Honor Titles as Pronouns

In the Khmer language and nation, people most commonly refer to one another by using a set of personal pronouns to which there is no English equivalent. Each of these personal pronouns relates to the age/status of the speaker in relation to the listener. It is very rare that someone is called by their first name, but much more common to hear someone called by their first name when preceeded by the appropriate personal pronoun. It would be advisable to learn the following list and begin using them as soon as possible. Unlike in some countries a Khmer surnames are NOT to be used as a nickname – this is very inappropriate.

Here are the majority of the Khmer pronouns:

A young child - goan កូន
Someone slightly younger than you - oun/b'oun អូន/ប្អូន
Someone slightly older than you - bong បង
Nephew/niece – kmouy ក្មួយ
A male considerably older than you, but younger than your father - boo ពូ
A female considerably older than you, but younger than your mother - meeng មីង
Someone older than your parents, but younger than your grandparents - om អ៊ំ
A male the same age or older than your grandfather - loak daa លោកតា
A female the same age or older than your grandmother - loak yeeay លោកយាយ

When you wish to refer to yourself, you simply use the opposite term. For example, if you were speaking to someone slightly older than you, you would refer to them as ‘bong’, and you would refer to yourself as ‘oun’. These pronouns do not technically mean ‘I’ or ‘you’, but they can have either of these meanings depending on who is speaking (they can even mean he/she etc.).