gramma1

I. Personal Pronouns:
A. First Person,
B. Second Person,
C. Third Person
II. Intonation:
A. Statement,
B. Question
C. Question Particle ( Tae) តើ
III. Question and Answer:
A. Question Requesting for Specific in
Formation (Where) ណា and (What) អី
(Informal or Spoken) អ្វី (Formal)
B. Question Requiring Yes (បាទ ) or No (ចាស ) Answer
C. Resposne Particles: Yes បាទ (Man) ចាស (Woman)

I. Personal Pronouns

One of the most difficult problems in Khmer for a foreign student is the choice of appropriate pronouns, because they are context oriented. For example the personal pronoun are determined by the status of the speakers to the addressee. Thus there are no general pronouns such as "you" which are appropriate for all situation. The tables below provide the commonest Khmer personal pronoun and their explanation:

A. First Person

Singular
Khmer	IPA	How to use
ខ្ញុំ	kn)om	It is a polite pronounce, used to address to the elder and same age person. "I"
ខ្ញុំបាទ	kn)om baat	This pronounce is used the same way as "ខ្ញុំ ". "I"
គ្នា	knie	It is a polite word, used to address to the same age person. "I"
អញ	qan)	It is an impolite word, used to address to unrespectable person. Sometime, it can be used with closed friend but it is very sensitive. I would suggest not to use this pronounce. "I"

Example:

Khmer		English
ខ្ញុំទៅសាលារៀន		I go to school
គ្នាដើរទៅផ្សារ សុខចង់ទៅផ្សារជាមួយគ្នា ?		I walk to the market, Do you want to go with me Sok?

Plural
Khmer	IPA	How to use
យើង	yeeN	It is a polite pronounce, used to address with the elder, younger and the same age people. "We"
យើងខ្ញុំ	yeeN kn)om	This pronounce is used the same as pronounce "យើង". "We"
ពួកយើង	pueq yeeN	This pronounce is used the same as pronounce "យើង". "We"
ពួកគ្នា	pueq knie	This pronounce is used the same as pronounce "យើង". "We"

Example:

Khmer		English
យើងចង់រៀនខ្មែរ។		We want to study Khmer.
យើងខ្ញុំជានិសិត្ស		We are students.
ពួកយើងរៀនខ្មែរជាមួយលោកគ្រូសំ		We study Khmer with teacher Sam.

B. Second Person

Singular
Khmer	IPA	How to use
លោក	look	It is a polite masculine pronounce, used to address to the elder, younger or the inferior to the superior in a formal situation. "You" or "Mr."
លោកស្រី	look srey	It is a polite feminine pronounce, used to address to the elder, younger or the inferior to the superior in a formal situation. "You" or "Mrs."
អ្នក	ne(eq	Address to people who is approximately at the same age (You).
ឯង	qaeN	It is an impolite pronounce, used to address to the younger. "You"

Example:

Khmer		English
លោកចង់ពិសារគុយទាវទេ ?		Do you want to eat noodle soup?
លោកស្រីស្នាក់នៅឯណា ?		Where do you stay?
អ្នកឈ្មោះអី ?		What is your name?

Plural
Khmer	IPA	How to use
អស់លោក	qAh look	It is a polite masculine pronounce, used to address to the elder, younger or the inferior to the superior in a formal situation. "You all" or "Mr. all"
អស់អ្នក	qAh ne(eq	It is a pronounce that is used to address to a group of approximately the same age people. "You all"

Example:

Khmer		English
អស់លោកមកពីប្រទេសណា ?		Where are you all from?
អស់អ្នកស្នាក់នៅឯណា ?		Where do you all stay?

C. Third Person

Singular
Khmer	IPA	How to use
វា	wie	It is used to address from the superior to the inferior, adult to child, otherwise insulting, human to animal "It"
គាត់	ko(et	It is a polite unisex pronounce that is used to address respectfully from younger to older, adult to adult. "He or Shel"
គេ	kee	It is used to address to people that we don't know. "He, She, One, or Someone"
នាង		It is a polite feminine pronounce that is used to address respectfully from the elder to the younger. "He or Shel".

Example:

Khmer		English
ក្មេងនេះវាមកពីណា ?		Where is this kid come from?
គាត់រៀនខ្មែរនៅសាលាណា ?		At what school does he or she study Khmer?
គេចង់ទៅណា ?		Where is he or she want to go?
នាងនោះធើ្វការអីនៅស្រុកខ្មែរ ?		What does she do for a living in Cambodia?

