Khmer consonants are known 'ahsah tuov'. Consonants are divided into two voices. One of the voices is called akhosak, also know as small voice or first series. For the audio reference the small voice series are depicted in blue color. The other voice is call 'khosak' or large voice or 2nd series which is depicted in the audio reference in green color. Khmer vowels are known as srak. When we refer to srak, it is understood that its the dependent vowels which means that their sound values are dependent on the consonants voice or series. There are 23 vowels in Khmer alphabet. Each vowels has a dissonance (2 sound values) depending on the consonant voices. The multimedia reference breaks the sound into the two respective sounds. The blue color vowels take the sound of first series consonant (ahkhosak). The green color vowels that goes with the second series consontants (khosak) in Khmer. Independend vowels are as the name specified vowels that are independent of the consonants--the sound of the vowels does not depend on whether the consonant is soka or ahsoka. One indpendend vowel «ឥ» has three different sound. click on the letters for audio.

thump!

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Hello Nyaya,

Thank you for this thread.

The audio reference is simply brilliant.

IMO, this thread and the subsequent ones should be grouped under one permanent (stickied?) thread, e.g.. “learn Khmer language”.

Eventually, Mirage may find the advanced modules useful since he can no longer go to Khmer-language school, due to lack of enrolments.

One of the two leading French-language Khmer sites has such an umbrella but only provides links to Khmer-language week-end schools.

http://www.lesjeuneskhmers.com/home/index.php?option=com_content&task=category&sectionid=4&id=37&Item id=65

hey hey!.. soo-whoop! thanks Nyaya.. now i could make my time here more useful. hmmm where should i start?

i so love this.. i had to post twice.. soo-whoop!

btw, there is no sound for the last Khosak, viz. Oay (like Khmer verb "to give")

This is great... aw kun chruan ban post oy yeurng.  The next ultimate 'cool' thing would be a post showing how each letter is written - I mean starting where and how we finish the character off - like in school (I only finished up to second grade).

Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Take A Look At Him Vividly, You Lookin At Your Own Worst Enemy

Last Christmas, this picture was one of the many pictures in the Xmas card that I made. Now I found it on http://ratanaca.net. This site has a link to http://khmerwitica.com and many other khmer sites.

Now I can find everything I've been looking for. I learned Khmer alphabet when I was an intern in Rockville, MD. I went to Buddhist Temple every weekend and the monks were very eager to help. Does ratanaca mean any thing or just a name?

Thanks to Soch for sending me the link to this thread.

I'm supposed to learn Khmer so I teach the kid.  But I don't want to.  His daddy can teach him.

Very nicely done nyaya.

Hello Vandy,

I hope you would not mind that I am taking the liberty to answer this question.  My very first post at KW was in a thread started by nyaya.  Since nyaya’s page is locked, I could not tell the gender until now.  The meaning of the name is quite meaningful.  Here goes:

·         ratana is jewel, gem, or precious stone

·         ca is likely the resident state

Since most Khmer parents in Cambodia are Buddhists, this name is not any regular jewel or gem; it represents the truncated version of (Sanskrit) Tri-Ratana = (Pali) Ti-Ratana = Three Jewels or Triple Gem that represents the Buddha, the Dhamma, and the Sangha.  I think Khmerlish should sound like (Prah) Ratanak Trei; anyone, please do not hesitate to correct me if I am incorrect.

There might be many reasons that nyaya has not answer this question (i.e. very busy, etc.); however, my wild guess is that it is rather difficult for a man to explain his beautiful and meaningful name to anyone.  I am sorry brother nyaya for picking on you here, but I know you will tolerate my mischief  .  You can either reprimand me publicly or privately via a message.

Brother nyaya,

Thank you very much for posting this thread and other ones related to our culture; I already forgot the sounds of the last block of special characters.

By the way, how is your study of Sanskrit?  I hope it has been going well; I have been neglecting Pali for a few months now.  Regarding my very first post, I think Sanskrit>Pali in Khmer language.  I hope you are cool with my silliness in this post.

Regards, 

Sati

Hey Sati, thanks for the explanation.  I try to explain what I think it means earlier too but somehow, my message got erased... lol

I have a question... why when we write Khmer, we use jerng of the consonant instead of the entire kloun of the letter...

is there a golden rule to stick by when writing letters and using jerng of letters?

Thank you lok krou for your upcoming answers.

Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Take A Look At Him Vividly, You Lookin At Your Own Worst Enemy

it represents a consonant blend. you don't just use a jerng you use it in conjunction with another consonant. a blend would be like tr, sh, ch, st, etc. in english.

im half asleep, so i'm not sure if i answered your question, or understood it for that matter

Yes!  That's what I thought but didn't know... the hard part is to determine which blend deserves a jerng.  Thanks for the reply!

Mirror Mirror On The Wall, Take A Look At Him Vividly, You Lookin At Your Own Worst Enemy