How to address people in Khmer
How to address people in Khmer
That's a thread I thought of creating back then: http://www.khmer440.com/chat_forum/view ... 6&start=30 but didn't get around to do. But as Lucky Lucan recently mentioned he was interested in knowing more about the right ways to address people in Khmer, I thought the timing would be right.
So listed below are a few ways to address people in Khmer. If you still don't know how to address a person in a particular situation, feel free to ask, and I'll update the OP. Also, I don't pretend to be a Khmer linguist, so if you see something incomplete or incorrect, please let me know.
For each line, I put the romanized version, followed by the word in Khmer. m and f indicates whether it is to be used with men or women. I give an approximate translation in English, and in what circumstances to use them to address people.
A child/teenager
A-oun / អាអូន (m/f), Oun / អូន (m/f) - "little one" - to use with toddlers and young children.
Kaun / កូន (m/f) - "Child" - to use when you're close to the child, such as your own child, a nephew or niece.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a child or teenager you don't know.
Chav / ចៅ (m/f) - "Grandchild" - to use when you address a child or teenager who could be your grandchild.
A visibly younger person
Oun / អូន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're close to the person, and with caution when addressing woman as it can be misconstrued as a term of endearment or courtship.
P'oun / ប្អួន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're acquainted with the person or a person you don't know.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a young adult you are acquainted to or don't know.
Neang / នាង (f) - "young lady, miss" - to address young women you don't know.
Kanha / កញ្ញា (f) - "Miss" - to address young women you are familiar with/don't know (to be used with caution though as it can be perceived as sleazy.)
A person of about the same age
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - It is often used between persons of the same age as a sign of respect.
Lauk / លោក (m) - "Sir" - formal appellation
Ne'k / អ្នក (m/f) - "Madam, Sir" - formal appellation
A visibly older person
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - You can add "bros" or "srey" to "bong" to make it more respectful.
Pou / ពូ (m), Lauk Pou / លោកពូ (m), Lauk Srey / លោកស្រី (f), Ming / មីង (f), Ne'k Ming / អ្នកមីង (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you but younger than one of your parents.
Mday ming / ម្ដាយមីង (f), Mak ming / ម៉ាក់មីង (f) - "Aunty" - To address an aunt who is your mother or father's younger sister.
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), Lauk Om / លោកអ៊ំ (m/f), Om Bros / អ៊ំប្រុស (m), Om Srey / អ៊ំស្រី (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you and older than both of your parents.
Pa Om / ប៉ាអ៊ំ (m), Mak Om / ម៉ាក់អ៊ំ (f) - "Uncle, Aunt" - To address an uncle or aunt who is close to you or your parents.
An elderly person
Ta / តា (m), Lauk ta / លោកតា (m), Yeay / យាយ (f), Lauk yeay / លោកយាយ (f), Mak yeay / ម៉ាក់យាយ (f) - "Grandpa, Grandfather, Granny, Grandma, Grandmother" - can be used to address any elderly person, except Mak Yeay which is specifically used to address your own grandmother.
A professional
A doctor: Lauk kru peth / លោកគ្រូពេទ្យ (m), Ne'k kru peth / អ្នកគ្រូពេទ្យ (f), Lauk kru (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A nurse: Ne'k kru peth / អ្នកគ្រូពេទ្យ (f)
A teacher: Lauk kru (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A professor: Lauk Sastracha / លោកសាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (m), Lauk Srey Sastracha / លោកស្រីសាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (f)
A craftsperson: Cheang / ជាង (m/f)
A person with a honorific title
A government/public person: Ek Oudom / ឯកឧត្តម (m), Lauk Chomtiev / លោកជំទាវ (f) - "Excellency" - Title has to be bestowed officially through a government decree.
A business tycoon: Ne'k Oknha / អ្នកឧកញ៉ា (m), Lauk Chomtiev Oknha / លោកជំទាវឧកញ៉ា (f) - Title has to be bestowed through government decree.
A monk, a member of the royal family: Preah Ang / ព្រះអង្គ (m)
So listed below are a few ways to address people in Khmer. If you still don't know how to address a person in a particular situation, feel free to ask, and I'll update the OP. Also, I don't pretend to be a Khmer linguist, so if you see something incomplete or incorrect, please let me know.
