Modern Spoken Cambodian – Lesson 2

And now the first post from the yellow book. I have deliberately left out a lot of the transcription, not only out of laziness, but also to force people to refer to the Khmer script as much as possible, and associate what they are hearing with the shapes of the Khmer words.

You’ll also notice that there are variant pronunciations in brackets – in Khmer, just like in many other languages, words often get reduced in rapid speech. One of the advantages that this book has over others is that it introduces these forms right away rather than limiting itself to the full, careful pronunciation, which would leave the learner unprepared for how Cambodian really sounds when it’s spoken.

LESSON 2. USEFUL WORDS AND PHRASES

[Tape 3]

A. Dialogue
ជំរាប ​cumriəp (cəmriəp) – to inform
សួរ suə – to question
1. ជំរាបសួរ​ ។ – Good-day, Greetings, Hello!
លោក look – Sir, or you (polite)
2. ជំរាបសួរ លោក ​។ – Good-day, Sir.
លោកស្រី look-srəy – Madam, or you (polite)
3. ជំរាបសួរ លោកស្រី​ ។ – Good-day, Madam.
សុខ sok – to be happy, well
សប្បាយ sapbaay (səpbaay, səbaay) – to be happy, pleasant
សុខសប្បាយ sok-səpbaay – to be well and happy
ជា ciə – to be well
ទេ tee? (teh?) – final question word
4. លោក​សុខសប្បាយ​ជា​ទេ ? – Are you well? (addressing a man)
បាទ baat – polite response word used by men
ខ្ញុំ kñom – I, me, my
ទេ tee (teh) – emphatic final particle
5. បាទ ​ខ្ញុំ​សុខសប្បាយ​ជា​ទេ​ ។ – Yes, I’m quite well.
6. លោកស្រី​សុខសប្បាយ​ជា​ទេ ? – Are you well? (addressing a woman)
ចាស caah (cah) – polite response word used by women
7. ចាស​ ខ្ញុំ​សុខសប្បាយ​ជា​ទេ​ ។ – Yes, I’m quite well.
អរគុណ qââ-kun – to thank; thank you
ច្រើន craən – much, many
ណាស់ nah – very, very much
8. អរគុណ​ច្រើន​ណាស់​ ។ – Thank you very much.
ចុះ coh – and what about…?, and how about…?
9. ចុះ​ លោក ? coh, look? – And how about you?
10. ខ្ញុំ​សុខសប្បាយ​ជា​ទេ​ ។ – I’m fine.
11. សូមទោស​ ។ soum-tooh (som-tooh). Excuse me; I’m sorry
មិន mın (m-) – negative auxiliary
អី qəy – anything, something
ទេ tee (teh) – final negative particle
12. មិន​អី​ទេ​ ។ – Don’t mention it; you’re welcome.
13. បាទ​ ។ – Yes (man speaking).
14. បាទ​​ទេ​ ។ – No (man speaking).
15. ចាស​ ។ – Yes (woman speaking).
16. ចាស​​ទេ​ ។ – No (woman speaking).
អញ្ជើញ qâñcəəñ (qəñcəəñ, ñcəəñ) – word of polite invitation
ទៅ tıw – to go
ណា? naa? – where?, which?
17. លោក​អញ្ជើញ​ទៅ​ណា ? – Where are you going?
