 ta] anes A tee 2. TH 181 Ft Be N 1H GBH SAPAG SH jAN176 Lesson 7 Writing Exercise 7 Transcribe the following into Cambodian script. These are all real Cambodian words. However, you may be able to phoneti- cally spell them in several different ways. 1. svwet 8. pnaek 2. sraek 9. bpruah 3. slaak 10. pfiau 4, a-vwey ll. srae 5. bpyuh 12. svwaeng 6. tmeefi 13. knong 7. sliak 14. bpro-tianLesson 8 Body parts; everyday life; more sub-consonantsCambodian for Beginners 179 mee-rian dtii bpram-bey iwtijs SG Lesson 8 veak-a-sab ruub-gaay/kluan jUmt / 2s sa-aat fifi gbaal Ape sok Afi mok ¥2& pneek ian jefi-jaum ane room-pneek inwign jro-moh = [Bue moat fi bpuuk moat nwa joong-gaa tin b99-boo-moat UyiNH tmeefi 14M dtro-jiak [fiji goo fi dtruung [gt knoong 8 jong-geh tits bpuah/gro-bpeah —ne/{finis gbaal-bpuah —ApeUtens dai ie mriam-dai [wid gro-jook (dai) [fun (78) smaa an jeong 104 mriam-jeong {uria jong-gong Sit plow tél Vocabulary body pretty, beautiful, clean head hair face eye eyebrow eyelash nose mouth mustache chin lips teeth ear neck chest back lower back; waist stomach a fat stomach arm; hand finger fingernail shoulder foot; leg toe knee thigh180 sbaek ifujfi kua-gbaal gififiny beh-doong tistht suat 60fi tlaam 188 saik-dom fue cha-ong 4 chun i srual-kluan [#ysugs min a Sai ‘kKluan Ssyqyrugs pdaa- aay wanes bpéet/gruu- bpeet ingy / Bg] tam 8) aaw ini aaw-ro-ngia mii aaw-yuut inidin kao 1&1 som-bpot fine kao-aaw/som-liak-bom-bpeak teuni/aitnyjndma muak yn ww sbaek-jeang Tagjrvtis sraom 1[inw sraom-jaong Tanti sraom-dai 1[Anwie ksae-gro-vwat teyinni Je jian Surge ksae-dai ieyia sliak-bpeak tegjrma sliak tegin Lesson 8 skin brain heart lung liver muscle bone sick; to hurt to feel well to not feel well cold; to have a cold doctor medication shirt jacket, coat T-shirt pants skirt clothes! hat shoes a cylindrical covering socks gloves belt ring bracelet to wear to wear pants or a skirt?Cambodian for Beginners bpeak mn doh tis doh kao-aaw = tthstenmni doh sbaek-joong tisteuyritii baok kao-aaw thinset? set sok fatitur gao im doh tmeefi Hata muik-dtak won saa-buu Ani fang one som-aat inti som-aat pdttah Abintigs gok sok fifieari jaan ws liang jaan snus dtrouw fats dtrouw-gaa [Rimi bpofi-fia-haa em .hawy (rau) now? — ...10ie(y) IST dtoan 8 min-dtoan sq8 181 to wear something (except for pants and skirts) to remove to take off clothing to take off shoes to wash clothes, do laundry to comb hair to shave to brush teeth to bathe soap fo wash to clean to clean the house to wash your hair dishes to wash dishes to need to do something to need something problem .yet?3 in time, on time not in time, not on time nou lauy tsligjta not yet tmey g new Jah med old Note: 1. som-liak-bom-bpeak is more formal than kao-aaw. 2. sliak refers only to wearing pants or, skirts. The word bpeak should be used when referring to wearing anything else. 3. Colloquial speech usually omits the rue.182 Lesson 8 vwee-jia-goo opm Grammar The words dtrouw and dtrauw-gaa are very important in the Cambodian language. Both words translate to the English verb “to need,” but they are both used in different ways. dtrauw means “to need to do something.” It demands an action, not an object. e.g. kfiom dtrauw dtow psaa. = I need to go to the market. In contrast, dirauw-gaa means “to need something.” It demands an object, not an action. e.g. kfiom dtraaw-gaa mhoob. = I need food. This chapter also teaches how to ask if something is done yet and give a reply. The phrase hauy-ruu-now is placed at the end of a verb phrase to ask if that phrase has been accomplished yet or not. e.g. dtaw bong dtifi siaw-pau hauy rue now? = Have you bought the book yet? Common speech often drops the rau. e.g. boong gok sok hauy-now? = Have you washed your hair yet? A negative response uses min dtoan to indicate that it has not yet been accomplished. The word now at the beginning of the sentence is optional, and it serves as a quick answer to show that it has not yet been accomplished. now lauy is also an optional phrase used at the end of a negative response. e.g. (now,) kfiom min dtoan dtifi vwia (nau lauy) dtee. = (No,) I have not yet bought it. A positive response is shown by using the word hauy at the end of the sentence to show that it has already been accomplished. e.g. baat, kfiom