Plural
Khmer	IPA	How to use
ពួកវា	pueq wie	It is used to address from the superior to a group inferior, adult to a group of children, or human to a group of animal "They all"
ពួកគាត់	pueq ko(et	It is used to address to a group of the same age people or to a group of older people. "They all"
ពួកគេ	pueq kee	It is used to address to a group of unknown people. "They all"
ពួកនាង	pueq nieN	t is used to address from the older people to a group of young feminine. "They all"

Example:

Khmer		English
ថ្ងៃនេះមានក្មេងច្រើនណាស់មកលេង សួននេះ។ ពួកវាមកពីណា ?		Today, there are many children in this park. where are they all from.
ពួកគាត់រៀនខ្មែរនៅសាលាណា ?		At what school do they study Khmer?
ពួកគេចង់ទៅណា ?		Where do they want to go?
ពួកនាងធើ្វការអីនៅស្រុកខ្មែរ ?		What do they do for a living in Cambodia?

Note:

Cambodian has a much lager number of pronouns than English. In Cambodian pronoun reflect gender, relative age, and social status.

II. Intonation: Statement, Question and Question Particle

A. The Statement

Statements are normally accompanied by a falling contour on the last words of the sentence, for example:

Khmer		English
ខ្ញុំ សុខសប្បាយជាទេ		I am quite well.

Rising contour may also occur at the end of statements. In this case, the statement seems to be obvious, for example:

Khmer		English
ខ្ញុំ សុខសប្បាយជាទេ		I am fine [of course]

B. The Question

Questions are usually accompanied by rising contour on the last words of the sentence. The rising contour question reflects deference, politeness and formality, for example:

Khmer		English
លោកអញ្ជើញទៅណា ?		Where are you going, Sir?

C. The Question Particle ( Tae) តើ

The question particle (តើ) are always occurs at the beginning of an interrogative clause in formal questions. When the question particle (តើ) is used, it signal the fact that a question follows and the rising and falling intonation of question is not necessary.

For example:

Khmer		English
លោកអញ្ជើញទៅណា ?		Where are you going, Sir?
តើលោកអញ្ជើញទៅណា ?		Where are you going, Sir?

III. Questions and Answers:

Questions are formed in three ways in Cambodian, question requesting specific information, question requiring a yes or now answer and the question that occur without question particle or question words.

A. Questions Requesting Specific Information.

Questions requesting specific information require a question words for example: Question words: Where ណា (naa ) , What អី ( qey) or អី្វ (qwey)

Question		Answer
ទៅណាហ្នឹង សុខ ?	Trans	ខ្ញុំទៅណោះ មួយភ្លែត។	Trans
លោកអញ្ជើញទៅណា ?	Trans	ខ្ញុំទៅសាលា។	Trans
លោកមានការអីដែរ ។	Trans	ខ្ញុំចង់ជួបលោក សំណាង។	Trans
អ្នកឈ្មោះអី្វ ?	Trans	ខ្ញុំឈោ្មះ ផល។	Trans

B. Questions Requiring Yes or No Answer:

Question requiring yes- or-no answer require a final question particle ទេ (tee) . The full form of particle (tee) is ឬទេ (rhh tee) .

Question		Answer
លោកសុខសប្បាយ ទេ ? or		បាទ ខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ។
លោកស្រីសុខសប្បាយ ឬទេ ?		ចាស ខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ។

C. Response Particles: Yes បាទ (baat) ចាស (caah)

The function of the response particles បាទ (a respond by men) and ចាស (a respond by women) is a polite acknowledgment of a previous utterance speech by other speakers, whether the previous utterance was a statement or a question. Following a question, the occurrence of a response particle as the sole constituent of the response implied affirmation.

	A negative reply is indecated by a response particle followed by the negative final particle ទេ or by ទេ alone.
	In exchange between equals, response particles tend to be discontinued after the initial exchanges.
	The exchange between a superior and an inferior, response particles tend to be used through the exchange by the inferior, but may be discontinued or not used at all by the superior party in the exchange.
	Response particles usually occur with a falling intonation contour.

Example:

Khmer	Response by women	Response by men
លោកសុខសប្បាយទេ ?	ចាស	បាទ
លោកស្រីទៅរៀនទេ ?	ចាទេ	បាទទេ