Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

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Bubulus
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Bubulus » 2009-06-03, 5:45

My dad and I met a Cambodian immigrant the other day (her first months over here btw). Wow, that was an interesting accent. As if her intonation wasn't enough, she enlongated the last syllable incredibly:

Where are you froooom?

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby rouviirouvoul » 2009-06-12, 3:42

zhiguli wrote:Unfortunately, you're right. And that's not even the start of your troubles.
Japanese is "easier" to read because the kana/kanji break up sentences and clearly mark out the different parts of speech, in Khmer there is practically nothing to tell you where one word ends and another begins.


Khmer orthography is complex and difficult to parse, but once you get use to it you will realize how predictable reading can be. Honestly for the most part word boundaries are easy and predictable. Native Khmer words are either one syllable, or two syllable with stress on the last syllable. Since all root words are one syllable and derivative morphology recognizable, boundaries are clear. However since Khmer absorbed many Sanskrit and Pali loans, you'll have to recognize etymological spelling and utilize different reading conventions.

This youtube channel is no doubt one of the best ways to acquaint yourself to Khmer, so I recommend that anyone interested should check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/user/khmerschool

This blog is pretty awesome too so check it out. It explains the Khmer script in detail and allows for gradual vocabulary acquisition.

http://hannahlearnskhmer.wordpress.com/

I'm a native Khmer speaker, but unfortunately I grew up in a mostly English speaking environment. Since I haven't yet grasped much of the Sanskritised vocabulary, I am only "advanced" as far as my knowledge goes. However I am functionally literate and can converse fluently, so I'm able help those who want to learn Khmer. :yep:
ភាសា​ដើម​/First language : [flag]km[/flag]
ភាសា​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ជាង​គេ/Most used language : [flag]en-US[/flag]
ភាសា​កំពុង​រៀន​/Language I'm learning : [flag]es[/flag]
ភាសា​ចង់​រៀន​/Languages I want to learn : [flag]pt[/flag], [flag]th[/flag]

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Bubulus » 2009-06-12, 3:52

Wow, great to have you here rouviirouvoul! :D

I think the greatest barrier to learn Khmer is the lack of interest in Western society; consequently, materials become scarce. I've always liked the Khmer abugida, as a user from another forum put it, "it feels like royalty", plus the concept that the vowel value of the vowel mark changes by supporting consonant.

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby rouviirouvoul » 2009-06-12, 21:21

Neqitan wrote:Wow, great to have you here rouviirouvoul! :D

I think the greatest barrier to learn Khmer is the lack of interest in Western society; consequently, materials become scarce. I've always liked the Khmer abugida, as a user from another forum put it, "it feels like royalty", plus the concept that the vowel value of the vowel mark changes by supporting consonant.


I agree with you. Interest will always be the greatest contributor to language learning. Fortunately since Cambodia is opening up to the rest of the world, the use of Khmer on computers is rapidly growing and the number of people wanting to learn Khmer is also growing.

As for the Khmer script, it's beauty lies not only in its decorative form, but also in it's complexity. There are various rules to abide by when reading. I will post in my spare time the general rules for reading Khmer for those who want to learn it.
ភាសា​ដើម​/First language : [flag]km[/flag]
ភាសា​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ជាង​គេ/Most used language : [flag]en-US[/flag]
ភាសា​កំពុង​រៀន​/Language I'm learning : [flag]es[/flag]
ភាសា​ចង់​រៀន​/Languages I want to learn : [flag]pt[/flag], [flag]th[/flag]

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Psi-Lord » 2009-06-12, 22:07

rouviirouvoul wrote:As for the Khmer script, it's beauty lies not only in its decorative form, but also in it's complexity. There are various rules to abide by when reading. I will post in my spare time the general rules for reading Khmer for those who want to learn it.

Although I’m not studying Khmer, I regard the script as extremely interesting, so I’ll be definitely looking forward to reading such rules. :)
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby zhiguli » 2009-06-12, 23:33

And let me be the next to welcome you here, rouviirouvoul, សូម​ស្វាគមន៍
Though there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in this language, it's always good to have native speakers around, hope you'll stay with us.

