ស្នេហ៍​អូន​ដូច​ថ្ងៃ​មុន​ទេ?

Songs are also a good way to learn a language, but in Khmer this can pose some problems, since in songs, especially older ones, they are fond of using high, flowery language and poetic imagery that can be very daunting for someone who is just starting with the language. And a lot of other things simply get lost in the translation.
Below you will see my attempt to translate a classic song by Dara Chaomchan​ posted on khmerlyric. I’ve included word-for-word translations to give you an idea of how difficult this task was:
បទៈ ស្នេហ៍​អូន​ដូច​ថ្ងៃ​មុន​ទេ
snae oun douc tŋay mun tee
love oun* like day before question-particle?
Do you still love me like before?

ច្រៀង​ដោយៈ តារា ចោម​ច័ន្ទ

criəŋ daoy daraa caomcan

Sung by Dara Chaomchan

[Edit: the singer is in fact Dara Chaomchan, and not Pan Ron]

១. បង​នៅ​ស្នេហ៍​អូន​ដូច​ថ្ងៃ​មុន​ទេ​បង?
bââŋ nıw snae oun douc tŋay mun tee bââŋ?
bong* still love oun* like day before question-particle bong?
Do you still love me like before?

ម្ដេច​​ជួប​ម្ដង​ៗ បង​ធ្វើ​ព្រងើយ?
mdəc cuəp mdââŋ-mdââŋ bââŋ tvəə prôŋəəy
why meet once-once bong does indifferent
Why, whenever we meet, do you act indifferent?

ឬ​មួយ​ក៏​បង​អស់​ចិត្ត​ហើយ?
rıı muəy kââ bââŋ âh cət haəy
or possible bong run-out heart already
Or maybe you’re fed up already?

មេត្តា​បង​ឆ្លើយ ប្រាប់​អូន​ឲ្យ​ដឹង​ផង ។
meettaa bââŋ chlaəy prap oun aoy dəŋ phââŋ
mercy bong answer tell oun let know please
Please, answer me so I can know

២. អាសូរ​ព្រះ​ចន្ទ​នៅ​រះ​ដដែល​ទេ?
aasou preəh can nıw reəh dâdael tee?
pity divine moon still rises the-same question-particle?
Does the moon still rise as always?

បើ​​ទឹក​ទន្លេ​ក៏​មិន​រីង​ដែរ​បង
baə tık tuənlee kââ mən riiŋ dae bââŋ
if water river also doesn’t dry-up also bong
If the river doesn’t also dry up

ប្លែក​អ្វី​តែ​ស្នេហ៍​ប្រែ​សៅហ្មង?
plaek qvəy tae snae prae saw mââŋ
different what only love change impure
What’s different? Only love has become impure

ធម្មជាតិ​ទាំង​ពួង តើ​ដូច​ខ្ញុំ​ឬ​ទេ​?
thoəmməceət teəŋ puəŋ taə douc kñom rıı tee
nature all-of question-particle like me or question-particle
Oh nature, is it like me?

បន្ទរ. បង​នៅ​ស្នេហ៍​អូន ឬ​អស់​ស្នេហ៍​ហើយ?
bââŋ nıw snae oun rıı âh snae haey?
bong still loves oun or run-out love already?
Do you still love me or is it finished?

បើ​អស់​ស្នេហ៍​ហើយ ឆ្លើយ​ទៅ​ព្រលឹង
baə âh snae haey chlaəy tıw prôlıŋ
if run-out love already answer go soul(darling)
If it’s finished answer me darling

រឿង​អ្វី​ រឿង​អ្វី បា​ន​ជា​ប្រុស​ខឹង?
rıəŋ qvəy rıəŋ qvəy baan ciə proh khəŋ
story what story what why man angry
What’s the reason, why are you angry?

រូប​អូន​បង​លែង​សម្លឹង
ruup oun bââŋ lêêŋ sâmləŋ
body oun bong cease stare
You’ve stopped staring/looking at me

អូន​តឹង​ទ្រូង​ណាស់​បង​អើយ ។
oun təŋ truuŋ nah bââŋ qaəy
oun tight chest very bong vocative-particle
I’m very upset

៣. ស្ដាយ​ណាស់​បើ​សិន​បង​បែក​ពី​អូន​មែន
sdaay nah baəsən bââŋ baek pii oun mêên
regret very if bong breaks from oun really
What’s there to regret if you’re really breaking up with me

អូន​សែន​ខូច​ចិត្ត​អស់​មួយ​ជីវិត​ហើយ
oun saen khouc cət âh muəy ciivıt haey
oun extremely broken heart run-out one life already
I’m extremely broken-hearted for the rest of my life

តែ​អូន​​ជឿ​ថាបង​មិន​ភ្លេច​ឡើយ
tae oun cıə thaa bââŋ mən plıc laəy
but oun believes that bong not forget at-all
But I think that you haven’t forgotten at all

ពេល​​ភ្លៀង​រួច​ហើយ មេឃ​គង់​ស្រឡះ​ទែង ។
peel pliəŋ ruəc haəy meek kuəŋ srâlah-têêŋ
when rain finished already sky will clear-up
When the rain has stopped the sky will clear up

*Oun/bong – literally younger and older sibling, respectively, but here used in place of pronouns. In a love relationship oun refers to the woman, and bong to the man.