សាលារៀន salaa-riən (salaa, səlaa) – school
18. ខ្ញុំ​ទៅ​សាលា​ ។ – I’m going to school
នៅ nıw – to be situated, reside, remain
ឯណា? qae-naa? (qinaa?) – where?
19. សាលា​នៅ​ឯណា ? – Where is the school?
ភោជនីយដ្ឋាន phoocəniiyəthaan – restaurant (formal)
20. ភោជនីយដ្ឋាន​នៅ​ឯណា ? – Where is the restaurant?
ផ្ទះ pteəh – house, shop, building
សំណាក់ sâmnaq (səmnaq) – to rest, stay
ផ្ទះសំណាក់ pteəh-səmnaq – hotel
21. ផ្ទះ​សំណាក់​នៅ​ឯណា ? – Where is the hotel?
បង្គន់ bâŋkuən (bəŋkuən) – toilet
22. បង្គន់​នៅ​ឯណា? – Where is the toilet?
ខាង khaaŋ (khaŋ-) – side, direction
ស្ដាំ sdam – right (side)
ដៃ day – hand
ស្ដាំដៃ sdam-day – to be on the right
ខាងស្ដាំដៃ khaaŋ-sdam-day – the right-hand side
23. នៅ​ខាងស្ដាំដៃ ។ – It’s on the right.
ឆ្វេង cweiŋ – left (side)
ឆ្វេងដៃ cweiŋ-day – to be on the left
ខាងឆ្វេងដៃ khaaŋ-cweiŋ-day – the left-hand side
24. នៅ​ខាងឆ្វេងដៃ ។ – It’s on the left.
មុខ muk – in front of
ខាងមុខ khaaŋ-muk – front, in front
25. នៅ​ខាងមុខ ។ – It’s in the front.
ក្រោយ kraoy – behind, after
ខាងក្រោយ khaaŋ-kraoy – back, in the back
26. នៅ​ខាងក្រោយ ។ – It’s in the back.
ឯនេះ qae-nih (qinih) – here
27. នៅ​ឯនេះ ។ – It’s here.
ឯនោះ qae-nuh (qinuh) – there
28. ឯនោះ ។ – It’s there.
មែន mêên – to be right, true
ហើយ haəy (həy, qəh) – already, indeed
29. មែន​ហើយ ។ – That’s right.
30. មិន​មែន​ទេ ។ – That’s not right.
[Part Two]
ត្រូវការ trəw-kaa – to need, to want
អ្វី qwəy (qəy) – what?
31. លោក/លោកស្រី​ត្រូវការ​អី ? – What would you like?
បារី baarəy (barəy, pərəy) – cigarette
32. ខ្ញុំ​ត្រូវការ​បារី ។ – I want some cigarettes.
ចង់ câŋ – to want, want to
បាន baan – to have, to get
ចង់បាន – to want to have
ឈើគូស chəə-kuh (chəkuh) – match(es)
33. លោក/លោកស្រី​ចង់បាន​ឈើគូស​ទេ ? – Do you want some matches?
នេះ nih – here is/are
និង nıŋ – and, with
34. នេះ​បារី​និង​ឈើគូស ។ – Here are the cigarettes and matches.
ទទួលទាន tôtuəl-tiən (tətuəl-tiən) – to eat (with reference to oneself)
បាយ baay – cooked rice; food
35. ខ្ញុំ​ចង់​ទទួលទាន​បាយ ។ – I’d like to have some food.
ទឹក tık – water
តែ tae – tea (plant)
ទឹកតែ – tea (liquid)
ទឹកដោះគោ tık-dâh-koo – milk
កាហ្វេ kaafei (kafei) – coffee
ស្ក skââ – sugar
នំប៉័ង numpaŋ – bread
ពង​មាន់ pôôŋ-moən – (chicken) egg(s)
36. លោក/លោកស្រី​​ត្រូវការ​​ទឹកតែ​​ទេ ? – Would you like some tea?
កែវ kaew – a glass
មួយ​កែវ muəy-kaew (məkaew) – one glass, a glass (of)
37. បាទ​​ ទេ​ខ្ញុំ​ត្រូវការ​កាហ្វេ​មួយ​កែវ – No, I want a glass of coffee.
