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When Khmer want to refer to people who they think are the lowest of the low, they use the expression "menuh baat psar " which means people from the bottom of the market. It doesn't refer to customers or sellers, but the peripheral gutter rats who frequent that area.

Now for Jamie, who will want to do an exegesis of my phonetics, I offer the following.
Here "baat"/sounds just like the Khmer word for yes, but it is spelled differently. No, I don't know how but I have it on good authority.

Pretty sure manuh is spelled មិនុស្ស,​so phonetics should be closer to muhnus, with a silent s. ;p

You're probably right. But if the s is silent why write it in an invented phonetic system? I only care if Khmer understand me when I speak. I leave the janitorial work to you literates.

All phonetic systems are invented. I was teasing anyway

taabarang wrote: ↑Fri Jun 16, 2017 5:51 pm When Khmer want to refer to people who they think are the lowest of the low, they use the expression "menuh baat psar " which means people from the bottom of the market. It doesn't refer to customers or sellers, but the peripheral gutter rats who frequent that area.

Now for Jamie, who will want to do an exegesis of my phonetics, I offer the following.
Here "baat"/sounds just like the Khmer word for yes, but it is spelled differently. No, I don't know how but I have it on good authority.

firstly, regarding មិនុស្ស (people) its directly spelt Minuss, the khmers write it as Mnus or Monus, and its pronounced Minuh/Mnuh
words ending in an S, the sound will change to a H sound,
for example the words
ណាស់ - Nas (A lot) is pronounced Nah, eg. Klang Nah
ប្រទេស - Brotes (country) is pronounced Broteh, eg. Proteh Khmer
ប្រុស - Bros (man/male) is pronounced Broh, eg. Broh Saart
មាស - Meas (gold/dearest one) is pronounced Meah, Meah Mey

right back to my usual dissection... i quite like this one (and your phonetics were accurate haha)

មិនុស្សបាតផ្សារ - Mnus Baat Psar - Person/people from the Bottom/lowest point of the Market
បាត - Baat - can also mean your backside/arse/ass etc. which gives this expression its derogatory vibe


(ps. Taa you are correct that they arent spelt the same, as បាទ - is the other "Baat" which is an expression used to acknowledge you have understood what someone has just said to you, the male equivalent to the female "Ja/Cha", the words themselves dont mean "Yes" as some people believe, its just an expression of acknowledgement, the sentence is then usually repeated to give a yes or no/positive or negative/confirmation or not answer)

God damn it Father Punchy, you got me tied up against the ropes, it must have been the phonetic footwork. I pray for the bell and another blueprint-hope my corner can find a divinely inspired one. I promise the next round will be the round of all rounds.

Curiosity - is there a Khmer equivalent for "Shut up!" other than the literal translation of "don't speak"? Something that conveys the same aggro?

"Curiosity - is there a Khmer equivalent for "Shut up!" other than the literal translation of "don't speak"? Something that conveys the same aggro?"

Don't know if we're talking about the same expression, but there is " Beut moat" which translates as close (your) mouth.

taabarang wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2017 7:06 am God damn it Father Punchy, you got me tied up against the ropes, it must have been the phonetic footwork. I pray for the bell and another blueprint-hope my corner can find a divinely inspired one. I promise the next round will be the round of all rounds.

no your phonetics were good this time, and actually gave you a high five this time as this was the most easy one, i only got into it because epidemics brought it up so was just merely an educational post
keep up the good work Taabarang, i always enjoy your posts, especially these language ones

taabarang wrote: ↑Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:31 pm "Curiosity - is there a Khmer equivalent for "Shut up!" other than the literal translation of "don't speak"? Something that conveys the same aggro?"

Don't know if we're talking about the same expression, but there is " Beut moat" which translates as close (your) mouth.

Baat bong, orkun.