Travel Plans and Schedules

This unit covers visiting a friend, arriving late, discussing travel plans and schedules, and making arrangements to meet someone. Vocabulary includes transportation, time expressions, and reasons for being late. Grammar covers pseudo-negatives and the vocabulary of time-of-day expressions.

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
cmiep suo, sɔrinJ coul’ moh.. khaan cuop yuu’ eh.	Hello, Sarin! Come on in. I haven’t seen you for a long time.
som tooh’ neh.. laan khñom khouc kedaal phlew, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, my car broke down on the road and that’s why I am a little bit late.
inaa’ look sɛ̀y?	Where’s your wife?
baat, m baan móo’ tehJ mian thuré⁹ ntecJ	Oh, she couldn’t come. She got a little bit tied up.
yii, sdaay’ nehJ	Oh, that’s too bad!
kee coŋ móo nah daɛ, taɛ mesel meñ tɛ̀w tiw battɔbooŋ, prúh medaay khmeek khñom kót m-sew sùol khluonJ	She wanted to come, too, but yesterday she had to go to Battambong, because my mother-in-law isn’t very well.
ŋkaal kót ñiceeñ móo viñ?	When will she be back?
taam kee pɛ̀ap khñom, thaa tɔlop móo viñ leŋiec niŋ’ eh.	According to what she told me, she’ll be back this evening.
mɛc, kit khlaɛm ɛy ntec-ntuoc sen’ ih?	Well, will you have a little something to drink?
mian ɛy? mian ɛy-khlah?	Why not? What do you have?
baat, khñom mian viskii, byɛɛ kouñaʔJ.	Well, I have whiskey, beer, cognac.
ñceŋ soum viskii soudaa mɔkaɛw’ moh.	In that case let me have a whiskey soda.
niyiey ñceŋ, khñom niw m baan yuu’ teh, leŋiec niŋ..	By the way, I can’t stay very long, this evening.
mian ɛy? peñap tiw naaJ?	Why not? Where are you hurrying to?
ou, khñom tɛ̀w tiw tetuol pepún khñom niw géa atiah-phleeŋ, maoŋ dop kelah.	Oh, I have to go meet my wife at the railroad station at 10:30.
mian ɛy? tumróm dol peel niŋ, yeeŋ ñam baay ruoc’ eh.	So what? By that time, we’ll be thru eating.
ñceŋ’ eh, petaɛ khñom tɛ̀w-te tiw mun maoŋ’ ntec, khlaac atiah-phleeŋ mɔdol mun maoŋJ	That’s true, but I ought to get there a little ahead of time, just in case the train arrives ahead of time.
ñceŋ peñap sòh-sòup’ tiw neh.	Then let’s have a quick bite, all right?
baat.	All right.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
khouc	to break down
kedaal	middle of, on the way
laan	car
phlew	road, street
battɔbooŋ	Battambong (city)
medaay khmeek	mother-in-law
thuré⁹	business, errand
viñ	back, again, to return
ŋkaal	when (future)
tɔlop	approximately
leŋiec	evening
kouñaʔ	cognac
soudaa	soda
mɔkaɛw	a glass
géa atiah-phleeŋ	railroad station
atiah-phleeŋ	train
maoŋ	o’clock, hour
dop	ten
kelah	half
tumróm	by the time that
ruoc	to finish
peñap	to hurry
sòh-sòup	a quick bite, a snack
khlaac	lest, in case
mɔdol	to arrive
petaɛ	but, however
sdaay	too bad, regrettable
baan-ce	that’s why

Grammar Notes

Pseudo-Negatives

Several expressions have negative form but non-negative meaning. khaan means ‘to fail to (over a period of time), to not for a long time’: khaan cuop khnia yuu’ eh. (‘We haven’t seen each other for a long time.’). This contrasts with ordinary negation — it implies ‘failing to’ rather than simple ‘not.‘

Time-of-Day Vocabulary

Cambodians use a twelve-hour system with multiple period-of-day markers: pɛ̀k (prek) ‘morning’, thŋay ‘daytime’, thŋay tòŋ (troŋ) ‘noon’, asial (róosial) ‘afternoon’, leŋiec ‘late afternoon/evening’, yup ‘evening/night’. Clock times use maoŋ + number: maoŋ dop kelah ‘10:30’. kelah maoŋ means ‘half an hour’.

/oy-baan/ and /khlaac/ Clauses

khlaac (‘lest, in case’) introduces feared outcomes: khlaac atiah-phleeŋ mɔdol mun maoŋJ (‘in case the train arrives ahead of time’). oy-baan means ‘so that’: khñom cih sikhlou tiw, oy-baan dol chap. (‘I’m taking a cyclo, so that I’ll get there fast.’)

Practice Drills

Drill A. Substitution

Cambodian	English
som tooh’ neh, laan khñom khoucJ	Sorry, my car broke down.
som tooh’ neh, dooŋ pakaa khñom khoucJ	Sorry, my pen stopped working.
som tooh’ neh, leboh khñom khoucJ	Sorry, mine stopped working.
som tooh’ neh, leboh khñom baʔ.	Sorry, mine is broken.
som tooh’ neh, khmaw-day khñom baʔ.	Sorry, my pencil is broken.
som tooh’ neh, khmaw-day khñom m lʔoo’ tehJ	Sorry, my pencil is no good.
som tooh’ neh, laan khñom m lʔoo’ tehJ	Sorry, my car is no good.
som tooh’ neh, laan khñom khoucJ	Sorry, my car broke down.

Drill B. Substitution — Reasons for Being Late

Cambodian	English
som tooh’ neh, laan khñom khouc, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, my car broke down and so I was a little late.
som tooh’ neh, khñom m sùol khluon, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, I didn’t feel well and so I was a little late.
som tooh’ neh, khñom tiw mɔel kon, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, I went to a movie and so I was a little late.
som tooh’ neh, khñom tɛ̀w tiw phtéh, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, I had to go home and so I was a little late.
som tooh’ neh, khñom tɛ̀w rien khmaɛ, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, I had to study Cambodian so I was a little late.
som tooh’ neh, khñom tɛ̀w cam pepún khñom, baan-ce yuu ntec’ñ.	Sorry, I had to wait for my wife so I was a little late.