38. នេះ​លោក/លោកស្រី – Here you are.
ថ្លៃ tlay – to cost, to be expensive
ប៉ុន្មាន ponmaan? (pənmaan, pəmaan) – how much?, how many?
39. ថ្លៃ​ប៉ុន្មាន ? – How much is it? ([It] costs how much?)
បី bəy – three
រៀល riəl – riel (Cambodian monetary unit)
40. ថ្លៃ​បី​រៀល – It’s three riels.
ម៉ោង maoŋ – hour, time
41. ម៉ោង​ប៉ុន្មាន ? – What time is it?
ពីរ pii – two
42. ម៉ោង​ពីរ​ហើយ ។ – It’s two o’clock.
ដល់ dâl – to reach, arrive at
ពេល peel – time, occasion
ញ៉ាំ ñam – to eat or drink (informal)
ញ៉ាំបាយ ñam baay – to have a meal
43. ដល់​ពេល​ញ៉ាំបាយ​ហើយ ។ – It’s time to eat (already).
រទេះ rôteh (rəteh) – car, cart
ភ្លើង pləəŋ – fire, light
រទេះភ្លើង – train
ចេញ cəñ – to leave, exit
អង្កាល qâŋkal (qəŋkal, ŋkal) – when? (in the future)
44. រទេះភ្លើង​ចេញ​អង្កាល ? – When does the train leave?
ដប់ dâp – ten
45. រទេះភ្លើង​ចេញ​ម៉ោង​ដប់ ។ – The train leaves at ten o’clock.
កុន kon – film, movie
ចាប់ cap – to begin (to)
លេង leeŋ – to play
ពី pii – from, since
ពីអង្កាល pii-âŋkal (pii-qəŋkal, pii-ŋkal) – when? (in the past)
46. កុន​នេះ​ចាប់​លេង​ពីអង្កាល ? – When did this movie start?
នាទី niətii – minute(s)
47. កុន​នេះ​ចាប់​លេង​ដប់​នាទី​ហើយ ។ – This film started ten minutes ago.
ថ្ងៃ tŋay – day, sun
ថ្ងៃនេះ tŋay-nih (ŋay-nih) -today
ក្ដៅ kdaw – hot
48. ថ្ងៃនេះ ក្ដៅ​ណាស់ ។ It’s very hot today.
ស្អែក sqaek – tomorrow
49. ខ្ញុំ​ទៅ​ស្អែក ។ I’m going tomorrow.
មក môôk (môô) – to come
ប្សិលមិញ msəl-mıñ – yesterday
ពីម្សិលមិញ – (on) yesterday
50. ខ្ញុំ​មក​ពីម្សិលមិញ ។ – I came yesterday.
សូម soum (som) – please
លា liə – to take leave, to say good-by
51. សូម​លា​ហើយ ។ – Good-by.
52. បាទ/ចាស ។ – Good-by. (as a response).

Numbers

1. មួយ muəy (mə-) – one
2. ពីរ pii – two
3. បី bəy – three
4. បួន buən – four
5. ប្រាំ pram – five
6. ប្រាំមួយ prammuəy (pəmmuəy) – six (five+one)
7. ប្រាំពីរ​ prampıl (pəmpıl) – seven (five+two)
8. ប្រាំបី prambəy (pəmbəy) – eight (five+three)
9. ប្រាំបួន prambuən (pəmbuən) – nine (five+four)
10. ដប់ dâp – ten
11. ដប់មួយ dâp-muəy – eleven
12. ដប់ពីរ dâp-pii – twelve
16. ដប់ប្រាំមួយ – dâp-prammuəy – sixteen
20. ម្ភៃ məphıy (mphıy) – twenty
21. ម្ភៃមួយ məphıy-muəy – twenty-one
30. សាមសិប saamsəp – thirty
40. សែសិប saesəp – forty
50. ហាសិប haasəp – fifty
60. ហុកសិប hoksəp – sixty
70. ចិតសិប cətsəp – seventy
80. ប៉ែតសិប paetsəp – eighty
90. កៅសិប kawsəp – ninety
100. មួយរយ (ម្រយ) muəy-rôôy (mərôôy) – one hundred