I also have a small blog about Khmer, if you have a few moments, please take a look, I'd be interested to hear your comments/corrections.

rouviirouvoul wrote:Khmer orthography is complex and difficult to parse, but once you get use to it you will realize how predictable reading can be. Honestly for the most part word boundaries are easy and predictable. Native Khmer words are either one syllable, or two syllable with stress on the last syllable. Since all root words are one syllable and derivative morphology recognizable, boundaries are clear. However since Khmer absorbed many Sanskrit and Pali loans, you'll have to recognize etymological spelling and utilize different reading conventions.


True, but you still need to know a fair number of words to do this.

Psi-Lord wrote:
rouviirouvoul wrote:As for the Khmer script, it's beauty lies not only in its decorative form, but also in it's complexity. There are various rules to abide by when reading. I will post in my spare time the general rules for reading Khmer for those who want to learn it.

Although I’m not studying Khmer, I regard the script as extremely interesting, so I’ll be definitely looking forward to reading such rules. :)


This is also a good place to start:

http://pratyeka.org/csw/

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Laoshu505000 » 2009-06-23, 21:40

Thanks. I will be using this for my Cambodian study as well.

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby rouviirouvoul » 2009-06-28, 6:17

zhiguli wrote:And let me be the next to welcome you here, rouviirouvoul, សូម​ស្វាគមន៍
Though there doesn't seem to be a lot of interest in this language, it's always good to have native speakers around, hope you'll stay with us.

I also have a small blog about Khmer, if you have a few moments, please take a look, I'd be interested to hear your comments/corrections.

This is also a good place to start:

http://pratyeka.org/csw/


Thank you, your blog is very informative even for me. I'm always eager to learn more about Khmer. The beginning guide you posted is one of the more helpful guide to Khmer I've used. :D
ភាសា​ដើម​/First language : [flag]km[/flag]
ភាសា​ប្រើ​ប្រាស់​ជាង​គេ/Most used language : [flag]en-US[/flag]
ភាសា​កំពុង​រៀន​/Language I'm learning : [flag]es[/flag]
ភាសា​ចង់​រៀន​/Languages I want to learn : [flag]pt[/flag], [flag]th[/flag]

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Riptide » 2009-09-28, 18:15

It would be nice if someone was able to teach the language on this site. I have been doing a project on the history of Cambodia, and it would be nice to know how to actually pronounce the Khmer words. Yet, being able to read, write, and speak it as well would be even better. I've actually tried using the iPhone apps, yet there are no good ones to fully introduce you to the language (in all aspects).
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Riptide » 2009-12-25, 17:09

Hey, so I'm beginning to teach myself khmer. Does anyone here know it or is learning it? អរគុណ :)
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby unzum » 2010-01-18, 11:49

Hey Riptide, no need to be trying to find an iphone to teach you Khmer, I'm pretty sure no such thing exists, except maybe a few phrasebook apps. But I suppose you could try the World Nomad's iphone app for learning a few phrases.
There's plenty of free courses online to get started learning Khmer, for example FSI Cambodian, Modern Spoken Cambodian (+audio) & SEAsite Khmer.
For learning Khmer script try the comprehensive e-book Cambodian system of writing and this flash guide with audio at iLearnKhmer.
I've got some more links on my site Soyouwanttolearnalanguage.

Good luck!
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Riptide » 2010-01-18, 15:19

Thanks unzum. I've seen many of these sources, but I was starting to lose interest in Khmer. My time has mainly been absorbed mainly by school and my TAC languages, but I think I'll pick up Khmer since I'm already in a good place with most of my languages. And I never needed the iphone apps. In fact, I find them all to be pretty bad. Also, thanks for a link to your site. It's definitely a good reference for me in the future (especially since you have Cebuano on there).
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby ILuvEire » 2012-04-12, 2:01

Two-year-old-bump!

