Narration: Social Life Review

This is a narration and review unit describing a daily morning routine. The narration covers getting up, personal hygiene, getting dressed, having breakfast, and leaving for work. New vocabulary focuses on personal toilet, body parts, clothing, and meals. The grammar review consolidates time expressions from the preceding units.

Basic Dialogue

This unit uses a narration format. The speaker describes their morning routine:

Cambodian (romanized)	English
ról prik, thómmedaa khñom phñé⁹ pii keeŋ maoŋ prampil.	Each morning, I usually get out of bed at 7:00.
khñom baek raadyou sdap dɔmneŋ, ruoc haey khñom tiw bontup tik.	I turn on the radio to listen to the news, and then I go to the bathroom.
khñom lup-liaŋ muk khñom niŋ sebuu, doh thmiñ, kao puk mót.	I wash my face with soap, brush my teeth, and shave.
ruoc khñom ŋuut tik, koʔ soʔ.	After that I take a shower, and wash my hair.
luh ŋuut tik ruoc haey, khñom yóoʔ konsaɛŋ móoʔ cuut khluon.	When I am through taking a shower, I take a towel and dry myself off.
haey khñom koo set soʔ.	Then I comb my hair.
too móoʔ, khñom koo trolop tiw khnoŋ bontup keeŋ khñom viñ, daembey niŋ slie⁹ pé⁹.	Later on I go back into my bedroom in order to get dressed.
kraoy móoʔ, khñom coh tiw kraom, tiw khnoŋ phtéh baay.	After that, I go downstairs into the dining room.
niw nuh, khñom kheeñ propún khñom kompúŋ-taɛ riep-com baay prik aoy khñom.	There, I see my wife preparing breakfast for me.
niw lee tok, khñom kheeñ mian póoŋ món cian, boboo, numpaaŋ, kafee, laʔ.	On the table, I see fried eggs, soup, bread, coffee, etc.
thómmedaa khñom ñam kafee pii rii bey pɛ̀ɛŋ niw peel baay prik.	Usually I drink two or three cups of coffee at breakfast.
niw peel nuh, khñom taɛŋ-taɛ mɔel kasaɛt.	During that time, I always read the newspaper.
luh ñam baay ruoc haey, khñom koo kuh chekuh, ñam barey.	When I am finished eating, I light up a match and smoke a cigarette.
propún khñom, thómmedaa kee ñam sukkelaa rii tik-taɛ.	My wife usually has cocoa or tea.
kót taɛŋ-taɛ coul-cɔt niyiey pii-nih pii-nuh, niw peel yeeŋ kompúŋ ñam baay.	She always likes to talk about this and that while we are eating.
maoŋ prambey cɨt konlah haey, khñom coul tiw khnoŋ bontup tik mɔdooŋ tiet, daembey-niŋ liaŋ day kepul mót.	When it gets close to 8:30 I go into the bathroom again to wash my hands and face.
maoŋ prambey konlah haey, propún khñom yóoʔ kataap haey-niŋ muoʔ aoy khñom.	At 8:30, my wife gets my briefcase and hat for me.
khñom pé⁹ muoʔ, ruoc haey khñom thaep lia propún khñom.	I put on the hat, and then I kiss my wife good-bye.
khñom ceñ pii phtéh, ruoc baek laan tiw thee kaa.	I go out of the house and drive my car to work.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
deek	to lie down, sleep
lúʔ	to fall asleep
phñé	to wake up, get up
liaŋ	to wash (general)
ŋuut, ŋuut tik	to bathe, shower
muc, muc tik	to bathe (immerse)
kepul (kompul) mót	to wipe (the mouth)
lup (lup muk)	to wash (the face)
cuut	to dry
kao	to shave
koʔ, koʔ soʔ	to wash (the hair)
set, set soʔ	to comb (the hair)
doh, doh thmiñ	to brush (the teeth)
slie⁹	to put on lower garments
pé⁹	to put on upper garments
doh	to take off (clothes)
kuh	to light, strike
thaep	to kiss
kree	bed
tok (toʔ)	table
khluon	body
day	hands, arms
ceeŋ	feet, legs
muk	face
mót	mouth
tek (tik)	water
sebuu	soap
konsaɛŋ (kesaɛŋ)	towel
puk mót	beard, mustache
soʔ	hair (on head)
thmiñ	teeth
chekuh (chee-kuh)	match
barey	cigarettes
kataap	briefcase
khao-aaw	clothing
kasaɛt	newspaper
numpaaŋ	bread
kafee	coffee
boboo	soup
póoŋ món	eggs

Grammar Notes

Review of Time Expressions

Time expressions in Khmer are organized by syntactic function:

Noun Expression Introducers (Prepositions): mun (before), kraoy (after), tumróm (as soon as), tedol (until), taŋ pii (since), pii (at past time), niw peel (at the time of), dol (at future time), reviaŋ (while), smɛ̀ap (for the purpose of), púh (because of), ról (each, every), téŋ (all of).

Verb Expression Introducers (Pre-verbal Modifiers): dael, m-dael (ever, never), thlóp (used to, once did), baan, n-baan (got to, didn’t get to), khaan (failed to), mian, khmian (has, has not), teep-m (just now), niw-te, m-tón (still, not yet), kepúŋ (right now is…ing), kepúŋ-te (is about to).

Personal Hygiene Verbs

Cambodian has specific verbs for each hygiene action: liaŋ (wash, general), lup muk (wash the face), ŋuut tik (shower), kao (shave), doh thmiñ (brush teeth), set soʔ (comb hair), koʔ soʔ (wash hair).

Practice Drills

Drill A. Sequence Practice

Cambodian	English
ról prik, khñom phñé⁹ pii keeŋ maoŋ prampil.	Each morning, I get out of bed at 7:00.
khñom lup-liaŋ muk niŋ sebuu.	I wash my face with soap.
khñom doh thmiñ, kao puk mót.	I brush my teeth and shave.
khñom ŋuut tik, koʔ soʔ.	I take a shower and wash my hair.
khñom yóoʔ konsaɛŋ móoʔ cuut khluon.	I take a towel and dry myself off.
khñom set soʔ.	I comb my hair.

Drill B. Time Expressions

Cambodian	English
maoŋ prampil, khñom phñé⁹ pii keeŋ.	At 7:00, I get out of bed.
maoŋ prampil mɔphey, khñom ñam baay prik.	At 7:20, I eat breakfast.
maoŋ prambey, khñom slie⁹ pé⁹.	At 8:00, I get dressed.
maoŋ prambey konlah, khñom ceñ pii phtéh.	At 8:30, I leave the house.
maoŋ prambey saɛsep-pram, khñom dol kelaɛŋ thee kaa.	At 8:45, I arrive at work.