A new dictionary of khmer pronunciation(final)

A New Dictionary of Khmer

Pronunciation

Royal University of Phnom Penh

M.A of Linguistics

Chem Vatho

Standard Khmer and Phnom Penh Dialect

• Standard Khmer can be more or less assimilated to the Phnom Penh dialect.

• The Phnom Penh population can’t be seen as stable as people who are living in Phnom Penh Nowadays are, for most of them, coming from the countryside.

• Khuon, Sokhumpu , 1970.

• A system of Khmer Phonetics.

• A section of Linguistics approach at the faculty of Human science of Royal University of Phnom Penh.

Vowels

Diphthongs

Central Vowels

• Khuon Sokhampu uses the following symbols *ɘ+*ɜ+*ɸ+*œ+ to transcribe Khmer central vowels

• These symbols are in fact Front labialized French vowels that are different from the Khmer central vowels *ɨ+ *ɘ+ *ɜ]

• This simply amounts to say that Khuon Sokhampu had a vision of Khmer Phonetics that was strongly influence by the description of French language

Henderson, E.J.A. 1952. “The Main Features of Cambodian Pronunciation”.

BSOAS, Vol. XIV: Part 1: 151-174.

Vowels

• Huffman, F.E. 1967. An Outline of Cambodian Grammar . Cornell University, PhD.

• Huffman, F.E. 1970-a. Modern Spoken Cambodian. Cornell University, Southeast Asia Program.

• Huffman, F.E. 1970-b. Cambodian Writing System and Beginning Reader. New haven, Yale University Press.

Frankline Huffman

• Frankline Huffman did not use International Phonetics Alphabets(IPA) but a mixture of IPA and Traditional American Phonetics Transcription.

• Another interesting point is Huffman’s treatment of velar consonants [k] and *ŋ+: his transcription relies more on the script than on the real pronunciation as he doesn’t consider their palatalization after the front vowels and open diphthongs.

Consonants

Labial Dental Palatal Velar Glottal

Plosive p b t d c k ʔ

Nasal m n ɲ ŋ

Trill r

Fricative s h

Approximant β j

Lateral

Approximant l

Vowels Front Mid Back

i(i) ɨ (ɨ ) u (u) Close

eː e ɘːɘ oː o Close mid

ɛː ɛ ɜ ɔː ɔ Open mid

aː a ɑː ɑ Open

Aperture oppositions

• /iː/ ~ /eː/: ទ place ទេ negative word /tiː/ ~ /teː/

• /eː/ ~ /ɛː/: ទេឃ sky មេក branch /meːc/ ~ /mɛːc/

• /ɛː/ ~ /aː/: មែេ edge កាេ desire /kɛːm/ ~ /kaːm/

• /ɨː/ ~ /ɘː/: ឈ sick ទឈើ wood /chɨː/ ~ /chɘː/

• /uː/ ~ /oː/: ែ pair ទោ cow /kuː/ ~ /koː/

• /oː/ ~ /ɔː/: ទោ cow ែ deaf /koː/ ~ /kɔː/

• /ɔː/ ~ /ɒː/: ែ dumb ក neck /kɔː/ ~ /kɒː/

• /e/ ~ /ɛ/: ទែច to escape កចច task /kec/ ~ /kɛc/

• /ɛ/ ~ /a/: ទចញ to leave ចាញ to lose /cɛɲ/ ~ /caɲ/

• /ɘ/ ~ /ɜ/: ជត near ចតត mind /cɘt/ ~ /cɜt/

• /o/ ~ /ɔ/: េក to put ត table /tok/ ~ /tɔk/

• /ɔ/ ~ /ɒ/: កដ Monastery កត to note /kɔt/ ~ /kɒt/

Long Diphthongs Front Mid Back

i ɨ u Close

e ɘ o Close Mid

ɛ ɜ ɔ Open mid

a ɑ Open

Long Diphthongs

1. /iɜ/: ទា /tiɜ/ duck

2. /ɨɜ/: ទ ឿន /lɨɜn/ to be fast

3. /uɜ/: ែរ /kuɜ/ to be polite

4. /aɛ/: មត /taɛ/ but / tea

5. /aɜ/: ទ ើ /baɜ/ If

6. /aɔ/: ទោ /taɔ/ Lion

7. /oa/: ោត /koat/ He/him

8. /ɛe/: ទករ /kɛe/ heritage

9. /oʊ/: ដរ /doʊ/ Change

10. /ɜɘ/: េន /mɜɘn/ A number (10,000 )

Short Diphthongs

front mid back

i ɨ u close

e ɘ o close mid

ɛ ɜ ɔ open mid

a ɑ open

Short Diphthongs

• ពាកយ /piɜʔ/ word

• ពក /puɜʔ/ them

• ពាក; /pɛaʔ/ to wear / to put on

The 3 types of consonant clusters in Standard Khmer

• The first type of consonant clusters in Standard Khmer

C1+ C2 = C1C2

C1= p t c k + C2= r h or C1 = s + C2 = p t k m n ɲ ŋ β l r

• The second type of consonant clusters in Standard Khmer Cʰ1 + C2 = Cʰ1C2

C1 = p t c k + C2 = p t c k m n ɲ β j s

• The third type of consonant clusters in Standard Khmer

Cɘ1 + C2 = Cɘ

1C2

Cɘ1= m l +C2=………… Cɘ

1 = …… + C2= b d ʔ

Three types of consonant clusters

• C1 + C2 = C1C2

Ex. សមា ន [smaːn] to estimate

• C ʰ1 + C2 = Cʰ1C2

Ex. ថា [tʰaː+ to say

• C ɘ1 + C2 = Cɘ1C2

Ex. ត [pɘdaj] Husband

A breathy voice register

Examples from the dictionary

• kéRm kamrai

/kɑmraj/ [kɒmrai] [kɘmrai]

[kɘmeaj]

• kmøa kamlü

/kɑmlaː/ [kɒmlaː] [kɘmlaː]

• kmøac kamlüc

/ kɑmlaːc/ [kɒmlaːc] [kɘmlaːc]

• kemøac kamloc

/ kɑmlaɔc/ [kɒmlaɔc] [kɘmlaɔc] [kɘlaɔc]

• kemøA kamlau

/ kɑmlaβ/

[kɒmlaɨ] [kɘmlaɨ]

• kmøaMg kamlüê¨

/kɑmlaŋ/

[kɒmlaŋ] [kɘmlaŋ] [kɘlaŋ]

• kmSt; kamsat’

/ kɑmsɑt/

[kɒmsɑt] [kɘmsɑt] [kɘsɑt]

• kmSanþ kamsünt

• / kɑmsaːn/

• [kɑmsaːn] [kɘmsaːn]

• [kɘsaːn]

Thank you for your attention

Q&A