Ever since I first came to Cambodia I have been trying to learn the Cambodian (Khmai) language. There are many people living in the city here who get by more or less okay without much more than the basics but I am desperate to learn more and more so that I can communicate better and understand more of what’s going on around me. I am finding that it opens up a whole new world to life in Cambodia plus the people absolutely love it when you speak their language back to them! They’ll always smile and sometimes even fall over laughing…really.
There’s no easy way to learn a new language and I haven’t just stuck to one way of learning. I’ve had a tutor; I have lived in community where most people don’t speak English; I have listened a lot in the hope that I’ll pick up a new word or two but now I am enrolled at the Institute of Foreign Languages at the University in Phnom Penh. So every day except Friday I battle with the crazy morning rush to get to class by 7:30 am. It isn’t that close to my house so each day takes somewhere between 30 and 40 minutes, most of which I am battling road rage, dodging cars and motos (and police!) but it’s worth it when I leave my 2 hour lesson with a greater understanding and appreciation of the Khmai language.
The Khmer consonants. Each consonant also has a subscript and there's a bunch of vowels - the sound of each vowel changes depending on which consonant they're with
The highlight this week was my teacher – Mr Phos – explanation of how and when to use consonants and their subscripts in a word – I have never understood the usage of a subscript (or a leg as they are often called) you can see the ‘leg’ or each consonant in the picture below. Mr Phos’s analogy – The core consonants have inherent vowels and are split into two series (aw/ow), also set apart by red/black colour – the first (aw) represents the woman and the second (ow) represents the man. If a first series consonant (woman) is joined by a second series consonant (man) then it automatically comes under the first series consonant – practicing the art of ‘submission’ – the man submits to the woman. Well I loved this and it’s helped me to understand all these unusual rules.
Agape 