For each line, I put the romanized version, followed by the word in Khmer. m and f indicates whether it is to be used with men or women. I give an approximate translation in English, and in what circumstances to use them to address people.
A child/teenager
A-oun / អាអូន (m/f), Oun / អូន (m/f) - "little one" - to use with toddlers and young children.
Kaun / កូន (m/f) - "Child" - to use when you're close to the child, such as your own child, a nephew or niece.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a child or teenager you don't know.
Chav / ចៅ (m/f) - "Grandchild" - to use when you address a child or teenager who could be your grandchild.
A visibly younger person
Oun / អូន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're close to the person, and with caution when addressing woman as it can be misconstrued as a term of endearment or courtship.
P'oun / ប្អួន (m/f) - "Young brother/sister" - to use when you're acquainted with the person or a person you don't know.
Kmouy / ក្មួយ (m/f) - "Nephew/Niece" - to use when you address a young adult you are acquainted to or don't know.
Neang / នាង (f) - "young lady, miss" - to address young women you don't know.
Kanha / កញ្ញា (f) - "Miss" - to address young women you are familiar with/don't know (to be used with caution though as it can be perceived as sleazy.)
A person of about the same age
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - It is often used between persons of the same age as a sign of respect.
Lauk / លោក (m) - "Sir" - formal appellation
Ne'k / អ្នក (m/f) - "Madam, Sir" - formal appellation
A visibly older person
Bong / បង (m/f) - "Older brother/sister" - You can add "bros" or "srey" to "bong" to make it more respectful.
Pou / ពូ (m), Lauk Pou / លោកពូ (m), Lauk Srey / លោកស្រី (f), Ming / មីង (f), Ne'k Ming / អ្នកមីង (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you but younger than one of your parents.
Mday ming / ម្ដាយមីង (f), Mak ming / ម៉ាក់មីង (f) - "Aunty" - To address an aunt who is your mother or father's younger sister.
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), Lauk Om / លោកអ៊ំ (m/f), Om Bros / អ៊ំប្រុស (m), Om Srey / អ៊ំស្រី (f) - "Uncle, Mister, Aunt, Madam" - To address someone who is older than you and older than both of your parents.
Pa Om / ប៉ាអ៊ំ (m), Mak Om / ម៉ាក់អ៊ំ (f) - "Uncle, Aunt" - To address an uncle or aunt who is close to you or your parents.
An elderly person
Ta / តា (m), Lauk ta / លោកតា (m), Yeay / យាយ (f), Lauk yeay / លោកយាយ (f), Mak yeay / ម៉ាក់យាយ (f) - "Grandpa, Grandfather, Granny, Grandma, Grandmother" - can be used to address any elderly person, except Mak Yeay which is specifically used to address your own grandmother.
A professional
A doctor: Lauk kru peth / លោកគ្រូពេទ្យ (m), Ne'k kru peth / អ្នកគ្រូពេទ្យ (f), Lauk kru (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A nurse: Ne'k kru peth / អ្នកគ្រូពេទ្យ (f)
A teacher: Lauk kru (m), Ne'k kru (f)
A professor: Lauk Sastracha / លោកសាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (m), Lauk Srey Sastracha / លោកស្រីសាស្ត្រាចារ្យ (f)
A craftsperson: Cheang / ជាង (m/f)
A person with a honorific title
A government/public person: Ek Oudom / ឯកឧត្តម (m), Lauk Chomtiev / លោកជំទាវ (f) - "Excellency" - Title has to be bestowed officially through a government decree.
A business tycoon: Ne'k Oknha / អ្នកឧកញ៉ា (m), Lauk Chomtiev Oknha / លោកជំទាវឧកញ៉ា (f) - Title has to be bestowed through government decree.
A monk, a member of the royal family: Preah Ang / ព្រះអង្គ (m)
Last edited by Joon on Tue Jul 29, 2014 9:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
- Barang_doa_slae
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This is some hard work; very detailed, yet simplified. I sincerely appreciate that. *thumbs up*
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This is a great, great post and very much appreciated. The correct pronoun still vexes me sometimes. Wish you'd posted this 10 years ago.
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Majasatre= your highness, boo taught me this one 'cause the ol' lady was always actin' like the queen.
Wow thanks Joon.
Quick question: how should a waitress or waiter in a restaurant be addressed?
