Numbers and Ordinals

Unit 3 introduces numbers, ordinals, and classroom vocabulary related to books, pages, sentences, and lines. Students learn to navigate a textbook by asking and answering questions about specific locations in the book using ordinal numbers.

Basic Dialogue

#	Cambodian	English	Context
1	ʔəyləw soum baək sɨew-phɨw look tumpóa tii-buon.	Now please open your books to page four.	Teacher (kruu boŋrien)
2	sɨew-phɨw naa?	Which book?	First Student (koun seh tii-muoy)
3	sɨew-phɨw lieŋ.	The yellow book.	Teacher
4	tumpóa tii-pəmaan?	Which page?	Second Student (koun seh tii-pii)
5	tumpóa tii-buon. look khəəñ khlia tii-pii tee?	Page four. Do you see sentence number two?	Teacher
6	khlia tii-bey?	Sentence number three?	Third Student (koun seh tii-bey)
7	tee, khlia mun niŋ, khlia tii-pii.	No, the sentence before that, sentence number two.	Teacher
8	look téŋ-oh khnia róoɁ khəəñ tee?	Have you all found it?	Teacher
9	baat (cah), khəəñ haey.	Yes, I’ve found it.	Students (koun seh téŋ-oh)
10	ʔəyləw mael bontót tii-bey, khlia tii-pii.	Now look at line three of sentence two.	Teacher
11	bontót tii-pii?	The second line?	First Student
12	tee, bontót tii-bey. bontót kraoy boŋ-oh.	No, the third line. The last line of all.	Teacher
13	ou, bontót niŋ!	Oh, that line!	First Student

Key Vocabulary

Classroom Nouns

Cambodian	English
sɨew-phɨw	book
mee-rien	lesson
tumpóa	page
khlia	sentence
bontót	line
kruu boŋrien	teacher
koun seh	student
neɁ	person

Numbers and Ordinals

Cambodian	English
muoy	one
pii	two
bey	three
buon	four
pram	five
tii-muoy	first
tii-pii	second
tii-bey	third
tii-buon	fourth
tii-pram	fifth
tii-pəmaan	which (in an ordinal series)

Position Words

Cambodian	English
mun kee boŋ-oh	first of all
mun niŋ	before that
kraoy kee boŋ-oh	last of all
kraoy niŋ	after that
bontóp	next

Verbs

Cambodian	English
baək	to open
mael	to look at
khəəñ	to see, to find
róoɁ	to find, to look for
naa	which
lieŋ	yellow

Grammar Notes

Head-Modifier Constructions

In Cambodian, the order of a head-word (H) and its modifier (M) is always HM. In English, the corresponding construction is usually MH. By combining nouns with ordinal numbers using the /tii-/ prefix, you can produce ordinal constructions:

Cambodian (HM)	English (MH)
mədooŋ tiet	another time (once more)
ñóp ləmóom	sufficiently fast (fast enough)
khlia tii-pii	the-second sentence (sentence two)
tumpóa tii-buon	the-fourth page (page four)
look téŋ-oh khnia	all-of you (you all)
mun kee boŋ-oh	the-very first (first of all)

Noun-Modifier Constructions

Cambodian (NM)	English (MN)
khlia dodael.	The-same sentence.
sɨew-phɨw look.	Your book.
bontót mun kee boŋ-oh.	The-very-first line.
neɁ bontóp.	The-next person.
sɨew-phɨw lieŋ.	The-yellow book.
tumpóa kraoy boŋ-oh.	The-last page.
koun seh tii-pii.	The-second student.

Practice Drills

Substitution Drill A

Cambodian	English
soum baək sɨew-phɨw look.	Please open your books.
kom baək sɨew-phɨw look.	Don’t open your books.
soum bet sɨew-phɨw look.	Please close your books.
kom bet sɨew-phɨw look.	Don’t close your books.
soum mael sɨew-phɨw look.	Please look at your books.
kom mael sɨew-phɨw look.	Don’t look at your books.
soum baək sɨew-phɨw look.	Please open your books.

Substitution Drill B

Cambodian	English
look khəəñ khlia tii-pii tee?	Do you see sentence two?
look khəəñ bontót tii-pii tee?	Do you see line two?
look khəəñ tumpóa tii-pii tee?	Do you see page two?
look khəəñ mee-rien tii-pii tee?	Do you see lesson two?
look khəəñ sɨew-phɨw tii-pii tee?	Do you see book two?
look khəəñ koun seh tii-pii tee?	Do you see the second student?
look khəəñ khlia tii-pii tee?	Do you see sentence two?