Vocabulary and Negative Statements

This unit practices vocabulary building and negative statements. The teacher asks students questions about whether Khmer and English are easy or hard to learn, introducing negative constructions with /min…tee/. Students learn to form both affirmative and negative responses, practice the word /pibaa?/ (difficult/hard), and drill sentence-level comprehension with directed substitution. The particle /viñ/ (back, instead) is introduced for asking questions back to the teacher.

Basic Dialogue

Cambodian (romanized)	English
əyləw chlaəy somnuo khñom.	Now answer my question.
somnuo əy?	What question?
somnuo dael khñom niŋ suo əyləw. soum sdap: khmae sruol rien tee?	The question that I’m going to ask now. Listen: ‘Is Khmer easy to learn?‘
baat, sruol.	Yes, it’s easy.
thaa khlia téŋ-oh.	Say the whole sentence.
khmae sruol rien.	Khmer is easy to learn.
nέ? bontóp, soum chlaəy khñom: khmae pibaa? rien tee?	Next person, please answer me: Is Khmer hard to learn?
tee, min pibaa? tee.	No, it’s not hard.
l?oo. əyləw suo khñom viñ, khlia dodael.	Good. Now ask me back, the same question.
khmae pibaa? rien tee?	Is Khmer hard to learn?
tee, sruol tee.	No, it’s easy.
nέ? bontóp, suo khñom tae oŋglee sruol rien tee?	Next person, ask me if English is easy to learn.
oŋglee sruol rien tee?	Is English easy to learn?
baat, sruol.	Yes, it’s easy.

Key Vocabulary

Cambodian	English
chlaəy	answer
somnuo	question
dael	which, that (relative)
niŋ	will, going to
suo	ask
sdap	listen
sruol	easy
pibaa?	hard, difficult
khlia	sentence, clause
téŋ-oh	whole, entire
dodael	same
viñ	back, instead, again
l?oo	good
tae	but, only
min…tee	not (negative frame)

Grammar Notes

Negative Statements with /min…tee/

Cambodian negation wraps around the predicate. The negative marker /min/ precedes the verb or adjective, and the particle /tee/ closes the clause:

Affirmative	Negative
khmae sruol rien. (Khmer is easy to learn.)	khmae min sruol rien tee. (Khmer is not easy to learn.)
oŋglee pibaa? rien. (English is hard to learn.)	oŋglee min pibaa? rien tee. (English is not hard to learn.)

Asking Questions Back with /viñ/

The particle /viñ/ means ‘back’ or ‘in return’ and is used when a student is directed to ask the teacher the same question: suo khñom viñ (ask me back).

Directed Responses

The teacher directs which kind of answer to give:

• əyləw chlaəy ‘baat’ — Now answer ‘yes’
• əyləw chlaəy ‘tee, sruol’, somnuo dodael. — Now answer ‘No, easy’ to the same question.

Practice Drills

Drill 1: Affirmative and Negative Pairs

Affirmative	Negative
khmae sruol rien.	khmae min sruol rien tee.
oŋglee pibaa? rien.	oŋglee min pibaa? rien tee.
khñom yúl haəy.	khñom min yúl tee.
khmae sruol sose.	khmae min sruol sose tee.

Drill 2: Response Drill (Respond as Directed)

Prompt	Response
soum baək siew-phiw.	(baək haəy)
khmae sruol rien tee? — chlaəy ‘baat’.	baat, sruol rien.
khmae sruol rien tee? — chlaəy ‘tee’.	tee, min sruol rien tee.
oŋglee pibaa? rien tee? — chlaəy ‘baat’.	baat, pibaa? rien.
oŋglee pibaa? rien tee? — chlaəy ‘tee’.	tee, min pibaa? rien tee.