dtifi hauy. = Yes, | bought it already. The words dtoan and min dtoan can indicate whether or not something is done in or on time. e.g. kfiom tvwae dtoan. =I did it in time. e.g. kfiom tvwaa min dtoan. =I did not get it done in time. This chapter also introduces many verb phrases and other vocab- ulary that can be inserted into previously learned sentence structure. e.g. kfiom jong doh sbaek joong. = I want to take my shoes off. kiiom min jong liang jaan dtee. = I don’t want to wash the dishes.Cambodian for Beginners 183 Ryan: Tins Sokimna: agiuam Ryan: ihins Sokimna: aiuam Ryan: Tins Sokimna: sniiuam Ryan: Tins Conversation boong so-kim-naa sok-sob-baay dtee? un oo tiuam = Aen ts How are you doing, Sokimna? kfiom min souw srual kluan. & Ss wi ym gs I don’t feel very well. : boong chau? vu oa Are you sick? jaa, kfiom chuw. hay tngai nih kfiom dtrouw som-aat pdteah dae. h 8 of ii ig ise gp sini oe TR : Yes, I’m sick. I have to clean the house today too. min-ey-dtee. kfiom aaik juay som-aat pdteah baan. Bsns & me gw inn ge ms ‘ That’s okay. I can help clean the house. 90-gun. Hino Thank you. min-ey-dtee. min bofi-fia-haa dtee boong. filam tnam havy-nou? tsiig 83s wm 6 ww om si iiusisl That's okay. It’s no problem at all. Have you taken any medication yet?184 Sokimna: agtieam Ryan: won Wing Sokimna: agtiuam Lesson 8 nou. kfiom min dtoan fiam tnam dtee. isl & fs m8 m si ts No. I haven’t taken anything yet. fiam tnam hauy som-raak dtow.! Mm gi win spn ii Go take some medication and get some rest. jaa. 99-gun. tf) — aiman Okay. Thank you. Note: 1. Here dtow 1s placed at the end of the sentence to give a figurative meaning of “go ahead”or to go do something quickly.Cambodian for Beginners 185 klia wn Sentences : dtau look dtrauw tvwee a-vwey klah dae? cc What do you have to do? : kiiom dtrauw aan siaw-pou, liang laan, hauy som-aat bon-dtub-dtak. Sgt ms_safitml ant gps ties ain = usu I need to read a book, wash the car, and clean the bathroom. - : kiiom dtrouw dtow psaa maong bpii. > & et oisl aps cea fir I need to go to the market at 2:00. : kfiom dtrauw dtifi laan bpoa kmau. & fai Sm gps ooh tel T need to buy a black car. : dtaa look dtrauw-gaa a-vwey klah? te tan [Rime aH ge What do you need? : kiiom dtrayw-gaa laan tmey. @ pim ge § I need a new car. : kiiom dtrauw-gaa soom nang slab-bpria. & fpim owe 88 Anup I need a fork and spoon. : goat baok kao-aaw hauy-ruu-nou? Ma mA tun? — Witwyrsl Has he done the laundry yet?186 Lesson 8 : (nav), goat min dtoan baok kao-aaw dtee. (isl) mi 8s m8 iwi in? ig (No), he has not yet done the laundry. : baat, goat baok kao-aaw hauy. as mA im ten? ihe Yes, he has already done the laundry. : goat mook dol hatty-rau-now? ma oun ga tifiesyrsl Is he here yet? : baat, goat mook dol hauy. aS ma oun dob tie Yes, he is already here. : goat min dtoan mook dol nau lauy dtee. mi 8s oS wn voi isl igi is He is not here yet. : boong liang jaan dtoan dtee? uh om ms ms is Did you wash the dishes in time? : kiiom liang dtoan. g mu ws I washed them in time. : kiiom liang min dtoan dtee. 8 ou ts ms ig I didn’t wash them in time. : dtaa boong dtow dol dtoan dtee? i oun isl db os ig Did you get there on time? : kfiom dtou dol dtoan. 8 isl gh ms I got there on time. : kfiom dtow dol ot dtoan. & igh dob ai ms I didn’t get there on time.Cambodian for Beginners 187 7. A: dtau goat sliak-bpeak a- vwey klah? if ma tegjnena 8 83 What is she wearing? : goat sliak som-bpot bpoa kiaw hauy bpeak aaw bpoa $09. mei sgjn angi oa seff tila mand nh ti She is wearing a blue skirt and a white shirt. : goat sliak kao bpoa kmau. mai vagjn sar emi tg She is wearing black pants. : goat bpeak aaw bpoa gro-hoom. mR mA an? oh jane 7 She is wearing a red shirt. : dtau boong srual-kluan dtee? ii ouh fmes tg Are you feeling well? : jaa, kfiom srual-kluan. m 8 Rysugs Yes, I am feeling well. : dtee. kiiom min souw srual-kluan dtee. ig g Gs si Ings 1g No, I am not feeling very well. : kiiom chua gbaal. 8 oof Apo T have a headache. : kfiom chua bpuah. 8 nif ims I have a stomachache. : kfiom chua beh-doong. & mii tush I have a heart disorder.188 Lesson 8 Drills 1. