Cambodian Basic Course Part II now available

and with all the text in Khmer (handwritten) script, no transliteration.

download it here.

Cambodian Basic Course Unit 6

UNIT 6
BASIC DIALOGUE
១. ឥឡូវសូមបិទសៀវភៅម្ដងទៀត។
២. បាទ លោកគ្រូ។
៣. ម្ដងនេះ ថាជាអង់គ្លេស
ខ្មែរស្រួលរៀន។
៤. ខ្មែរស្រួលរៀន។
៥. ទេ ខុសទេ។
៦. ខ្ញុំចង់ឲ្យលោកប្រែ។ លោកយល់ទេ?
៧. បាទ ខ្ញុំយល់ហើយ។
៨. អញ្ចឹង! ថាជាអង់គ្លេស។
៩. Khmer is easy to learn.
១០. បាន។ អ្នកបន្ទាប់ ថាជាអង់គ្លេស
ខ្មែរស្រួលរៀនទេ?
១១. Khmer is easy to learn.
១២. ទេ ខុសទេ។ សូមស្ដាប់
ខ្មែរស្រួលរៀនទេ?
១៣. Is Khmer easy to learn?
១៤. ត្រូវហើយ។

ខ្មែរសុរិន្ទ

Khmer has many dialects, and one of the most (in)famous of these is ខ្មែរសុរិន្ទ (khmae sorən) – Khmer Surin or Northern Khmer, which is spoken in the eastern provinces of Surin, Buriram etc. of Thailand. Khmer Surin speakers have a very distinctive accent – one of the most prominent features is the syllable-final r, which is not pronounced in Standard Khmer (as an example, the word ខ្មែរ Khmer, which is pronounced “ khmae” in Standard is pronounced “ khmeer” in Surin.)

Besides their dialect, they are also well-known for their songs. In this post I will attempt to translate one of the more famous of these – ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ – which revolves around a slightly off-colour play on words, the word in question being ដោះ dâh, which can mean either “ remove/take off” or “ breasts” .
Another version was posted on prahok.com but since the translation is not forthcoming I’ve decided to give it a stab, though there are naturally some holes in this one:

*Note – the transcriptions given below are Standard. Just listen and follow along with the lyrics, the differences in pronounciation will be immediately obvious.

មានអាវមួយពាក់មិនដែលឃើញដោះ មានមួយប៉ុណ្ណោះឬយ៉ាងណាស្រីង៉ា
miən aaw muəy peək mın dael khəəñ dâh miən muəy ponnâh rıı yââŋ naa srəy ŋaa
have shirt one wear never see remove/breasts have one like-that or how girl baby
You have a shirt that you wear, I never see you take it off [never see your breasts], do you have only one or what, baby
ឃើញសព្វដង មិនថាថ្ងៃណា មិនថាបនត្រង់ណា ពាក់តែអាវដដែលៗ
khəəñ sap dââŋ mın thaa thŋay naa mın thaa bâân* trâŋ naa peək tae aaw dâdael-dâdael
see every time not say day which not say place place which wear only shirt same-same
Whenever or wherever I see you, you always wear the same shirt
អាវយឺតសល្អត្រូវចិត្តស្រី ថាមើលក្ដីមិនដែលដោះម្តាក់ម្ដង
aaw yııt sââ l’ââ trəw cət srəy thaa məəl kdəy mın dael dâh mdak mdââŋ
shirt loose white good satisfied girl that look kdəy never remove/breast time-time
A good white t-shirt pleases you….???
ប៉ុន្មានថ្ងៃហើយ ក្រមុំខន់បង ដល់ណាដោះម្ដាក់ម្ដង ព្រោះតែបងចង់ឃើញ
ponmaan thŋay haəy krâmom khân* bââŋ dâl naa dâh mdak mdââŋ pruəh tae bââŋ câŋ khəəñ
how-many day already girl of bong when/how-long remove time-time because bong wants see
How many days has it been already, when will you take it off, because I want to see
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
peək aaw mın dael khəəñ dâh
wear shirt never see remove/breasts
You always wear the same shirt, I never see you take it off [never see your breasts]
កើតអីឬវាយ៉ាងណា? ម្តេចស្រីង៉ាបងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ
kaət əy rıı viə yaaŋ naa? mdəc srəy ŋaa bââŋ mın kəəy* khəəñ dâh
happen what or is way which? why girl baby bong not ever see remove/breasts
What’s the matter? Why, baby, don’t I ever see you take it off [see your breasts]

មុខមាត់ស្រីមើលទៅស្នំស្នួន
muk moət srəy məəl tıw snâm snuən
face mouth girl look go proper
Your appearance is proper
តែអាវក្នុងខ្លួនពាក់មកច្រើនថ្ងៃ
tae aaw knoŋ kluən peək môôk craən thŋay

but shirt in/on body wear from many day
But that shirt, you’ve been wearing it for many days
អាវដែលៗ ក្អែលចាប់ហើយស្រី ប្ដូរអាវថ្មី បានហើយស្រីង៉ា
aaw dael-dael k’ael cap haəy srəy pdou aaw thməy baan haəy srəy ŋaa
shirt same-same dirt start already girl change shirt new have already girl baby
The same shirt has started getting dirty, change it to a new one already baby
បងសង្ស័យមកច្រើនថ្ងៃហើយ មិនដែលដោះឡើយពាក់បានយ៉ាងណា?
bââŋ sâŋsay môôk craən thŋay haəy mın dael dâh laəy peək baan yaaŋ naa?
bong doubt come many days already never remove at-all wear have way which?
I’ve wondered for many days, you never take it off, how can you wear it like that
បងចង់ដឹងដណ្ដឹងស្រីង៉ា ឃើញកាលណា ពាក់មិនគើយឃើញដោះ
bââŋ câŋ dəŋ dândəŋ srəy ŋaa khəəñ kalnaa peək mın kəəy* khəəñ dâh
bong want know ask girl baby see when wear not ever see remove/breasts

I want to know, baby, how can I see when you wear it, I never see you remove it [never see your breasts]

*Surin words:
បនbâân place surin = trâŋ location
ខន់ khân of (possessive)​​ = របស់ rôbâh
មិនគើយ​ mın khəəy = មិនដែល. In Thai – เคย
ไม่เคย mây ˈkʰəəy 1 AA never (e.g. “ have never done” ).

To complete this post:

Extreme Khmer Episode 1: Surin Khmers

Extras