Khmer greetings – lesson 1

Khmer Greetings – Lesson 1

Here are some general Khmer greetings, and some other basic words to help you learn Khmer. Enjoy!

[table]

Khmer, English

Knom, I

Nek, you

bong, you(older person)*

aun, you(younger)*

cmuah, name

jum-riab-sua, hello (formal)

jum-riab-lia, bye (formal)

sok-sa-baay dte, how are you

sok-sa-baay, fine

jo nek win, and you?

et-dtooh, excuse me

soom-dtooh, sorry

min-ey-dtee, it doesn’t matter or your welcome**

aw-kun, thank you

baat, yes (male)

ja, yes (female)

nih, this

et, no

a-vwey, what

yul, understand

yul dtee?, understand?

min yul dtee, i dont understand

et dung, i dont know

et yul, i dont understand

[/table]

*If you need to catch a waiter or waitress’attention just call out aun or bong depending on if they are older or younger. If it is a girl and in doubt her age, maybe say aun. If it is a guy and in doubt of age  maybe say bong.

**Min-ey-dtee is a multi purpose word. It is very important to learn. If you have an understanding of Thai is like the word mai pen ra. If someone bumps into you, just say min-ey-dtee if no offense was taken. This word can get you out of a lot of trouble and save face for others. Most important word to learn out of this Khmer greetings lesson.

So that completes lesson 1 Khmer greetings. Continue to lesson 2. which is mainly vocab talking about things in or at your house. Ta! (continue)