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. If the sentence is a question, practice answering it as well. I have to go to the bathroom. Did Bob wash the dishes yet? 2. Do the following. ae Describe what you are wearing in spoken Cambodian. Practice saying the common nursery rhyme “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes” in Cambodian. This will help you remember the Cambodian words for the parts of the body. For those who may be unfamiliar with the rhyme, you name the following body parts in this order while touching them with your fingers: “Head, shoulders, knees, and toes; knees and toes; knees and toes; head, shoulders, knees, and toes; eyes, ears, mouth, and nose.”Cambodian for Beginners 189 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences. kfiom min sliak hauy aaw kmau gbaal hauy-rea-now dtee liang dtrouw-gaa dtoan baok kao-aaw bpoa dtifi muak bpeak srual-kluan bpuah nou-lawy tvwae dtee Test 8 Match the English words with the Cambodian words. ____ 1. clothes ____ 2. sick 3. skirt ____ 4. face ____ 5. skin _____ 6. to wash 7. arm 8. eyes 9. brain ____ 10. hair ____ 11. liver _____ 12. shirt a. som-bpot .liang ant jaan pdteah tmey kao gro-hoom goat som-bpot boong dtow muik-dtak dtrauw saci b. c. sbaek Ttujfi d. som-liak-bom-bpeak soreyRoONA e.sok aifi f.aaw mi g. tlaam Be h. kua-gbaal a By idai 18 j. mok ¥8 aarp k. pneek tan 1. jaong iu m, chuu oi TAN n. sraom190 Lesson 8 Translate the following into English or Cambodian. 1. goat mook pdteah vwifi hauy-now? mai oun gs Im wiwisl 2. kiiom sliak-bpeak aaw bpoa soo nang kao bpoa kiaw. A 3. kiiom chuu jong-geh. & ni wine 4. Ineed new clothes. 5. His hat is too big.Cambodian for Beginners 194 Sub-Consonants ith Jeong This last set of sub-consonants is unique. All are either silent, seldoni used, or obsolete. Consonant Pronunciation Sound i too Mh a i too Mt/l a = noo Inf! an =] koo /k? i choo Ich/2 i choo /ch/? a =] too NB mi doo /d/? a = 99 /p/3 w 7 P Note. 1. These sub-consonants are used seldomly. They are oftentimes used as final silent sub-consonants. 2. These sub-consonants are used seldomly. 3. These sub-consonants are completely obsolete and seldom if ever used.192 Lesson 8 Practice Writing Lowercase Consonants Use fi /-/ as the consonant when practicing the following lower- case consonants. a I= 23 a A A A Ai A A A A A A A A A A A Ai A Ai A A A A A A A A A ACambodian for Beginners ny ™ om 3194 Lesson 8 gaa-bpon-yul mIngysu Explanation In written Cambodian, it is sometimes common to have a final sub-consonant on a word that is silent. It emits no sound, but it is placed there anyway. There are also other sub-consonants besides the three identified in this chapter that can be placed at the end of a word and emit no sound. The general rule is that if there is a sub-consonant at the very end of a word, it is unpronounced. eg. JE (roat) = 1+ f+ ~ (roatt +f )12 6G (sot) = fi +-+ G+-(stot+tt+ry)! 12 1 o tMS] (bpeet) = 1+1+ S -J{bptee +t + y)! Note: 1. Remember that the final consonant sound resulting from the sub-consonant is silent. 2. Please note that this word has an irregular vowel sound that does not follow proper phonetics.Cambodian for Beginners 195 Reading Exercise: Read the following words, and practice writing them in Cambodian. a 2m 1. a state 2. a friend a 3. UCM EI to trick, deceive! 4. wei heart 5. pity monk 6. bug pure 7. GTi kingdom 8. yyy hope Note: 1. The wavy line on the bottom of the €f] /fioo/ character is dropped when a sub-consonant is placed beneath it. Read the following sentences aloud, and rewrite them. 1. 2 URTE BUN Ms Nt tN BGT TATA ten bu w 8 fim gs anti # . ings ts ani sum s. 8 1S GU if 181 1B ise196 Lesson 8 Writing Exercise 8 Translate the following English sentences and write them in Cambodian script. 1. Lam wearing a blue jacket and white shirt. 2. The doctor has a big house. 3. [have a toothache. 4. Tim needs to shave his mustache. 