Nationalities and Countries

This unit focuses on remembering information about people you have met — their nationalities, occupations, relationships, and language abilities. You will review and expand on vocabulary for countries and nationalities introduced in Unit 21.

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
kañaa vansii cia khmaɛ, mɛɛn’ eh?	Miss Vansy is Cambodian, isn’t she?
baat, pɔkot’ ɔh. kañaa vansii, kót cia khmaɛ.	Yes, that’s right. Miss Vansy is a Cambodian.
look cam’ eh, kót thee kaa ɛy?	Do you remember what work she does?
baat, khñom phlic’ eh.	I’ve forgotten already.
nɔnaa’ niw cam?	Who still remembers?
baat, khñomJ kót thee kaa niw kesuoŋ kaa-booreteh, phnaɛk khaaŋ vóppethóa.	I do! She works at the Foreign Ministry in the cultural section.
look nik kheeñ’ iniw?	Do you remember now? (Have you thought of it yet?)
baat, khñom nik kheeñ’ eh.	Yes, now I remember.
mɔnuh dael niʔyiey cɔmuoy kañaa vansii chmúh ɛy-khlah?	Who were the people who were talking with Miss Vansy?
baat, kii look Smith niŋ look Jones.	They were Mr. Smith and Mr. Jones.
look Smith thee kaa ɛy?	What is Mr. Smith’s job?
baat, look Smith cia anuʔpún niw ambasaat ameriʔkaŋ.	Mr. Smith is an Attaché at the American Embassy.
look Jones, min dɛŋ kót thee ɛy’ tehJ	I don’t know what Mr. Jones does.
kañaa vansii methee ɛy?	What did Miss Vansy come for?
baat, kót mɔleeŋ.	She came to visit.
kañaa vansii tɛw cɔmɛc’ nŋ look kùu?	What relation is Miss Vansy to the teacher?
baat, kañaa vansii cia pʔoun sɛ̀y leboh look kùu.	Miss Vansy is the younger sister of the teacher.
kañaa vansii cɛh niʔyiey onglee’ teh?	Does Miss Vansy know how to speak English?
baat, kót niʔyiey onglee baan lʔoo kuo-som.	Yes, she can speak English rather well.
look coul-cɔt kót’ eh?	Do you like her?
baat, khñom coul-cɔt kót’ nah.	Yes, I like her a lot.
kót kuo-som, haey réʔ-téʔ’ nah.	She’s nice, and she’s very cordial.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
khmaɛ	Cambodian, Khmer
onglee	English
pɛ̀aŋ	French
allɔmoŋ	German
cɔn	Chinese
yuon	Vietnamese
siem	Thai
liaw	Lao
español	Spanish
cam	to remember
phlic	to forget
nik kheeñ	to recall, to think of
mɔnuh	person, people
dael	who (relative), ever
coul-cɔt	to like
kuo-som	rather well, fairly
réʔ-téʔ	cordial, polite
pʔoun	younger sibling
sɛ̀y	woman, female
leboh	of (belonging to)
mɔleeŋ	to visit

Grammar Notes

Nationalities

Nationality words in Khmer typically follow the pattern of being standalone words: khmaɛ (Cambodian), onglee (English), pɛ̀aŋ (French), allɔmoŋ (German), cɔn (Chinese), yuon (Vietnamese), siem (Thai). To state nationality: kañaa vansii cia khmaɛ. (Miss Vansy is Cambodian.)

Confirmation Tags

mɛɛn’ eh? is used as a tag question meaning ‘isn’t that right?’ or ‘isn’t she?’: kañaa vansii cia khmaɛ, mɛɛn’ eh? The affirmative response is baat, pɔkot’ ɔh (Yes, that’s right).

Memory Verbs

cam ‘to remember’, phlic ‘to forget’, nik kheeñ ‘to recall, think of’: look cam’ eh? (Do you remember?), khñom phlic’ eh (I’ve forgotten), khñom nik kheeñ’ eh (Now I remember).

Practice Drills

Drill A. Substitution

Cambodian	English
kañaa vansii cia khmaɛ, mɛɛn’ eh? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia khmaɛ.	Miss Vansy is Cambodian, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right. Miss Vansy is Cambodian.
kañaa vansii cia onglee, mɛɛn’ eh? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia onglee.	Miss Vansy is English, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right, Miss Vansy is English.
kañaa vansii cia pɛ̀aŋ, mɛɛn’ ɛy? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia pɛ̀aŋ.	Miss Vansy is French, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right, Miss Vansy is French.
kañaa vansii cia cɔn, mɛɛn’ eh? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia cɔn.	Miss Vansy is Chinese, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right, Miss Vansy is Chinese.
kañaa vansii cia yuon, mɛɛn’ eh? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia yuon.	Miss Vansy is Vietnamese, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right, Miss Vansy is Vietnamese.
kañaa vansii cia siem, mɛɛn’ eh? → baat, pɔkot’ eh..kañaa vansii, kót cia siem.	Miss Vansy is Thai, isn’t she? → Yes, that’s right, Miss Vansy is Thai.

Drill C. Response — Remembering

Cambodian	English
look cam’ eh, kót chmúh ɛy? (vansii) → baat, kót chmúh vansii.	Do you remember what her name is? (Vansy) → Yes, her name is Vansy.
look cam’ eh, kót mɔel ɛy? (kasaɛt) → baat, kót mɔel kasaɛt’n.	Do you remember what she was looking at? (magazine) → Yes, she was looking at a magazine.
look cam’ eh, kót rien ɛy? (khmaɛ) → baat, kót rien khmaɛ.	Do you remember what she was studying? (Cambodian) → Yes, she was studying Cambodian.