Cambodian Language - Khmer Phonetics

Phonetics

Chapter: Phonetics

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Phonetic Symbol	Sound Description	Example A	English Translation	Example B	English Translation
a	'a' in calm or ha-ha or the a in Spanish mas	kat	to cut	sa-ich	meat
â	'a' in calm but lengthened	tâm	to follow	slâp	wing
a-ee	'i' in bite	da-ee	hand	th*a-ee	Thai
â-ee	'i' in bite	bâ-ee	cooked rice	m'dâ-ee	mother
a-e	'a' in ha-ha followed by the e in get	ta-e	only	da-e	also
a-uh	'a' in ha-ha followed by the a in sofa	ta-uh	question word	ha-uhy	already
a-o	'a' in ha-ha followed by the aw in law	a-oy	to give	ma-ong	hour
a-oo	'ow' in how	m'sa-oo	flour	kra-oo	outside
aw	'aw' in law	dawp	ten	sawk	hair
âw	'aw' in law but lengthened	l'âw	good	tâwp	answer
ay	'a' in may but shorter (occurs before uh: see ay-uh)	no example	no example	no example	no example
ây	'ay' in may	kây	they	mâyk	sky
ay-uh	'ay' in may followed by the a in sofa	nay-uhk	person	tay-uhng	all
b	'b' in bit, but stronger	bân	to get	buht	to close
ch	'ch' in chin but without aspiration	cham	to wait	choo-uhy	to help
chh*	'ch' in chin	chh*at	umbrella	chh*'ngâ-ee	far
d	'd' in din, but stronger	dam	to cook (rice)	da-oy	by
e	'e' in get	cheH	to know how to do	seH	horse
ê	'e' in get, but longer	pêng	cup	krê	bed
f	'f' in foot	foang	herd	fil	film
ee	'ee' in see	pee	from	perkmee	license
ee-uh	'ee' in see, followed by the a in sofa	ree-uhn	to study	lee-uh	to say goodbye
eu	'u' in put but with the lips spread as for the sound of i in pin	keut	to think	preuk	morning
eû	'u' in put but with the lips spread as for the sound of i in pin and is lengthened	chh*eû	sick	leû	to hear
eu-uh	'u' in put but with the lips spread as for the sound of i in pin, followed by the a in sofa	reu-uhng	story	leu-uhn	fast
g	'g' in get or go	geetâ	guitar	guh-raH lân	garage
h	'h' in hat	hawH	to fly	hee-uhn	to dare
H	'h' in hat but is fully pronounced at the end of a word	cheH	to know how to do	guh-raH lân	garage
i	'i' in bit	aprik	Africa	niH	this
k	'k' in skate	kat	to cut	koa	cow
kh*	'k' in Kate or coat	kh*a-e	month	kh*âng	sub-district
l	'l' in lose or lute	lâyk	number	pul	poisoned
m	'm' in moon or room	moo-uhl	to twist	mo-at	mouth
n	'n' in no or sun	neung	and	bân	to get
ny	'ny' in canyon	nyûh	sweat	nyam	to eat
ng	'ng' in song	ngee-ây	easy	ngongeut	dark
o	'o' in note	chong	end	bon	festival
oa	'oa' in boat or ow in bowl	koan	child	toaH	guilt, blame
o-a	'o' in note quickly followed by the a in la	mo-an	chicken	ko-at	he/she
oo	'oo' in boot	yoo	late	ph*oom	village
oo-uh	'oo' in boot followed by the a in sofa	soo-uh	to ask	doo-uhl	fall over
p	'p' in spin	pum	not	pâyl	time
ph*	'p' in pin	ph*lee-uhng	rain	ph*ee-uhsâ	language
r	'r' in very	ree-uhn	to study	ruy	a fly
s	's' in sit	soam	please	see	to eat
t	't' in stun	took	boat	tâm	to follow
th*	't' in ton	th*om	big	th*vûh	to do/work
u	'u' in put	muk	face	chum-ree-uhp	to inform, greet
u-uh	'u' in put but very short followed quickly by the a in sofa	pu-uhH	stomach; snake	chru-uhk	pickled vegetables
uh	'a' in sofa	kuhn	to grind	duhng	to know
ûh	'a' in sofa but lengthened	lûh	on	kh*ûh-in	to see
uh-ee	'a' in sofa followed quickly by the ee in see	buh-ee	three	kh*luh-ee	short
uh-oo	'a' in sofa quickly followed by a sound close to the oo in boot	tuh-oo	go	nuh-oo	to be located at
v	' v ' in vote but is more like the w in we when following a consonant	vee-uhl	field	uh-vuhee	what
y	'y' in yes	yum	to cry	yoo	late
z	'z' in zoo	boozee	spark plug	no example	no example

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