5. Who is going to clean the bathroom?Lesson 9 Comparisons; classifiers; more adjectives; other features of written CambodianCambodian for Beginners 499 mee-rian dtii bpram-buan 1tijs Gé Lesson 9 veak-a-sab Aja Vocabulary bproh [ued male, boy, man srey i female, girl, woman gong Aa bicycle dteang iii plural particle jiang mH more, greater jiang-gee muta most, greatest jiang-gee bom-pot manten absolute most, . greatest dooik a alike, similar min dooik 8880 unlike, dissimilar dooik-knia 881 same! min dooik-knia Ssgum not the same! dtae it only dtae-bpon-noh indrame only (final particle) bproo-hael (jia) [pines (m) about, approximately; maybe sgoom fii skinny toat mH fat grah [mead thick sdaung 1041 thin tngon G8 heavy sraal [Anos light dtom-ngon $¥8 weight kbpuah gf tall, high dtiab HU short gom-bpuah — firied height klang aw , strong ksaoy tepitii weak200 gdau tml dtro-jeak [ft ro-ngia 2 plua i ngo-ngot titi yook-jet-dtuk-dak wrtagnmha kjil 30 riab NU ro-leak isnt snguat ffi dto-dtak/saum = 98ni/ tu bpro-lak {usr oh-jaa HANI on HS mian ms groo ffi kooik 38 Lesson 9 hot cold cool, chilly, cold bright dark to be diligent? lazy flat bumpy dry wet dirty, soiled awesome, great, magnificent poor, inadequate wealthy, rich poor, impoverished broken; naughty; dead Note: — 1. Cambodian also has the phrase koh-knia which means “different.” 2. The only way to express diligence ts to use a verb phrase. eg. kfiom yook-yet-dtuk-dak tvwaa-gaa. = “I work diligently.”Cambodian for Beginners 201 Classifiers Classifiers are specific words which are used to identify nouns. The Cambodian language uses classifiers quite frequently for some words, but they are also oftentimes omitted. English also has classifiers (rolls of paper, glasses of water, pairs of shoes, etc.) Below we have listed some of the most common classifiers in the Cambodian language and what they are used for. Classifier Common Use of Classifier nek fi people sgn-lak ash flat things, sheets of paper “gbaal Ane books and animals doong at number of times, occurances dom a chunk, piece, bunch, roll jaan 8 plates of food, servings gaew ini glasses of water, soda, etc. doob Bu bottles of water, soda, etc. gom-bpong fda cans of soda, juice, etc. guu fi pairs of things graang t[fAja machines groab [Mv small round things (pills, pieces of candy, seeds, etc.) joan msg floor, level, story yaang wnw ways, kinds, types bon-dtub ug rooms Tuang jt stories, movies jbab gpd documents, letters, copies jom-net Gait slices daum ify sticks, guns, long and thin objects ii-loo Fg; kilograms 9 i] gi202 maet Tiff gii-loo-maet figyidja baaw ti gom-plee fre mat thi gem-noo fisi soo-sai Austad Lesson 9 meters kilometers large bags of something (usually used with bags of rice) sets of clothes (top and bottom) mouthful, words large groups, piles strands, threadsCambodian for Beginners 203 vwee-jia-goo wep Grammar Comparisons are introduced in this chapter. They are an extremely useful part of Cambodian speech. The key word for com- parisons is jiang. This word is also always used with a modifier. The modifier comes first. e.g. laan nih tom jiang. = This car is bigger. Jiang is also used to compare two objects in the same sentence. e.g. laan nih tom jiang laan nuh. = This car is bigger than that car. When jiang-gee is combined with a modifier, it forms a superlative. e.g. laan nih tom jiang-gee. = This is the biggest car. The word bam-pot can be added to indicate an even higher superlative. e.g. laan nih tom jiang-gee bom-pot. = This is the absolute biggest car. This chapter introduces classifiers. Normally classifiers come at the end of sentences or phrases in this manner. (noun) - (modifier) - (classifier) e.g. sbaek-jaang bpii guu = Two pairs of shoes Cambodian also uses classifiers in some situations where classifiers are not typically used in English. e.g. tnam bey groab = Three pills Classifiers can then be put into a sentence structure. e.g. kfiom jong dtifi dtok-krooik bpii doob. = I want to buy two bottles of soda. dooik means “alike” or “similar.” It is used much like it is used in English. e.g. aaw nih min dooik aaw kiiom dtee. = This shirt is not like my shirt. dooik-knia means “the same.” e.g. aaw nih nang aaw nuh dooik-knia. = This shirt and that shirt are thé same.204 Sambat: a Jill: Bo Sambat: ong Jill: Bos Sambat: ang Jill: Bou Sambat: anuyh Lesson 9 Conversation dtau boong jong fiam dtak plae-chaa rua dtee? i ou Gh om Sn igi 6g is Would you like to drink some fruit juice? jaa, 99-gun. th IRAN Yes, thank you. tom-mdaa, boong jool-jet fiam dtak a-vwey dae? aum va EUR om GAH ier What do you normally like to drink? kfiom jool jet fiam dtak-krooik. é yourR cm SA [es I like to drink soda. knong muay tngai fiam bpon- maan gom-bpong? m uo is om tgs au How many cans do you drink in a day? knong muay tngai, kfiom fiam dtak-grooik a? bpro-hael-jia bpii rau bey gom-bpong. moe ig 8 mh Shige fine of y ff fda I drink maybe two or three cans a day. kfiom jool-jet fiam dtak-krooik, bpon-dtae kfiom git taa dtak-plae-choe chngafi jiang. & gouty mM | Gnige iis fat Snigind = ah hs 1 like to drink soda, but I think that fruit juice tastes better. 