Language gurus! The following does not translate to English as bird, parrot or macaw - can anyone give a literal translation please?



Similarly, what are the English names for these please?

And this, surely this isn't a dodo?

Thanks UT. Yeah, I'll admit the coconut was a litmus test!

Mrs Stroppy and I shocked our tutor by telling him what dōng means in English. We could see he was filing that away for future use!

my guess on the dodo would be a really bad picture of a duck...

There's another picture of ducks, so not that one. The tutor can read the Khmer form but doesn't know the bird - hate to think it's a dodo! Why do year 1 kids need that in their first words primer?

1. A kind of large red parrot.

2. ផ្លែ ញ
The fruit of the Morinda citrifolia tree. Commonly known as Noni.
3. Coconut

4. ឍាមរា scared goose / mythical creature. In drawings it does look like a dodo, and searching for the Khmer word pulls up image results of dodos.
It's a cool word that I'd like to know more about. In most small essential Khmer dictionaries it is the ONLY listing for the letter ឍ. In the Khmer language school books the letter and the scared goose are the only times you'll see it. In the huge and comprehensive Chuon Nath dictionary there are ONLY 5 entries for words beginning with ឍ.
1. ឍ = The letter itself.
2. ឍណ្ឍា = Ganesha
3. ឍាមរា = scared goose
4. ឍាល = a type of ancient and now obsolete drum. Also a type of ceremonial shield.
5. ឍាលិន = person armed with a shield; army which employs shields as a means of defense.

And I don't expect StroppyChops will ever have to read or talk about any of the above. You might as well scribble it out of the alphabet it's an obsolete letter you'll never encounter, except during the first few months of learning the alphabet.

Rama wrote:And I don't expect StroppyChops will ever have to read or talk about any of the above. You might as well scribble it out of the alphabet it's an obsolete letter you'll never encounter, except during the first few months of learning the alphabet.

So effectively the word is used to demonstrate a letter that is no longer used, to children that will never use it? Cambodia.