Visiting Friends

This unit covers visiting friends at home. You will learn vocabulary for social calls, hospitality, offering drinks, discussing health, and kinship terms. Grammar notes cover several important verbal modifiers including /baan/, /tih/, /moh/, and /daɛ/ vs /phooŋ/.

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
cmiep suo, look sɛ̀y.	Hello, madame.
caah, cmiep suoJ	Hello.
pdɛy look sɛ̀y niw phtéh’ teh?	Is your husband at home?
caah, kót niw phtéh’ tehJ ñiceeñ coul móo, look.	Yes, he’s at home. Please come in, sir.
baat, oo kunJ	Thank you.
look sɛ̀y, koun-caw’ ɛy, sok sɔbaay’ cia teh?	Are your children well, madame?
caah, sok sɔbaay’ cia tehJ	Yes, they are well.
look sɛ̀y mian kaa ɛy’ ih, baan-cia m baan móo leeŋ?	Is your wife so busy that she couldn’t come to see us?
baat, khmian levúl thee ɛy’ tehJ	No, she is not busy.
taɛ mesel meñ pɛ̀ap khñom thaa m-sew sùol khluonJ	But yesterday, she told me that she wasn’t feeling very well.
look mian kaa ɛy peñap’ teh? pdɛy khñom kepúŋ slie⁹ pé⁹.	Do you have any urgent business? My husband is getting dressed.
tee, khñom khmian kaa ɛy’ tehJ	No, I don’t have any business.
ceñ pii thee kaa, coul moo leeŋ te mɔdooŋ’ tih.	When I left work I dropped in to see you, that’s all.
khaan cuop khnia yuu’ eh.	We haven’t seen each other for a long time.
look ñiceeñ pesaa sʔɛy ntec’ tiw ih?	Will you have something to drink?
khñom mian kafee.. taɛ.. viskii..	I have coffee, tea, whiskey…
baat, ñceŋ soum kafee mɔpɛɛŋ’ moh.	Well, in that case, let me have a cup of coffee, will you?
look coul-cɔt kafee khmaw, rii kafee tik-doh-koo?	Do you like black coffee, or coffee with cream?
baat, som daʔ tik-doh-koo’ ntec, haey-nŋ skoo’ ntec.	Please put a little cream in and a little sugar.
caah, ñiceeñ ŋkuy leeŋ ntec’ tih. khñom tiw yóo mecuunJ	Please have a seat. I’ll go get it for you.
mɛc, saat.. cmiep suoJ sok sɔbaay?	Well, Saat, hello! Are you well?
baat, sok sɔbaay’ tehJ	Yes, I’m fine.
mɛc koo m nóm pepún mɔleeŋ phooŋ?	Why didn’t you bring your wife along too?
kee thaa m-sew sùol khluonJ	She says she isn’t very well.
mɛc, chii ɛy?	How’s that, what’s wrong with her?
oo, khmian chii ɛy thŋún’ tehJ kòan-te pdah-saay ntec-ntuoc’ñ.	Oh, she doesn’t have anything serious. She just has a little cold.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
coul	to enter, come in
leeŋ	to visit
ŋkuy	to sit
pesaa	to eat, to drink (neutral)
ñam	to eat (informal)
kafee	coffee
taɛ	tea
viskii	whiskey
tik-doh-koo	cream
skoo	sugar
mɔpɛɛŋ	a cup
pdɛy	husband
pepún	wife
koun-caw	children
levúl	free time, leisure
sùol khluon	to feel well (healthy)
chii	to be sick
pdah-saay	cold (illness)
thŋún	serious, heavy
ceñ	to leave, go out
pɛ̀ap	to tell, to say
kaa	work, business
peñap	urgent
kepúŋ	to be in the process of
slie⁹	to put on, to wear
pé⁹	to dress (upper garment)
khaan	to fail to, for a long time not
yuu	a long time

Grammar Notes

Verbal Modifiers: /baan/, /baan-cia/, /aoy-baan/

baan between subject and verb means ‘to get a chance to, to be able to’ (specific opportunity): khñom m baan móo’ tehJ (‘I couldn’t come.’). baan-cia and aoy-baan occur before the subject meaning ‘so that, with the result that.‘

Post-Verbal Modifiers: /tih/ and /moh/

tih relates to motion away from the speaker (‘just go and…’): ñiceeñ ŋkuy leeŋ ntec’ tih (‘Please just have a seat.’). moh relates to motion toward the speaker (‘just come and…’): ñceŋ soum kafee mɔpɛɛŋ’ moh (‘Just let me have a cup of coffee.’). Both often translate as ‘just’.

/daɛ/ vs /phooŋ/ — ‘too, also’

phooŋ always means ‘too, in addition, as well’: mɛc koo m nóm pepún mɔleeŋ phooŋ? (‘Why didn’t you bring your wife along too?’). daɛ means ‘too’ in the sense of ‘likewise’: kót nóm pepún kót tiw leeŋ daɛ. (‘He took his wife along to visit them, too.’)

Practice Drills

Drill D. Response — Remembering

Cambodian	English
nɔnaaʔ niw cam? (khñom) → baat, khñom’ niw cam.	Who still remembers? (me) → I still remember.
nɔnaaʔ niw cam? (look Jones) → baat, look Jones’ niw cam.	Who still remembers? (Mr. Jones) → Mr. Jones still remembers.
nɔnaaʔ niw cam? (kañaa vansii) → baat, kañaa vansii’ niw cam.	Who still remembers? (Miss Vansy) → Miss Vansy still remembers.
nɔnaaʔ niw cam? (kót) → baat, kót’ niw cam.	Who still remembers? (him) → He still remembers.
nɔnaaʔ niw cam? (yeeŋ tŋ-oh khnia) → baat, yeeŋ tŋ-oh khnia’ niw cam.	Who still remembers? (all of us) → All of us still remember.

Drill L. Transformation

Cambodian	English
ceñ pii thee kaa, coul móo leeŋ te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ (salaa rien, ñam kafee) → ceñ pii salaa rien, coul móo ñam kafee te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ	After I left work, I just dropped in for a visit. (school, drink coffee) → When I left school, I just dropped in to drink some coffee.
ceñ pii thee kaa, coul móo leeŋ te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ (phtéh baay, mɔel kasaɛt) → ceñ pii phtéh baay, coul móo mɔel kasaɛt te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ	After I left work, I just dropped in. (restaurant, read a magazine) → After I left the restaurant, I just dropped in to read a magazine.
ceñ pii thee kaa, coul móo leeŋ te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ (ambasaat, leeŋ puoʔ-maaʔ) → ceñ pii ambasaat, coul móo leeŋ puoʔ-maaʔ te mɔdooŋ’ tiwJ	After I left work, I just dropped in. (Embassy, visit friends) → After I left the Embassy I just dropped in to visit some friends.