Short Story
Re: Short Story
I think you got the attraction of the cashier there khmerhamster you stud you, that's definitely a bit of playful interaction. Just observing Khmers buying or ordering something they obviously must pay for, you can freely hear them use "som".
Meum est propositum in taberna mori,
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
ut sint Guinness proxima morientis ori.
tunc cantabunt letius angelorum chori:
"Sit Deus propitius huic potatori."
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 622
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:28 pm
- Reputation: 362
Re: Short Story
I’ve just chatted this ‘Som’ thing through with my staff.
There are two (similar) words សូម and សុំ which I hadn’t realised. សុំ is used when you are asking for something for free but សូម is the polite word when requesting something.
They are pronounced differently though I would probably write both of them as ‘Som’ though in Latin script. The former is a bit of a longer sound.
My staff have told me that they smile when I order food and say (for example) Som bai cha muoy jaan - the waitress will understand but it is clumsy and unusual use of the word. It’s more correct to say ‘Yoak bai cha muoy jaan’ or if I really want to say please then ‘Som jouey yoak bai cha muoy jaan’
So, there you go chaps...
There are two (similar) words សូម and សុំ which I hadn’t realised. សុំ is used when you are asking for something for free but សូម is the polite word when requesting something.
They are pronounced differently though I would probably write both of them as ‘Som’ though in Latin script. The former is a bit of a longer sound.
My staff have told me that they smile when I order food and say (for example) Som bai cha muoy jaan - the waitress will understand but it is clumsy and unusual use of the word. It’s more correct to say ‘Yoak bai cha muoy jaan’ or if I really want to say please then ‘Som jouey yoak bai cha muoy jaan’
So, there you go chaps...
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 622
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:28 pm
- Reputation: 362
Re: Short Story
True datSpigzy wrote:I think you got the attraction of the cashier there khmerhamster you stud you, that's definitely a bit of playful interaction.
*blush*
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 622
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:28 pm
- Reputation: 362
Short Story
My confusion was because I understood similar to Jamie (in bold above) but this isn’t actually correct.Jamie_Lambo wrote: សុំទោស Som Toah - can mean a number of things like "Sorry" or "Excuse me/Pardon me..."
សុំ Som(1) - means to ask/beg for something
ទោស Toah - means "Fault" "Error" "Guilt" "Blame" etc
so basically Som Toas is you Asking/Begging for forgiveness
សូម Som(2) - whilst generally it can be used interchangeably with the សុំ Som(1) above, សូម Som(2) is the word that by its self means "Please" and is used at the start of a sentence as a pre sentence Particle,
for example if you was to order a beer at the bar you would say "Som(2) Beer Mouy Orkun"
verbally they are exactly the same, but when written down (in Khmer or translating) they are slightly different
So basically the answer to your question is "Som Toe" doesnt really mean please, it means more like i'm sorry/excuse me, "Som(2)" by its self means please when used as a pre sentence particle, but when paired with a word it means the same as Som(1) and can be used interchangeably
They are two different words, have slightly different meanings and are pronounced slightly differently. Not surprising that many foreigners get it wrong and have no idea we are doing so.
- Jamie_Lambo
- The Cool Boxing Guy
- Posts: 15039
- Joined: Mon Apr 20, 2015 10:34 am
- Reputation: 3132
- Location: ลพบุรี
Re: Short Story
they are 2 different words, but can be used interchangeably...khmerhamster wrote: ↑Mon Feb 04, 2019 11:24 amMy confusion was because I understood similar to Jamie (in bold above) but this isn’t actually correct.Jamie_Lambo wrote: សុំទោស Som Toah - can mean a number of things like "Sorry" or "Excuse me/Pardon me..."
សុំ Som(1) - means to ask/beg for something
ទោស Toah - means "Fault" "Error" "Guilt" "Blame" etc
so basically Som Toas is you Asking/Begging for forgiveness
សូម Som(2) - whilst generally it can be used interchangeably with the សុំ Som(1) above, សូម Som(2) is the word that by its self means "Please" and is used at the start of a sentence as a pre sentence Particle,
for example if you was to order a beer at the bar you would say "Som(2) Beer Mouy Orkun"
verbally they are exactly the same, but when written down (in Khmer or translating) they are slightly different
So basically the answer to your question is "Som Toe" doesnt really mean please, it means more like i'm sorry/excuse me, "Som(2)" by its self means please when used as a pre sentence particle, but when paired with a word it means the same as Som(1) and can be used interchangeably
They are two different words, have slightly different meanings and are pronounced slightly differently. Not surprising that many foreigners get it wrong and have no idea we are doing so.
សុំ som
1a v to ask (for), beg, request, demand.
1b initverb to ask to (do something) (may be used in a polite way by older people to younger ones. It is often used interchangeably with សូម which however more accurately occurs in sentence initial position)
s សូម soom
1 p to ask (for something), to beg.
2 pt a polite term used to introduce a sentence. It means 'please,' would you...,' 'would you please.'
Mean Dtuk Mean Trei, Mean Loy Mean Srey
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks
Punchy McShortstacks School of Hard Knocks
-
- Expatriate
- Posts: 622
- Joined: Thu Jun 16, 2016 2:28 pm
- Reputation: 362
Re: Short Story
Interesting that it says ‘can be used more accurately’.
I wonder if popular usage isn’t in line with dictionary definition.
I’ve done a quick poll and there was a bit of discussion in the office. They came up with a list of situations where you would use one and not the other and if you used the wrong one it would ‘sound strange bong’.
I couldn’t really see a clear pattern for usage - it looks like you just need to remember which one is more appropriate.
I wonder if popular usage isn’t in line with dictionary definition.
I’ve done a quick poll and there was a bit of discussion in the office. They came up with a list of situations where you would use one and not the other and if you used the wrong one it would ‘sound strange bong’.
I couldn’t really see a clear pattern for usage - it looks like you just need to remember which one is more appropriate.
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 57 Replies
- 8621 Views
-
Last post by AndyKK
-
- 39 Replies
- 7371 Views
-
Last post by mikeukt
-
- 7 Replies
- 2319 Views
-
Last post by xandreu
-
- 0 Replies
- 1133 Views
-
Last post by sigmoid
-
- 5 Replies
- 1068 Views
-
Last post by SlackWaster
-
- 2 Replies
- 833 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Arget, Bing [Bot], Bluenose, dirtymacca, Freebirdzz, jaynewcastle, khmerhamster, Majestic-12 [Bot], Ozinasia, Province, PSD-Kiwi, yongchi, Zyzz and 832 guests