He's your man,
Perfect teacher of the Khmer language.

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:01 pm

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:54 pm

timmydownawell wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:40 pm Quick one from me:

Is it ok to call a random older lady 'ming' (aunt) at the market etc, as in "or kun, ming" ?

it might be abit different for me as im only 31 and any lady around my mothers age id respectfully call 'Ming'
if the lady is around your parents age i shouldnt see it being any sort of problem

I call them "E" (pronounced "ee") to be more casual. I learned this in Battambang. Do you know of this word for 'ming'?

And yes, all of these terms are dependent on the age difference of the speakers.

i think ee i think is short for Yeay - Grandmother? and used to address an elderly woman, its not really a word i use though, unless im talking about my own grandparents, im always a bit cautious addressing older folk in case they take offense lol i limit myself to Pu, Ming, Om and Om Srey

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:47 pm i think ee i think is short for Yeay - Grandmother? and used to address an elderly woman, its not really a word i use though, unless im talking about my own grandparents, im always a bit cautious addressing older folk in case they take offense lol i limit myself to Pu, Ming, Om and Om Srey

I only know bong.

kps wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:35 am

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:47 pm i think ee i think is short for Yeay - Grandmother? and used to address an elderly woman, its not really a word i use though, unless im talking about my own grandparents, im always a bit cautious addressing older folk in case they take offense lol i limit myself to Pu, Ming, Om and Om Srey

I only know bong.

heres some more for you lol

A child/teenager
A-oun / អា​អូន (m/f), Oun / អូន (m/f) - "little one" - to use with toddlers and young children.
Kaun / កូន (m/f) - "Child" - to use when you're close to the child, such as your own child, a nephew or niece.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a child or teenager you don't know.
Chav / ចៅ (m/f) - "Grandchild" - to use when you address a child or teenager who could be your grandchild.

A visibly younger person
Oun / អូន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're close to the person, and with caution when addressing woman as it can be misconstrued as a term of endearment or courtship.
P'oun / ប្អួន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're acquainted with the person or a person you don't know.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a young adult you are acquainted to or don't know.
Neang / នាង (f) - "young lady, miss" - to address young women you don't know.
Kanha / កញ្ញា (f) - "Miss" - to address young women you are familiar with/don't know (to be used with caution though as it can be perceived as sleazy.)

A person of about the same age
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - It is often used between persons of the same age as a sign of respect.
Lauk / លោក (m) - "Sir" - formal appellation
Ne'k / អ្នក (m/f) - "Madam, Sir" - formal appellation

A visibly older person
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - You can add "bros" or "srey" to "bong" to make it more respectful.
Pou / ពូ​ (m), Lauk Pou / លោក​ពូ (m), Lauk Srey / លោក​ស្រី (f), Ming / មីង (f), Ne'k Ming / អ្នក​មីង (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you but younger than one of your parents.
Mday ming / ម្ដាយ​មីង (f), Mak ming / ​ម៉ាក់​មីង (f) - "Aunty" - To address an aunt who is your mother or father's younger sister.
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), Lauk Om / លោក​អ៊ំ (m/f), Om Bros / អ៊ំ​ប្រុស (m), Om Srey / អ៊ំ​ស្រី (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you and older than both of your parents.
Pa Om / ប៉ា​អ៊ំ (m), Mak Om / ម៉ាក់​អ៊ំ (f) - "Uncle, Aunt" - To address an uncle or aunt who is close to you or your parents.

An elderly person
Ta / តា (m), Lauk ta / លោក​តា (m), Yeay / យាយ (f), Lauk yeay / លោក​យាយ (f), Mak yeay / ម៉ាក់​យាយ (f) - "Grandpa, Grandfather, Granny, Grandma, Grandmother" - can be used to address any elderly person, except Mak Yeay which is specifically used to address your own grandmother.

