Vietnamese and Khmer (Cambodian) are both members of the Austro-asiatic family of languages. The ways they construct words for cardinal numbers show some interesting similarities and differences. The smallest numbers I’ll start with zero, and the numbers 1-5 (table 1). VietnameseKhmer0khôngsoon1mộtmuɘy2haipii3babɘy4bốnbuɘn5nămpramTable 1. Zero to 6 in Vietnamese and Khmer. This comparison suggests that both languages…… Continue reading Numbers in Vietnamese and Khmer
Tag: Vietnamese
Words showing their history
Some Japanese words are compounds of a verb and a noun. The noun is typically one that undergoes the action denoted by verb—the object of a transitive verb or the ‘patient’ of an intransitive verb. Japanese components Some of these compounds have native Japanese components elements. In these cases the compound contains the noun followed…… Continue reading Words showing their history