Country Name:
English: Cambodia
Local Name:
កម្ពុជា
Full Local: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា
Translation: Kingdom of Cambodia
Local Name:
កម្ពុជា
Full Local: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា
Translation: Kingdom of Cambodia
Translated Words and Phrases:
hello:
ជំរាបសួរ
chomreabsuor
goodbye:
លា
lea
mother:
លា
lea
how are you:
អ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ
anak sokhasabbay te
thank you:
អរគុណ
arkoun
ជំរាបសួរ
chomreabsuor
goodbye:
លា
lea
mother:
លា
lea
how are you:
អ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ
anak sokhasabbay te
thank you:
អរគុណ
arkoun
Languages Response:
There are two main languages in Cambodia, Khmer and French. Khmer is the official language of Cambodia. Khmer is member of the Austro-Asiatic family. The Austro-Asiatic family is concentrated in South East Asia in countries like Vietnam, Cambodia, and Thailand. Khmer belongs to the Mon-Khmer branch which contains Mon and Khmer. The language is the dominant language within the branch and one of the dominant languages within the language family. There are many dialects in Cambodia. The recognized dialects of Cambodia are Western Khmer, Northen Khmer, Standard Khmer (the language standardized in schools and government), Southern Khmer, Phnom Penh Khmer, and Khmer Khe. Each of these dialects are very distinct. The second language, French, belongs to the Indo- European language family. French is a member of the Romantic language branch and is one of the common languages in the Indo-European family. Strangely, the most common foreign language in Cambodia is French. This is because of French Imperialism in the 19th and 20th centuries. The French colonized Vietnam and Thailand and moved south into Cambodia. Once here, they established rule and led to the standardization of French in education and government. After World War II, French became the sole official language in Cambodia. French is now in a decline due to the English being the Lingua Franca and Khmer's establishment as the official language.