A professional
A doctor: Lauk kru​ peth / លោក​គ្រូ​ពេទ្យ (m), Ne'k kru peth / អ្នក​គ្រូ​ពេទ្យ (f), Lauk kru​ (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A nurse: Ne'k kru peth / អ្នក​គ្រូ​ពេទ្យ (f)
A teacher: Lauk kru​ (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A professor: Lauk Sastracha / លោក​សាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (m), Lauk Srey Sastracha / លោក​ស្រី​សាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (f)
A craftsperson: Cheang / ជាង (m/f)

A person with a honorific title
A government/public person: Ek Oudom / ​ឯក​ឧត្តម (m), Lauk Chomtiev / លោក​ជំទាវ (f) - "Excellency" - Title has to be bestowed officially through a government decree.
A business tycoon: Ne'k Oknha / អ្នក​ឧកញ៉ា (m), Lauk Chomtiev Oknha / លោក​ជំទាវ​ឧកញ៉ា (f) - Title has to be bestowed through government decree.
A monk, a member of the royal family: Preah Ang / ព្រះ​អង្គ (m)

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:48 am Ne'k / អ្នក (m/f) - "Madam, Sir" - formal appellation

អ្នក translates best as you or person. It does not show any respect, and should only be used for people younger than yourself.

If you got that from a dictionary, the dictionary got it wrong.

timmydownawell wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:40 pm Is it ok to call a random older lady 'ming' (aunt) at the market etc, as in "or kun, ming" ?

In Khmer aunts and uncles that are younger than your parents are called one thing, and aunts and uncles that are older than your parents are called another.

មីង / meeng means an aunt younger than your mother or father.

ពូ​ / poo means an uncle younger than your mother or father.

អ៊ំ / om means an aunt or uncle older than your mother or father.

To be respectful, you can call people you dont know aunt or uncle.

If they are older, you can use grandmother of grandfather.

Khmer also has words for great grandmother and great grandfather, and great great grandmother and great great grandfather. Most of these are dead. You can use them when talking about ancestors who have died. These are also used for cousins, second cousins and third cousins. That is, relatives of grandparents, relatives of great grandparents, and relatives of great great grandparents.

As you get older, nobody will still be alive who is as old as your grandparents. As you get even older, nobody will still be alive as old as your aunts and uncles. Just imagine you are still in your 20s. Anyone as old as your grandparents when you were in your 20s, you can call grandmother or grandfather. Anyone as old as your aunts and uncles when you were in your 20s, you can call aunt or uncle.

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:01 pm I call them "E" (pronounced "ee") to be more casual. I learned this in Battambang. Do you know of this word for 'ming'?

In Khmer, there are Chinese words. The numbers 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 and 90 are the same as, or similar to Cantonese. There were/are also other Chinese dialects spoken in Cambodia. There are Chinese in Cambodia who have been here for generations. Many Cambodians are also part Chinese.

ee is Chinese for aunt.

There is also:

je (or je je) which means older sister.

cgong means grandfather (the cg is a sound between c and g) (it is very similar to the word for wheel or bicycle in Khmer)

These are used by Cambodians. They may be used in some provinces more than others.

You can use these words yourself.

explorer wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 2:04 am

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 12:48 am Ne'k / អ្នក (m/f) - "Madam, Sir" - formal appellation

អ្នក translates best as you or person. It does not show any respect, and should only be used for people younger than yourself.

If you got that from a dictionary, the dictionary got it wrong.

hahaha the above was written by an educated Khmer person, but your understanding of Khmer is obviously leagues above theirs lol

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 11:47 pm

siliconlife wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 7:01 pm

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:54 pm

timmydownawell wrote: ↑Sat Mar 16, 2019 5:40 pm Quick one from me:

Is it ok to call a random older lady 'ming' (aunt) at the market etc, as in "or kun, ming" ?

it might be abit different for me as im only 31 and any lady around my mothers age id respectfully call 'Ming'
if the lady is around your parents age i shouldnt see it being any sort of problem

I call them "E" (pronounced "ee") to be more casual. I learned this in Battambang. Do you know of this word for 'ming'?

And yes, all of these terms are dependent on the age difference of the speakers.

i think ee i think is short for Yeay - Grandmother? and used to address an elderly woman, its not really a word i use though, unless im talking about my own grandparents, im always a bit cautious addressing older folk in case they take offense lol i limit myself to Pu, Ming, Om and Om Srey

Better check out "ee" again. In our neck of the woods it is the same as "ming.". Not used very often and probably Chinese in origin.