Family Members

This unit covers describing a house and its rooms, garden, flowers, and furnishings. You will learn vocabulary for parts of a house, rooms, and how to compliment someone’s home. The dialogue takes place during a house visit between Mr. Smith and Mrs. Saat.

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
phtéh look sɛ̀y sʔaat’ ah. thee pɔmaan chnam’ eh?	Your house is very nice. How many years ago was it built?
caah, pii chnam’ eh.	Two years ago.
yii, thom’ ahJ thom ciaŋ phtéh look sɛ̀y mun’ neh.	Say, it’s really big! It’s bigger than your former house, isn’t it?
caah, thom ciaŋJ	Yes, it’s bigger.
cón khay-lee mian ktup pɔmaan?	How many rooms are there upstairs?
caah, mian pɛ̀am ktup.. ktup khñom muoy, ktup smɛ̀ap phñiew muoy, haey-nŋ ktup koun bey.	There are five rooms: my room, a guest room, and three children’s rooms.
coh niw cón nih mian ktup ɛy-khlah?	And on this floor what rooms are there?
caah, ktup tetuol phñiew muoy, haey-nŋ berou pdɛy khñom kee thee kaaJ	Well, there’s a guest room, and the office where my husband works.
coh ktup nuh smɛ̀ap thee ɛy?	And what’s that room for?
ou, nuh cia ktup daʔ ɛy-van, haey niw khay-sdam nuh cia cekɛ̀an baay haey-nŋ ktup khmeey chnuolJ	Oh, that’s a store room, and on the right there is the kitchen and the servant’s room.
look sɛ̀y mian ktup deek pɔmaan niw cón nih?	How many bedrooms do you have on this floor?
caah, mian te muoy’ tehJ ktup khmeey chnuol.	Well, there’s only one. The servant’s room.
look sɛ̀y mian suon chbaa thom lʔoo’ ah.	You have a nice big garden, don’t you.
caah, khñom coul-cɔt phkaa’ nah.	Yes, I like flowers a lot.
look sɛ̀y tiñ phkaa pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy these flowers?
caah, khñom tiñ kaal coul chnam cɔn, niw muk géa.	Oh, I brought them at Chinese New Years, in front of the station.
look sɛ̀y pɔhaɛl mian phkaa koulaap cɔ̀en’ nah.	It looks as though you have a lot of roses.
caah, phiaʔ cɔ̀en, cɔ̀en-te phkaa koulaapJ	Yes, most of the flowers are roses.
pepún khñom, kee coul-cɔt phkaa’ nah daɛJ	My wife likes flowers a lot too.
caah, sɛ̀y-sɛ̀y ñceŋ’ eh.. nɔnaa ko douc nɔnaa’ dɛhJ	Yes, that’s the way women are—everyone of them is like every other one.
yii, khñom som cmiep lia look sɛ̀y sen’ eh. leŋiec’ nah haey.	Say, I better be saying good-bye to you now. It’s late in the afternoon already.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
phtéh	house
ktup	room
ktup deek	bedroom
ktup smɛ̀ap	guest room
ktup tetuol phñiew	reception room
berou	office
cekɛ̀an baay	kitchen
ktup khmeey chnuol	servant’s room
ktup daʔ ɛy-van	store room
cón	floor, level
khay-lee	upstairs
khay-sdam	right side
suon chbaa	garden
phkaa	flower
phkaa koulaap	rose
sʔaat	pretty, nice, clean
thom	big
phñiew	guest
khmeey	servant
tiñ	to buy
kaal	time, at the time of
coul chnam	new year
cɔn	Chinese
géa	station
cmiep lia	to say goodbye

Grammar Notes

House Vocabulary

Cambodian houses are described by floors (cón), with khay-lee (upstairs) and cón nih (this floor). Room types include ktup deek (bedroom), ktup smɛ̀ap (guest room), berou (office), cekɛ̀an baay (kitchen). phtéh refers to the house as a whole.

Expressing ‘It looks like / It seems’

pɔhaɛl is used to express ‘it seems, it looks as though’: look sɛ̀y pɔhaɛl mian phkaa koulaap cɔ̀en’ nah. (‘It looks as though you have a lot of roses.’) The response uses phiaʔ cɔ̀en, cɔ̀en-te (‘most of’): phiaʔ cɔ̀en, cɔ̀en-te phkaa koulaapJ (‘Yes, most of the flowers are roses.’)

Generalizations with /nɔnaa ko douc nɔnaa/

The phrase nɔnaa ko douc nɔnaa means ‘everyone is like every other one’: sɛ̀y-sɛ̀y ñceŋ’ eh.. nɔnaa ko douc nɔnaa’ dɛhJ (‘That’s the way women are—everyone is like every other one.’)

Practice Drills

Drill G. Substitution — Where did you buy…?

Cambodian	English
look sɛ̀y tiñ ɛy-van pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy these things?
look sɛ̀y tiñ mɔhoup pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the food?
look sɛ̀y tiñ ruup thoot pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the pictures?
look sɛ̀y tiñ khmaw-day pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the pencils?
look sɛ̀y tiñ phkaa koulaap pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the roses?
look sɛ̀y tiñ kedah pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the paper?
look sɛ̀y tiñ dooŋ pakaa pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the pens?
look sɛ̀y tiñ phkaa pii naa’ moh?	Where did you buy the flowers?

Drill H. Response — Where and When

Cambodian	English
look sɛ̀y tiñ ɛy-van pii naa’ moh? (pii thŋay saw, psaa thmey) → caah, khñom tiñ kaal pii thŋay saw, niw psaa thmey.	Where did you buy these things? (On Saturday, new market) → I bought them on Saturday at the new market.
look sɛ̀y tiñ mɔhoup pii naa’ moh? (pii mesel meñ, psaa cah) → caah, khñom tiñ kaal pii mesel meñ, niw psaa cah’ŋ.	Where did you buy the food? (Yesterday, the old market) → I bought them yesterday at the old market.
look sɛ̀y tiñ phkaa koulaap pii naa’ moh? (pii thŋay can, muk géa) → caah, khñom tiñ kaal pii thŋay can, niw muk géa.	Where did you buy the roses? (On Monday, in front of the station) → I bought them on Monday in front of the station.