096Cambodian for Beginners 205 Jill: Boo Sambat: ou kfiom jool-jet fam dtok-grooik bpruah vwia taok jiang dtak-plae-chao. @ gotg oh Srp tyme wr me Grigin [like to drink soda because it is cheaper than fruit juice. baat, diek-grooik taok jiang meen. us = Gryge ihn ths Tus Yeah, soda really is cheaper.206 klia cG Lesson 9 wn Sentences ou : sbaek-jaong kmau sa-aat jiang sbaek jeong gro-hoom. ings tel ans ms tani ne Black shoes are prettier than red shoes. : sbaek-jaong kmau min sa-aat jiang sbaek-joong gro-hoom dtee. ingmis il Gs ani me | iayniiin jms is Black shoes are not prettier than red shoes. sbaek-jaang kmau sa-aat jiang-gee. fyi sel anh Black shoes are the prettiest. : diau pia-saa muay naa bpi-baak jiang, pia-saa ong-glee raw pia-saa kmae? i oman sw am finn tH man mina og oman igi Which language is more difficult, English or Cambodian? : pia-saa ong-glee bpi-baak jiang pia-saa kmae. man mig fan othe men igi English is more difficult than Cambodian. : pia-saa ong-glee min bpi-baak jiang pia-saa kmae dtee. man wtiges Gs fim =o mh oman igi is English is not more difficult than Cambodian. : pia-saa kmae bpi-baak jiang. man igi tua mH Cambodian is more difficult.Cambodian for Beginners 207 E: pia-saa kmae bpi-baak jiang-gee. men ier fan | mie Cambodian is the most difficult. : dtau boong jool-jet muak muay naa jiang. ioouN GR Ey AM mH Which hat do you like more? : kiiom jool jet muak nih jiang. a 1 like this hat more. : kao muay naa bpro-lak jiang? ia ya am jugnh mh Which pair of pants are dirtier? : kao nuh bpro-lak jiang. iar ime fugni tha Those pants are dirtier. : dtau look mian gro-dah bpon- maan son-lok? io wni ms [nthe tgs wisn How many sheets of paper do you have? : kfiom mian gro-dah buan son-lok. & ms pAha ys wen I have four sheets of paper. : dtau goat fiam mhoob kmae bpon-maan jaan dae? oma om oyu ig: tims ms igi How many servings of Cambodian food did he eat? goat fiam mhoob kmae bpii jaan. mim wu ie fi mes He ate two servings of Cambodian food. kfiom mian pdteah bey j joan. 8 ms Bs a the Thave a three story house. so-vwan mian dtom-ngon sae-seb gii-loo. win ms sys intiu fig] Sovann weighs forty kilograms. 7208 10. ll. 12. Lesson 9 kfiom dtau srok kmae bpii doong hawy. &@ isin ign fi ke ithe Ihave been to Cambodia two times already. : dtau look jiam tnam bpon- maan groab hauy? iowa a si igs mu wes How many pills did you take? : kfiom fiam bey groab hauy. 8 om a jm iifies 1 took three pills. goat mian bpuak-maak jraun nek. mi ms gnhA Es Hi She has a lot of friends. kfiom mian siaw-paw jraun jiang-gee. 8 ms ijn ibs mun I have the most books. : dtau bpro-dteeh muay naa gdau jiang-gee? ism = uw am oil ha Which country is the hottest. : bpro-dteeh kmae gdau jiang-gee. qoiss = ier tal mt Cambodia the is the hottest. srok kmae jia srok gdau jiang-gee bom-pot. fon igi och fin inl ochiin Gua Cambodia is the absolute hottest country. : sbaek-jaang dteang nih dooik-knia dtee? ingniis gis tse Bam ig Are these shoes the same? : jaa, dooik-knia. tf 8am Yes, they are the same. : min dooik-knia dtee. Gs gum 1g They are not the same.Cambodian for Beginners 209 16. A aaw nih nang aaw nuh dooik-knia. imi iss SH am? ime gam This shirt and that shirt are the same. : aaw nih nang aaw nuh min dooik-knia dtee. ii iss $4 mise §s gem is This shirt and that shirt are not the same. plouw dteang bpii nih ro-leak dooik-knia. BiG Tr iss inn dum Both of these roads are equally bumpy. srey now srok nih min dooik srey now srok kfiom dtee. (S isi yn iss Gs go Ww isl qn Bois The girls here are not like the girls in my country. gong nih min souw tngon dooik gong kiiom dtee. mi iss Gs qi G8 go mi 8 is This bike is not as heavy as my bike. ‘210 Lesson 9 Drills 1. Practice saying the following sentences in Cambodian. I have two glasses of water. My bag is lighter than your bag. 2. Do one of the following. Compare two objects in Cambodian. You