Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Barang chgout · Post by **Barang chgout** » Sat Sep 01, 2018 8:11 pm

You may be a much loved poster in certain corners but that does not shield you from critique. If you put yourself out there then you best be willing to take well considered criticisms without getting all prickly and irascible.

No one loves Taa. That's why he lives by himself but, although he speaks his mind, he ain't no cunt.
Look in the mirror Mr
Explorer.

Sent from my SM-G570Y using Tapatalk

taabarang · Post by **taabarang** » Sat Sep 01, 2018 8:23 pm

"No one loves Taa. That's why he lives by himself but, although he speaks his mind, he ain't no cunt.

Actually I live with my wife of 15 years and our 2 teenaged kids, a couple of dogs and too many fucking chickens. I don't know if I am loved by the villagers or not, but I am respected, primarily for having started with no fluency in Cambodian and now capable of extended conversations.And for that I have my wife to thank.

On the last point you are 100% correct.

username · Post by **username** » Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:31 pm

explorer wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:49 pm Something I am curious about. Why the two h's?

Chhloas

chhlua

Do the two h's give it a different sound to one h?

If not, why use two?

Cambodian writing with English letters is full of silent h's.

For example Phnom Penh. There is no h sound in Phnom Penh. I suspect this came from French. But people writing English copy silent letters. I know it is a name and is not likely to be changed. But why use it in other words?

They're not silent. They represent aspiration.
Ch is a dry ch-sound, while chh is an aspirated ch-sound.

While khmer isn't a tonal language, where words can mean different things depending on the tone you use, it's certainly a language where you have to be careful with your aspiration. Words can change meaning depending on if the consonant is aspirated or not.

Phnom Penh is spelled with a ភ (ph). A p-sound with heavy breathing.

When the h is on the end of a word, in combination with an n (nh) like in Phnom Penh, it represents a ញ sound. Similar to the Spanish ñ.

So both H in Phnom Penh are there for a reason.

Everything makes a lot more sense once you learn the khmer script, and it really doesn't take more than a few days of practice to do so.

Kammekor · Post by **Kammekor** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 10:16 am

username wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:31 pm
explorer wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:49 pm Something I am curious about. Why the two h's?

Chhloas

chhlua

Do the two h's give it a different sound to one h?

If not, why use two?

Cambodian writing with English letters is full of silent h's.

For example Phnom Penh. There is no h sound in Phnom Penh. I suspect this came from French. But people writing English copy silent letters. I know it is a name and is not likely to be changed. But why use it in other words?
They're not silent. They represent aspiration.
Ch is a dry ch-sound, while chh is an aspirated ch-sound.

While khmer isn't a tonal language, where words can mean different things depending on the tone you use, it's certainly a language where you have to be careful with your aspiration. Words can change meaning depending on if the consonant is aspirated or not.

Phnom Penh is spelled with a ភ (ph). A p-sound with heavy breathing.

When the h is on the end of a word, in combination with an n (nh) like in Phnom Penh, it represents a ញ sound. Similar to the Spanish ñ.

So both H in Phnom Penh are there for a reason.

Everything makes a lot more sense once you learn the khmer script, and it really doesn't take more than a few days of practice to do so.

Indeed, the ch is different from the chh. The latter having a lot more aspiration.

Compare the words Chooy (to help, long oo sounds like in 'look') with Chhlong (accross, long o like in 'lock'). The latter has a strong h (aspiration) sound after the initial ch.

explorer · Post by **explorer** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:04 pm

So if I understand correctly, the French wrote the English sound j as ch, and wrote ch as chh.

That has been copied and used ever since.

Why not write it the way we pronounce letters in English? Because you just copy?

Some people may understand the French sounds and pronounce Khmer well. Others may not, and speak Khmer badly.

that genius · Post by **that genius** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:30 pm

explorer wrote: ↑Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:04 pmWhy not write it the way we pronounce letters in English? Because you just copy?

The letter 'a' has many different sounds in English, and there is a huge difference between US English pronunciation and UK English pronunciation, sometimes even within a small geographical region.

Which standard do you propose?

Post by **Username Taken** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 4:49 pm

explorer wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:49 pm Something I am curious about. Why the two h's?

Chhloas

chhlua

Do the two h's give it a different sound to one h?

If not, why use two?

Cambodian writing with English letters is full of silent h's.

For example Phnom Penh. There is no h sound in Phnom Penh. I suspect this came from French. But people writing English copy silent letters. I know it is a name and is not likely to be changed. But why use it in other words?

You can download or check out the ROMANIZATION OF KHMER pdf

epidemiks · Post by **epidemiks** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 5:29 pm

There's at least 4 transliteration system, but the standard seems to be that adopted by the ministry of land management, based on the UNGEGN system, but without diacritics.

Google the Cambodia gazetteer for examples.

Post by **Jamie_Lambo** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:35 pm

explorer wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:35 pm
Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:50 pm Chhloas knea ឈ្លោះគ្នា
There is another word we dont have in English.

គ្នា I would pronounce it knia, which is almost the same. There is no correct way to spell it in English, so nobody is wrong. When people have different accents they naturally spell words differently.

គ្នា knia means each other. I know it is only two words in English, but this is a common word in Khmer.

So ឈ្លោះគ្នា chloo knia means argue (with) each other.

We do have "Knea" in English, it can translate to "Together/Mutually/Reciprocally"
Yerng Trov Tov Knea - We should go together

Post by **Jamie_Lambo** » Sun Sep 02, 2018 7:51 pm

taabarang wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 7:10 pm
Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:50 pm
explorer wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 6:31 pm
Duncan wrote: ↑Sat Sep 01, 2018 9:16 am I had a run-in with my friend.
What word would Cambodians use for run-in.
chloo, which means argue or argument.
yeah theres a few you can choose
Chhloas ឈ្លោះ
Chhloas knea ឈ្លោះគ្នា
Brokaek ប្រកែក regional
Chhloas Brokaek ឈ្លោះប្រកែក
Chhloas Brokaek knea ឈ្លោះប្រកែកគ្នា
all pretty much mean quarrel, fight, argue, squabble etc
I agree with your choices Jamie, but I'm looking for a Khmer slang or less formal rendering for the rendering of "to have a run-in.". In our regional dialect it is pronounced " chhlua."

yeah that pronunciation is right mate, the khmers write that ending vowel with an "S" but it is pronounced with a "a/ah" sound,
Chhloas uses the same vowels as the word Proas (Because) - we would write it Pruah

i Latinise it in the same style as the Khmers write it, its not really written how it sounds its just the simple system i'm used to working with as its what i see/use all the time, and so its easy to recognise the words and i can easily work out how the word is written in Khmer script because of that system, because westerners all have their own ways of writing khmer its more difficult to read/translate as they might use letters that i or a khmer wouldn't use

Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

Re: Cambodian words with no English equivalent

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