Greetings and Classroom Phrases

Unit 1 introduces the basic classroom interaction between a teacher and students. Students learn greetings, polite responses, and the important distinction between male and female forms of address in Cambodian. The key sentence practiced throughout is “Khmer is easy to learn.”

Basic Dialogue

#	Cambodian	English	Context
1	soum bet sɨew-phɨw.	Please close your books.	Teacher to Students
2	baat, look kruu.	Yes, teacher.	Men Students to Man Teacher
2a	cah, look kruu.	Yes, teacher.	Women Students to Man Teacher
2b	baat, neɁ kruu.	Yes, teacher.	Men Students to Woman Teacher
2c	cah, neɁ kruu.	Yes, teacher.	Women Students to Woman Teacher
3	soum thaa taam khñom: ‘khmaε sruol rien.‘	Please say after me: ‘Khmer is easy to learn.‘	Teacher to Students
4	khmaε sruol rien.	Khmer is easy to learn.	All Students Together
5	ʔəyləw, soum thaa khlia nih mənéɁ mədooŋ.	Now, please say the sentence one person at a time.	Teacher to Students
6	khlia dodael?	The same sentence?	First Student
7	baat, khlia dodael.	Yes, the same sentence.	Man Teacher to First Student
7a	cah, khlia dodael.	Yes, the same sentence.	Woman Teacher to First Student
8	néɁnaa mun?	Who’s first?	Second Student
9	look mun.	You’re first.	Teacher to Second Student (Man)
9a	look srεy mun.	You’re first.	Teacher to Second Student (Woman)
10	khmaε sruol rien.	Khmer is easy to learn.	Second Student
11	tee, cam thaa taam khñom: ‘khmaε sruol rien.‘	No, wait and repeat after me: ‘Khmer is easy to learn.‘	Teacher to Second Student
12	khmaε sruol rien.	Khmer is easy to learn.	Second Student
13	baat, baan.	All right.	Man Teacher to Second Student
13a	cah, baan.	All right.	Woman Teacher to Second Student

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English	Notes
khñom	I, me	used by both men and women
look	you (to a man)	also ‘Mr.‘
look srεy	you (to a woman)	also ‘Mrs./Ms.‘
look kruu	teacher (male)	form of address
neɁ kruu	teacher (female)	form of address
baat	yes (male speaker)	polite affirmative
cah	yes (female speaker)	polite affirmative
tee	no	negation
baat tee	no (polite, male)	polite negative
cah tee	no (polite, female)	polite negative
soum	please	request marker
thaa	to say, to speak
taam	after, following
bet	to close
sɨew-phɨw	book
khmaε	Khmer, Cambodian
sruol	easy
rien	to learn, to study
khlia	sentence
dodael	same
mun	first
baan	can, all right
mənéɁ	person, one (person)
mədooŋ	time, occurrence
ʔəyləw	now

Grammar Notes

Men and Women

Cambodian distinguishes between the sexes not only in forms of address (as in English), but also in the most common second person pronouns and in the most common word for ‘Yes’ or ‘I hear you.’ The items baat and cah also occur in the polite responses meaning ‘No.‘

English	Man	Woman
’I, me’	khñom	khñom
’you’	look	look srεy
’teacher’ (form of address)	look kruu	neɁ kruu
’yes’ / ‘I hear you’	baat	cah
’no’	tee	tee
’no’ (polite)	baat tee	cah tee

Practice Drills

Response Drill A

The teacher gives a confirmation question with a cued response. The student responds affirmatively.

Teacher	Student	English
khlia dodael? (baat)	baat, khlia dodael.	The same sentence? — Yes, the same sentence.
khlia dodael? (cah)	cah, khlia dodael.	The same sentence? — Yes, the same sentence.
sɨew-phɨw dodael? (baat)	baat, sɨew-phɨw dodael.	The same book? — Yes, the same book.
look kruu mun? (cah)	cah, look kruu mun.	The teacher first? — Yes, the teacher first.
neɁ kruu mun? (baat)	baat, neɁ kruu mun.	The teacher (F) first? — Yes, the teacher first.

Fluency Drill A: Expansion

Build up the sentence progressively:

1. soum thaa taam khñom.
2. soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom.
3. soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ.
4. ʔəyləw soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ.
5. ʔəyləw soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ: khmaε sruol rien.

English build-up:

1. Please say it after me.
2. Please say this sentence after me.
3. Please say this sentence after me one at a time.
4. Now please say this sentence after me one at a time.
5. Now please say this sentence after me one at a time: Khmer is easy to learn.

Fluency Drill B: Reduction

Reduce the sentence progressively:

1. ʔəyləw soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ: khmaε sruol rien.
2. ʔəyləw soum thaa khlia nih taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ: khmaε sruol rien.
3. ʔəyləw soum thaa taam khñom mənéɁ mədooŋ: khmaε sruol rien.
4. ʔəyləw soum thaa taam khñom: khmaε sruol rien.
5. soum thaa taam khñom: khmaε sruol rien.
6. khmaε sruol rien.

English reduction:

1. Now please say this sentence after me one at a time: Khmer is easy to learn.
2. Now please say this sentence after me one at a time: Khmer is easy to learn.
3. Now please say after me one at a time: Khmer is easy to learn.
4. Now please say after me: Khmer is easy to learn.
5. Please say after me: Khmer is easy to learn.
6. Khmer is easy to learn.