What if the waitresses or waiter is visibly older than me? Or a lot younger? Or the same age? Does social hierarchy ever come into it? Sometimes I'm not sure, for example if I'm in a real local breakfast cafe and the waiter is A) a lot older than me or B) (more confusingly) the same age as me, but I'm a barang surfing on my flashy smartphone how should I address him?
Quick question: how should a waitress or waiter in a restaurant be addressed?
What if the waitresses or waiter is visibly older than me? Or a lot younger? Or the same age? Does social hierarchy ever come into it? Sometimes I'm not sure, for example if I'm in a real local breakfast cafe and the waiter is A) a lot older than me or B) (more confusingly) the same age as me, but I'm a barang surfing on my flashy smartphone how should I address him?
In a restaurant, you can just address waiters and waitresses using the "age hierarchy."
Some people may call waiters and waitresses as "ne'k rot tok / អ្នករត់តុ" (one who waits/serves the table) but I personally find it a bit condescending in Khmer. However once they are talking with the waiter/waitress, they would switch to "Oun, Bong, Kmouy, or Chav"
In a restaurant, I would call a younger waitress or waiter "Oun." Older men and woman may call younger waitresses "Neang or Kmouy".
A waiter or waitress who is about my age or older, I would call him/her "Bong."
A much older waiter/waitress would be called "Pou/Ming."
Some people may call waiters and waitresses as "ne'k rot tok / អ្នករត់តុ" (one who waits/serves the table) but I personally find it a bit condescending in Khmer. However once they are talking with the waiter/waitress, they would switch to "Oun, Bong, Kmouy, or Chav"
In a restaurant, I would call a younger waitress or waiter "Oun." Older men and woman may call younger waitresses "Neang or Kmouy".
A waiter or waitress who is about my age or older, I would call him/her "Bong."
A much older waiter/waitress would be called "Pou/Ming."
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are these for Australian accents because some don't sound like the spelling to my American ears.
for example:
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), what I hear would be spelled phonetically as Um
Kaun / កូន (m/f), I hear Cone
for example:
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), what I hear would be spelled phonetically as Um
Kaun / កូន (m/f), I hear Cone
i'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to
Since there is no official transliteration system for Khmer, I'm going with my own (which is heavily influenced by French).
So the pronunciations are only indicative (which is why it's followed by the Khmer words, so that people can read themselves or ask a Khmer to read them).
I wouldn't be able to tell you what the correct pronunciation in English, French or other languages is, sorry!
So the pronunciations are only indicative (which is why it's followed by the Khmer words, so that people can read themselves or ask a Khmer to read them).
I wouldn't be able to tell you what the correct pronunciation in English, French or other languages is, sorry!
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Sounds a bit out to me.oxbowlarry wrote:are these for Australian accents because some don't sound like the spelling to my American ears.
for example:
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), what I hear would be spelled phonetically as Um
Kaun / កូន (m/f), I hear Cone
I hear "Om"; for the second one with the sound that's half K and half G I hear something closer to "Gawn".
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Om like the chant has a hard o sound American english (on the west coast at least)andyinasia wrote:Sounds a bit out to me.oxbowlarry wrote:are these for Australian accents because some don't sound like the spelling to my American ears.
for example:
Om / អ៊ំ (m/f), what I hear would be spelled phonetically as Um
Kaun / កូន (m/f), I hear Cone
I hear "Om"; for the second one with the sound that's half K and half G I hear something closer to "Gawn".
Yes I hear the slight G sound but in American English Gawn would be like fawn (f-on) with a g instead of f sound would be gawn= 'gone' not even close to what I hear.
I've used these 2 examples because they are words I use several times a day and with Khmers who would correct me if it were off.
i'm the one who has to die when it's time for me to die, so let me live my life the way i want to
That's great Larry, you have native Khmer speakers who can read the words for you.
As I said, there is no official, harmonized transliteration system for Khmer, so it is up to everybody to make up their own.
If anything, the official one, that is used by Cambodians themselves and local authority, is actually the French (if I'm not mistaken) transliteration system.
As I said, there is no official, harmonized transliteration system for Khmer, so it is up to everybody to make up their own.
If anything, the official one, that is used by Cambodians themselves and local authority, is actually the French (if I'm not mistaken) transliteration system.
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