A. Introduction to Khmer

Khmer, additionally called Cambodian, is Cambodian\’s language. This is an introduction to khmer and will briefly touch on some main concepts. Khmer is additionally understood by individuals in several bordering countries like Kingdom of Thailand (in the eastern area called Surin, and also Buriram, Thailand), in Laos and within the \’\”krum\”\” region of South Vietnam. Khmer is additionally spoken in khmer enclaves within the United States (LA,Minnesota, Lowell, etc), France, and Australia.

Khmer comes from the Mon-Khmer language family which has many connected dialects scattered over most of geographical region. The Khmer language has adopted several words from Sankrit. Theravada started at the start of the fifteenth century and therefore Khmer began to borrow Pali words.

When the French come to power, several French words were assimilated into the language and became a part of khmer. additionally there are elements of Chinese, English and Vietnamese loanwords in everyday speech too.

Unlike different languages in region, Khmer isn\’t a tone language. with that being aforementioned if the word is pronounces in a very totally different tone, the speaker goes to own a tough time understanding, particularly once there\’s no context given.

Part B. Writing

To continue our introduction to Khmer we will talk about writing. Cambodia encompasses a script of thirty three consonants and thirty six vowels (24 basic vowels) and is read left to right. The french tried to romanticize the script at one time however were unsuccessful. Facebook has created an entire new written text that\’s making a regular romanticized written text for khmer. Here is a link for more about the writing section. Here is a link to start learning the consonants.

Part C. Grammar

The last part in this short introduction to Khmer is going to be about grammar. The one good thing about Khmer is grammar is pretty easy and straight forward. There are no articles like the, or a. Adjectives go after the noun they describe. IE. Beautiful girl is srey sa art. Verbs have no tenses 99.9% of the time and the past, present and future is indicated by context or by a classifier like yesterday, in the future, someday, last year, right now, etc.

A.) One does need to understand the word ”you” as it has several possibilities depending on age, status, and other factors. As this is just an introduction to khmer I will not touch on them.

Some easy and important first Khmer words to learn right away.

10.  Jo jet – like – This is easy to pronounce and can use this word in a lot of different situation.

9. Sadam – (just like the old leader of Iraq lol) Right

8. Chwang – Left – When giving directions it can help your moto dop or tuk tuk driver if you can say right or left, especially if it prevents your moto dop from moving his eyes from the road and looking at you to try to decipher which way to go. So id say Sadam and Chwang are pretty important first Khmer words to learn lol.

7. Tlai pon maan? – How much – Extremely useful and might prevent the market sellers from asking a super high opening price.

6. Tlai nas – Expensive! – If they ask for too much say tlai nas and the price will probably could down to a reasonable level.

5. Sa art- Beautiful – Always nice to tell a lady she is beautiful for romantic purposes and for the nice old grandma selling you bii (rice)

4. La aor – Good, nice  – Always important to know the word for good, and the opposite bad is et la aor.

3. Chnagn – Delicious – After cooking food who doesnt like to be told their food was delicious?

2. Aun/Bong – younger/older/hey you – If you are at a restaurant and need service just say aun if the waiter is younger and bong if older. This should get their attention. When finished and wanting to pay a polite soam kit luy will bring the bill.

1. Aw te – no, dont want – When drinking beer, eating dinner, walking, anywhere, etc there will be beggars, moto dops, tuk tuks, and sellers all trying to vie for your attention (and riels!). If you need their services great, but if you just smile and say awt te they probably will go around. If you the person is younger you can say awt te aun or if older can say awt te bong.

PS Aaw-kuhn = Thank you and Soam (please)- Should be the first khmer words to learn. Bon dtub dtek (bathroom) is pretty important of a word too, and probably should have maybe the top ten list of first Khmer words to learn.

I hope these ten first Khmer words to learn were useful for you.

Phnom Chisor Day Trip

Phnom Chisor is translated as Chisor mountain or Chisor hill (phnom=hill). It is roughly an hour and half south of Phnom Penh. The temple is from around 10/11 century AD and was built by King Suryavarman I.

The trip has 3 enjoyable aspects to it. First is the temple ruins itself. Walking up to the top is a little tiring as there are over 400 steps, but it is really worth it. The view is amazing, and the temple ruins are nice.

After sigh seeing, one should go back down the steps and eat at one of the wooden huts. One could eat a cooked chicken, soup, or rice with pork. Most of the huts have hammocks set up and always have nice cold, cheap beer!

The third and last enjoyable part is the ride itself to the temple. You get to see some of the countryside and the natural beauty Cambodia provides.

Cost: Sometimes there is a lady at the top that will charge entrance to see the old ruins. I have seen them ask for $2 dollars US for Barangs and a dollar for Khmers.

Location:  Take route 5 north about an hour and come to a fork in the road. Take the left route. Continue maybe 15 minutes and take a left at a sign that will say something tourist resort. I’m sorry I forget the exact name, but the sign can be hard to miss. Once you take a left on that road you are about a minute away.