Khmer.

I just realized how long it has been since I have written a blog; almost simultaneously, I realized that I have a pretty good story to tell about the Khmer language.

When we were in Phnom Penh for the longest week of training and city life I have ever had (I think that I must be a country gal at heart), I met up with a few people who were touring about the country in a local guesthouse lounge. There were a selection of Israelis, one of which taught me a few useful words in Hebrew (Hebrew!) and a couple of Austrian girls, all of whom were speaking English in various accents and abilities, a very interesting experience here. Now, in this particular guesthouse, the managers have found out through a few visits that I am decent in Khmer and have decided that I am interesting because of that fact (It is a guesthouse mainly for backpackers, and I very few Khmer speakers find their way through, with the exception of the local PCVs).

So I was here, sitting in the lounge, chatting with the other foreigners and telling them about some local flavors and places to go, when one particular manager (His name is Allah, though some American guy decided he looked more like a Spencer, so he began to call himself that) began to talk about me to the other men in the room. I heard him, turned around, and began talking to the men in Khmer, a feat which has gotten easier through each bit of practice. I can talk about the basics of my life (name, family, age, organization, etc) with ease. It’s only when things get more complicated (politics, Americana, and any number of random subjects) that I begin to have trouble. I also have difficulty when it comes to unusual vocabulary or accents and when it comes to people with few teeth. So… yesterday, when I was in a taxi going home and it had been discovered that I speak Khmer (surely, as one woman said!), and the two-toothed, one-legged man in the back began to talk about Obama and his dark skin and American influence, I was a little bit lost.

Either way, I have gone from, “She listens not enough,” to, “she speaks Khmer surely,” so life is good. And as I spoke to the men in the guesthouse, and then explained to the foreigners what I had said, they pointed out to me how silly Khmer really is. I confess I do find it a bit strange, this language I’ve learned, and after the German-English and Hebrew (Hebrew!)- English speakers pointed out more, well, I thought I could share a few eccentricities of the language.

1. There are no verb tenses. There is one word for eat, for sleep, for walk, run, sit, stand, go… you name it. I can put a word in front of the verb to signify past, present, or future, but generally, they just live in the moment and use whatever verb needs used for that exact time and place.

2. There are no plurals. I can’t put an ‘s’ on the end of a words to make it known that there is more than one of that thing. I fact, I would just say the same thing twice. There is more than one girl… She she is going to the market. There is more than one student… He he is studying. There is more than one cat… It it is hungry. There is quite a nice ring to that, though, at times.

3. From above… the word for ‘he’ and the word for ‘she,’ though not the word for ‘it’ (see the next point) are the same word.

4. There are a number of words that change depending on who you are in the culture. It is a society of levels, so kids and animals, teens/adults, grandparents or old folk, monks, and the king all have different versions of say ‘eat,’ or ‘sleep.’ The monks and I do not eat the same. The king sleeps different than everyone. The animals die differently than people, and so on and so forth.

5. I almost never hear anyone use names. The most common thing I hear is the word ‘bong,’ literally – older someone. Or, for kids, you say ‘own,’ or younger someone. Or, for any woman with gray hair you say, ‘yiey,’ or grandma, whether or not they have grandchildren or not. This practice does get dicey sometimes, though. Since people call each other by these few simple words (you can also include aunt and uncle into this equation), usually replacing the subject of the sentence with said words, I am surprised that there is not more confusion. Take this scenario, which I have seen happen more than once in front of me… The old women, most of whom are homemakers and run the house and its finances, are the people who usually take part in any kind of funeral or wedding or Buddhist ceremony as a large group. The young people don’t have the patience to sit through a long and hot Buddhist chant, but somehow the grandmothers all manage as a group to enjoy the long time in their white blouses and kroma scarves wrapped around their body like the pageant princesses wear their sashes. Now imagine a room full of old women, some of them with their heads shaved in the Buddhist style, all of them tan and worn from long years in the tropical heat and through decades of a difficult life. They are all sitting and chatting together, waiting for the monks to appear and bless whatever needs blessed that day.

And they all call each other… ‘yiey.’ With 30-some women, all of them answering to the word ‘yiey’ from their own families and friends, all of them calling each other the same, all of them knowing precisely which yiey is being called to by any other yiey at any given time. Names are irrelevant, forgotten through years of being ‘mom’ and years more of being the mom of a mom. It is incredible…

But on with Khmer…

6. The language, generally, is very simple. There are no articles, no plurals, not a lot of distinctions for particular people, and not a remarkable amount of rules. So I find myself speaking very simply in this language. Here are some examples, translated as best as I can into English phrases…

“Doe na?” Go (question)? Where are you going?
“Nyam Bai howie no?” Eat rice already not? Have you eaten yet?
“Kang no ai na?” Bike where (question)? Where is my bicycle?
“Mok bi na?” From (question)? Where are you from?/
Where’ve you been?/ What country are you from?
“Ay-u pun man chnam?” Age how many year? How old are you?
“Knyom ay-u mapei chnam.”I age 20 year. I’m 20 years old.
“Me-an tourisap awt?” Have phone no? Do you have a phone?
“Sa-at na!” Pretty a lot! Cute, handsome, pretty,
gorgeous, or lovely.

Needless to say, Khmer is an interesting language that I enjoy immensely… and it is getting easier, enough that when I say I have only been here for 6 months or so, most people look at me in complete shock wondering how on earth I have learned this much this fast. And then, somehow, the conversation (usually) turns into a conversation about how I’ve learned (I live with Khmer people, I need to know the language), (Yes, I study the language), (No, I do not want a Khmer husband so that I can learn more)…