must say which one is better and give at least two reasons why using the word jiang. Say in Cambodian what you had (or will have) for all your meals today. You must give the food, drink, and amount of servings. Classifiers must be used. 3. Use the following words to help form ten sentences with classifiers. kfiom tnam gbaal jaan joan pdteah muay jbab son-lak gaew dtifi goat mhoob mian dtak siaw-pow saam-seb kao-aaw gii-loo gom-plee goat bey buan dtom-ngon groab fiam gro-dahCambodian for Beginners 211 Match the English words with the Cambodian words. strong lazy poor maybe incredible short flat hot light dry COI ANWR YN SD PELE s a. kjil 800 b.sraal ANH c. gdau tm d.saum tu e.snguat ffi fdtiab sw g.klang 28 h. oh-jaa HANI i. bproo-hael quits j. groo ffi k.riab 0 Match the Cambodian words with their appropriate classifier. movie letter serving sheet of paper floor people bag shoes bottle 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. times, occurances 7. 8. 9. MITEL ETL 0. a.jaan ms b.baaw ti c. joan ms d.doob BU e. ruang iu f.guu g.doong 8H h.maet Topi io nek 9A . son-lok — asgfi k. jbab gpd212 Lesson 9 Numbers tus leek The last set of characters to learn in the Cambodian alpha- bet 1s the Cambodian script for numbers. Normally in Cambodian writing, numbers can either be written through this script or spelled out phonetically. When making larger numbers, these characters are combined just like they are in English. Consonant Pronunciation English soon 38 muay = §ti bpii fir bey i buan U8 bpram ra bpram-muay — [fiyts bpram-bpii/bpram-bpal {mini bpram-bey [ai MRABSV’RAQAOO OmMmONI NN BWN KF OC bpram-buan ausCambodian for Beginners Practice Writing Numbers O O O mMABerearvnQeEOO O214 Lesson 9 Other Features of Written Cambodian You have now learned all of the characters in the Cambodian script. However, there are still other important parts of Cambodian writing that you need to study. You will now be intro- duced to the symbols used in Cambodian script as well as other fea- tures of written Cambodian. Symbols in written Cambodian are usually placed above a consonant and alter its natural or vowel sound. L. The mark —bon-dtok is placed above final consonants, and affects the vowel sound of a word in several ways. First, this mark is often placed above a final consonant in a word with an initial /o0/ series consonant. There may or may not be a vowel, but the vowel sound is always long. When the bon-dtok is used in this manner, the bon-dtok changes the long vowel sound to a short vowel sound. mi jak to inject; to insert mi gat to cut wa jot bitter Secondly, when a bon-dtok is placed above the final conso- nant in a word initiated with an /oo/ series consonant, the vowel sound can be affected in one of three ways. The first way is when there is no vowel in the word. In this case, the consonant’s own vowel sound is simply changed from a long vowel sound to a short vowel sound. nt chob to stop st dtob to barricade, defend Ifa bon-dtok is placed above a final fi (g99) in a word start- ing with an /oo/ series consonant and followed by a 1(sra-aa), the vowel sound changes to /ea/ in this manner. ani dteak to attract ma jeak to clarifyCambodian for Beginners 215 ma bpeak to wear Finally, if a bon-dtak is placed above any other final con- sonant in a word starting with an /oo/ series consonant and fol- lowed by a 1(sra-aa), the vowel sound changes to /oa/ in this man- ner. ns dtoan on time, in time ms joan floor; to step on ni dtoat to kick sist dtoal until 2. The next mark is and is called tmeefi gon-dao. It liter- ally means “rat’s teeth” because of its appearance. This marking has two main purposes. First, when placed above an /oo/ series consonant, it changes the natural /oo/ vowel sound to an /99/ vowel sound. Ifa vowel is added, the resulting vowel sound would be an /99/ class vowel sound. This marking is also very useful when spelling foreign words such as names. onwe mot-jot careful, carefully ni rab to guarantee; to take responsibility 38 Ron (foreign name) This mark is also commonly used above the U (bo9) conso- nant. When placed above this consonant, the sound of the consoant changes from /b/ to /bp/. us bpah to touch ini bpaom apple drupe bpon-noh only oe bpoh channel (radio, television)216 