Classroom Objects and Colors

This unit introduces classroom objects and counting with numerals 6–19. Students learn to identify objects such as pencils, books, pictures, and maps, and to count them. The basic dialogue practices asking ‘What’s this?’, identifying objects, and stating quantities with location phrases. New vocabulary includes /khmaw-day/ (pencil), /ruup thoot/ (picture), /phaen-tii/ (map), and location words like /niw-aenoh/ (over there) and /ciñcéŋ/ (wall).

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
aanih s?əy?	What’s this?
nih cia khmaw-day.	This is a pencil.
haəy aanuh?	And what’s that?
nuh cia siew-phiw.	That’s a book.
reboh pii niw-aenoh cia ovəy?	What are those two things there?
nuh cia ruup thoot.	Those are pictures (photographs).
mian ruup thoot tee, niw aenoh?	Are there any pictures over there?
baat, mian ruup thoot bey niw ciñcéŋ.	Yes, there are three pictures on the wall.
aenaa?	Where?
ciñcéŋ kraoy khnooŋ look.	The wall behind you.
baat, trəw haəy.	Yes, that’s right.
khñom kheeñ ruup thoot pram niw ciñcéŋ.	I see five pictures on the wall.
tee, pii nuh cia phaen-tii, min mɛɛn ruup thoot tee.	No, two of them are maps, not pictures.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
aanih / aanuh	this / that (demonstrative question)
s?əy	what (thing)?
nih	this
nuh	that
cia	is, to be
khmaw-day	pencil
siew-phiw	book
ruup thoot	picture, photograph
phaen-tii	map
ciñcéŋ	wall
reboh	thing(s)
pii	two
bey	three
pram	five
niw-aenoh	over there
niw nih	here
kraoy khnooŋ look	behind you
kheeñ	see

Numerals 6–19

Standard	Rapid	Standard 11–19	Phnom Penh 11–19
6. prammuoy	pmmuoy	11. dopmuoy	muoy-ndop (məndop)
7. prampil	pmpil	12. doppii	pii-ndop
8. prambey	pmbey	13. dopbey	bey-ndop
9. prambuon	pmbuon	14. dopbuon	buon-ndop
10. dop	dop	15. doppram	pɛam-ndop
		16. dop-pmmuoy	pmmuoy-ndop
		17. dop-pmpil	pmpil-ndop
		18. dop-pmbey	pmbey-ndop
		19. dop-pmbuon	pmbuon-ndop

Grammar Notes

Noun-Numeral Constructions

One of the simplest ways to count objects in Khmer is to form a noun-modifier construction, with the noun as head and the numeral as modifier:

Cambodian	English
siew-phiw muoy	one book, a book
siew-phiw muoy tiet	one more book, another book
reboh pii	two things
phaen-tii pii tiet	two more maps
khmaw-day bey	three pencils
ruup thoot bey tiet	three more pictures
siew-phiw buon	four books
reboh pram	five things

Existential /mian/ with Location

mian (there is/are) is used with location phrases:

• mian ruup thoot tee, niw aenoh? — Are there any pictures over there?
• baat, mian ruup thoot bey niw ciñcéŋ. — Yes, there are three pictures on the wall.

Practice Drills

Drill A: Object Identification

Teacher	Student
aanih s?əy? (khmaw-day)	aanih cia khmaw-day.
aanuh s?əy? (siew-phiw)	aanuh cia siew-phiw.
aanih s?əy? (ciñcéŋ)	aanih cia ciñcéŋ.
reboh pii niw-aenoh cia ovəy? (phaen-tii)	reboh pii niw-aenoh cia phaen-tii.
reboh bey nih s?əy? (ruup thoot)	reboh bey nih cia ruup thoot.

Drill B: Counting with Location

Teacher	Student
mian ruup thoot tee, niw-aenoh? (bey)	baat, mian bey niw-aenoh.
mian siew-phiw tee, niw nih? (pmbuon)	baat, mian pmbuon niw nih.
mian phaen-tii tee, niw ciñcéŋ? (pmmuoy)	baat, mian pmmuoy niw ciñcéŋ.
mian khmaw-day tee, niw-aenoh? (doppram)	baat, mian doppram niw-aenoh.