Hi guys, how's it going? My best friend is Cambodian and I've been wanderlusting after Khmer's swirly, spaghetti-like beauty for some time, so I figured why not start now? I've gotten really close to her and her family lately and I'm going to Cambodian new year this weekend to celebrate where I'll have ample opportunity to spit phrases at everyone, so let's go!

I'm working on the script, but it's quite an undertaking. That shit is cray. So damn long! I just want it to be in my head :cry:

There are two textbooks that I'm considering, Colloquial Cambodian and Cambodian for Beginners, which one is better? I'm going to just throw this out there, because I honestly doubt that anyone knows :P
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Meera » 2012-04-18, 19:34

I got a major wanderlust for Khmer yesterday for some unknown reason, and I went through a chapter of Colloquial Cambodian and Im really shcoked at how simple it was, I mean it's not an easy langauge but I thought it would be much more diffcult. Anyway its really interesting! The script doesn't seem that bad to me, it works a lot like Hindi and Bengali lol

Iluverie, I havent tried the Begginers one yet but the Colloquail seems okay, although it looks a bit old. I think Cambodian for Beginners has better reviews on Amazon though.
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby ILuvEire » 2012-04-19, 2:47

Meera wrote:I got a major wanderlust for Khmer yesterday for some unknown reason, and I went through a chapter of Colloquial Cambodian and Im really shcoked at how simple it was, I mean it's not an easy langauge but I thought it would be much more diffcult. Anyway its really interesting! The script doesn't seem that bad to me, it works a lot like Hindi and Bengali lol

Iluverie, I havent tried the Begginers one yet but the Colloquail seems okay, although it looks a bit old. I think Cambodian for Beginners has better reviews on Amazon though.
Yeah, there are just a lot of characters to keep straight. Once you get through that, it's not terribly difficult. And, yeah, I was really surprised myself at how quickly I was able to put together sentences once I got a handful of vocab words!
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Meera » 2012-04-19, 4:05

ILuvEire wrote:
Meera wrote:I got a major wanderlust for Khmer yesterday for some unknown reason, and I went through a chapter of Colloquial Cambodian and Im really shcoked at how simple it was, I mean it's not an easy langauge but I thought it would be much more diffcult. Anyway its really interesting! The script doesn't seem that bad to me, it works a lot like Hindi and Bengali lol

Iluverie, I havent tried the Begginers one yet but the Colloquail seems okay, although it looks a bit old. I think Cambodian for Beginners has better reviews on Amazon though.
Yeah, there are just a lot of characters to keep straight. Once you get through that, it's not terribly difficult. And, yeah, I was really surprised myself at how quickly I was able to put together sentences once I got a handful of vocab words!


Yeah I was expecting it to be much harder! The script is beautiful :D
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby kman1 » 2012-06-28, 22:06

zhiguli wrote:another useless forum for another language nobody cares about, but it will be the last one for awhile (promise!)

sisyphe wrote:Believe it or not, this language is actually useful in Southern California.

It’s useful here in Hawai’i as well.

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Meera » 2012-07-03, 18:22

Its useful here too, there are tons of Cambodians in Philadelphia. I think there is even a whole street thats called the "Cambodian Market" or something, but I honestly never knew until I got interesterd in Khmer.
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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby księżycowy » 2014-02-12, 11:26

I've found a new (to me anyway) textbook series for Khmer. It's put together by Frank Smith, a professor as the U of California. You can read the rest at the site. From what samples there are on the site, it looks quite good. The only thing that sucks is he doesn't print the book anymore, so it is just in PDF format. Still very tempting though.
http://www.studykhmer.com

Before I forget, let me point out these textbooks are script heavy. Thus it teaches the Khmer script and uses that script from then on with no Latin script for the Cambodian.

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Re: Khmer (ភាសាខ្មែរ)

Postby Meera » 2014-04-17, 18:49

I think I am gonna get these books :P
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