Lesson 9 3. The —dtrey-sab mark does the opposite of the mark just introduced. When placed above an /99/ series consonant, it changes its natural /o9/ vowel sound to an /oo/ vowel sound. Ifa vowel is added, the resulting vowel sound would be an /oo/ class vowel sound. ims hian to dare; be brave {huts grom-hun company Instead of using a mark above the character, a, mark below the character can also sometimes be used instead. It resem- bles a sra-o vowel, but in this case, it is not a vowel. When this marking is used, the vowel sound is altered the same way as with the original mark. 7 int aa-sii Asia m fam to eat , ¢ 4. The symbol resembles a small number eight. It is a silent character placed above two consonants: fi/goo/ and #/doo/. When placed above these consonants, each consonant becomes a particle which is very useful in the Cambodian language. A goo also, then, therefore Adis goo-bpon-dtae however, but 8 doo very (particle) 8G doo-tom very big ° 5. The symbol is placed above a consonant to indicate that the consonant should not be pronounced. In other words, it silences that consonant. This symbol also resembles a small num- ber nine. annsg saah race, ethnicity gists dtuu-ro-dtuah television wom sa-bdaa weekCambodian for Beginners 217 6. The symbol looks very similar to the previous symbol, but it is very different. This symbol is placed above a consonant to pro- vide an /oa/ vowel sound. It is not used very frequently. wie yut-dte-toa justice nfs bpoa-do-mian information, news ae toa generosity 7. The 9) symbol is the repeater symbol. This means that it repeats the word directly before it. In Cambodian, when a word is repeated twice, it gives the word double emphasis. — gino klang-klang > . very strong mi wg Ge F9 goat mian pdteah tmey-tmey He has a brand new house. mao jah-jah very old e 8. The — symbol is sometimes placed above a consonant to produce a vowel sound. That consonant is usually followed by a ti /yoo/ consonant which provides the final consonant sound. When placed above a i /vwoo/ or 8 /noo/ consonant, it typically form an /e/ vowel sound. 8a ney meaning ta vwey age When the symbol is used with other consonants, it typical- ly forms a short /a/ vowel sound. wanes ban-naa-lay library Tio vwi-ni-chay to judge stew la-hah fast, quick Sometimes it can also produces, the /oa/ vowel sound. AnugO gong-dtoab army shi dom-bpoa page218 Lesson 9 9. The £ symbol simply indicates a short /a/ vowel sound for /99/ series consonants and an /eah/ vowel sound for /oo/ series con- sonants. This symbol is very similar to the /8 / (sra-ah) vowel, but it is used much less frequently and has no final /h/ sound. FON: ga-na group fioyy: sel-la-ba the fine arts 10. The leek book symbol is very rare, but it is used to add an excited emphasis to a word, kind of like an English exclamation point. tui nae Hey! 383 * nuh-noo Over there! a -19 11. The ‘1 kan symbol is used as the equivalent to an English period. It is placed at the end of a sentence. When ending an entire story, another line is place to the right of the symbol to indicate that the story is over. (41) The 4 symbol can also be used in combina- tion with the character 65. When you see the combination ‘14, this is the Cambodian equivalent of the the English ecetera (etc.). 12. The # symbol is the symbol for Cambodia’s currency: the Cambodian riel. It is usually placed after an amount instead of at the beginning. mooo # bey-bpoan rial three thousand riel 13. Cambodia has also adopted punctuation marks from Western languages. The question mark (?), exclamation point (!), and slash mark (/) are sometimes used. sual? haet a-vwey? Why? fit gom! Don’t!Cambodian for Beginners 219 Writing Exercise 9 Read the following words, and write them in Cambodian. Use at least one of the symbols discussed above. There may be several ways to phonetically spell some of these words, but only the cor- rect spelling is given in the answer guide. Word Meaning Rewrite 1. dak to place 2. yaang kind, variety 3. Sa~aat sa-aat very beautiful 4. bpro-sah words, speech 5. reak-dteak to be friendly 6. rong-vwoan reward 7. bpoa color 8. toa generosity 9. got to write down, record 10. bik pen220 . bpon-dtae but . dtooik dtooik - goo-baan . song-say . mo-haa-vwi-dtyia-lay, Lesson 9 very small all right, okay unsure collegeLesson 10 Family and kinship terms; occupations; animals; the many forms of the word “you”Cambodian for Beginners 223 mee-rian dtii dob t8ti{8 $90 Lesson 10 veak-a-sab soob-baay-jet AUPE bpi-baak-jet Faria kooik-jet eutt jro-lom {Bg} oh-gam-lang ATE (ngo) nguy-geeng (4) HttFit ram-pseb nav chguat %f& koo-kou “tuntusl som-kan #e18 riab-gaa/gaa Wjuma/ms liiw 02 soong-saa fifi ro-boh it65 aeng ii Kluan-aeng sit infin mook mneak-aeng BAYA tvwae-jia ith sob-tngai nih fugligise jia-bproo-jam ype bproo-jam tngai_ [Uelig bproo-jam kae [waite bproo-jam chnam = [uaizi roal n65 piak-jraun maijes mnek-aeng AAA Vocabulary happy sad, troubled heartbroken confused exhausted sleepy excited crazy . | cruel, savage important to marry, married single steady girlfriend/ boyfriend, lover particle that shows possession oneself by oneself alone to come alone to be something nowadays regularly daily monthly yearly every mostly, majority224 piak-dtek = mnfit dtii/dtii-gon-laeng/gon-laeng g/Snisw/ritgn ei-louw (nih) figji (188) daoy tht 7 grua-saa peu ow-bpuk Fi mdaay ti bdey § bproo-bpon [jing boong-ba-oon tits boong-bproh wun boong-srey vue bo-oon-bproh — Us{ijid bo-oon-srey us goon fs . goon-bproh AS{ijeu goon-srey asi goon-boong-gee Suite goon-bpeu — ster bpuu ming #4 boong-jii-doon-muay uNtigsuw bo-oon-jii-doon-muay ustigeua dtaa/jii-dtaa m/fim * yiay/jii-doon unts/ Ses dtaa-dtuat — mégji yiay-dtuat Unwgei kmuay fits Lesson 10 small percentage, minority place right now, this second through, by means of Family father mother husband wife siblings, family older brother older sister younger brother younger sister child son daughter oldest sibling youngest sibling uncle aunt older cousin younger cousin grandfather grandmother great-grandfather great-grandmother niece or nephewCambodian for Beginners ow-bpuk-kmeek sonia mdaay-kmeek W1Wtfifi aa-jiib moa look-gruu tunAy nek-gruu HMPA Ete ni-set/goon-sah — Sadjti/ FSAAG] gruu-bpeet — fRINgy (gruu)-bpeet-tmeefi CP wgyrem mee-tia-vwii tuts nek-jom-nuafi HARM nek-lok-doo #fMARE nek-lok fbr nek-tvwae-srae pnt pgo nek-nee-saat Hfitsang jiang jiang-chea mata jiang-maa-sin this jiang-gat-dee thumaigs jiang-gom-bpyuu-dtea enfin Sa nek-book-bprae HfUnity ” lee-kaa 10521 moo-dtoo-dob Sagu mee-pdteah ius jau-hvwaay teiune nek-jat-gaa HAMMAM? oo-grit-ti-jon affizts bpoo-lih/dom-ruat oie / ayusi bproo-tian [{Ums look-ssong ta FeuHy dtua-aek-gon gainfs dtom-naang-riah famanteg 225 father-in-law mother-in-law Occupations teacher (male) teacher (female) student doctor dentist lawyer businessman trader, businessman vendor farmer fisherman skilled worker carpenter mechanic tailor, seamstress computer technician translator, interpreter secretary motorcycle taxi driver housewife boss manager criminal police president monk moviestar elected representative226 nek-ni-bpon Hngng sat ht chmool t9imou aii chgae chmaa dtrey {fi jaab wu dtao im klaa @ klaa-kmum ani dom-rey : moan wg goo im jruuk BA seh 1fu3 chluh agar svwaa an bpoo-bpee nin jiam 1ufu chgae-jo-jook ingani jiing-jok Buea dia 7 groo-bey [fil groo-bpse Ts bpuah nad muuh fd ruy it sii ngoab ind . ig n Lesson 10 author Animals male (for animals) female (for animals) dog cat fish bird lion tiger bear elephant chicken cow, Ox. pig horse deer monkey goat sheep wolf lizard duck water buffalo crocodile snake mosquito housefly to eat (for animals) to die (for animals)Cambodian for Beginners 227 Other Useful Words dtii-grong Sinn srok-srae/jon-o-boot {aufit{fu/tsus bpro-loong = {gj aa-gia Hint gaa-ngia-tvoo mane daum-chao Buti pgaa if plaang iia ro-dteh-plaang iigstqy noo-yoo-baay Siti tntii see-ta-gek 1MBAg dtee-so-joo 1h dtee-so-joo 1gauInii gek-gaa Agr gun-a-piab AANA dtuh-sa-naa-vwa-dey saijsvif gom-bpyuu-dtea fieySi vwi-dtyu Ig] : dtuu g : dtuu-dtak-gook gSnin doong 4 tnaot Imm grooik es bpaom iit svwaay Ant jeek ttf saaw-maaw Anitni saa-lat angi bpeeng-bpoh rwHTTE nom 8 nom-bpang Sift city countryside test, exam. building job tree flower fire; electricity train politics economy, economics tourist tourism matter; activity quality magazine computer radio cupboard/cabinet refrigerator, freezer coconut palm fruit orange apple mango banana rambutan lettuce tomato cake; donut; baked goods; candy bars bread