Khmer numerals

Khmer numerals are the numerals used in the Khmer language. They have been in use since at least the early 7th century, with the earliest known use being on a stele dated to AD 604 found in Prasat Bayang, Cambodia, near Angkor Borei.[1][2]

The Khmer numerals depicted in four different typographical variants comparing to Arabic numerals (blue).

Numerals

The number 605 in Khmer numerals, from the Sambor inscriptions in 683 AD. The earliest known material use of zero as a decimal figure.[3]

Having been derived from the Hindu numerals, modern Khmer numerals also represent a decimal positional notation system. It is the script with the first extant material evidence of zero as a numerical figure, dating its use back to the seventh century, two centuries before its certain use in India.[1][4] However, Old Khmer, or Angkorian Khmer, also possessed separate symbols for the numbers 10, 20, and 100. Each multiple of 20 or 100 would require an additional stroke over the character, so the number 47 was constructed using the 20 symbol with an additional upper stroke, followed by the symbol for number 7.[5] This inconsistency with its decimal system suggests that spoken Angkorian Khmer used a vigesimal system.

As both Thai and Lao scripts are derived from Old Khmer,[6] their modern forms still bear many resemblances to the latter, demonstrated in the following table:

Value Khmer Thai Lao
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

Modern Khmer numbers

The spoken names of modern Khmer numbers represent a biquinary system, with both base 5 and base 10 in use. For example, 6 (ប្រាំមួយ) is formed from 5 (ប្រាំ) plus 1 (មួយ).

Numbers from 0 to 5

With the exception of the number 0, which stems from Sanskrit, the etymology of the Khmer numbers from 1 to 5 is of proto-Mon–Khmer origin.

Value Khmer Word Form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Other Notes
0សូន្យsounsonysūnysounFrom Sanskrit śūnya
1មួយmuəjmuŏymuaymouyBefore a classifier, /muəj/ is reduced to /mə/ in regular speech.[7]
2ពីរpiː (pɨl)pirbīrpiiAlso /pir/
3បីɓəjbĕibei
4បួនɓuənbuŏnpuanbuon
5ប្រាំpramprămprâṃpram
  • For details of the various alternative romanization systems, see Romanization of Khmer.
  • Some authors may alternatively mark [ɓiː] as the pronunciation for the word two, and either [bəj] or [bei] for the word three.
  • In neighbouring Thailand the number three is thought to bring good luck.[8] However, in Cambodia, taking a picture with three people in it is considered bad luck, as it is believed that the person situated in the middle will die an early death.[9][10]

Numbers from 6 to 20

As mentioned above, the numbers from 6 to 9 may be constructed by adding any number between 1 and 4 to the base number 5 (ប្រាំ), so that 7 is literally constructed as 5 plus 2. Beyond that, Khmer uses a decimal base, so that 14 is constructed as 10 plus 4, rather than 2 times 5 plus 4; and 16 is constructed as 10+5+1.

Colloquially, compound numbers from eleven to nineteen may be formed using the word ដណ្ដប់ [dɔnɗɑp] preceded by any number from one to nine, so that 15 is constructed as ប្រាំដណ្ដប់ [pram dɔnɗɑp], instead of the standard ដប់ប្រាំ [ɗɑp pram].[11]

Value Khmer Word Form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Other Notes
6ប្រាំមួយpram muəjprăm muŏyprâṃ muaypram muoy
7ប្រាំពីរpram piː (pram pɨl)prăm pirprâṃ bīrpram pii
8ប្រាំបីpram ɓəjprăm bĕyprâṃ pīpram bei
9ប្រាំបួនpram ɓuənprăm buŏnprâṃ puanpram buon
10១០ដប់ɗɑpdábṭápdapOld Chinese *di̯əp.[12]
11១១ដប់មួយɗɑp muəjdáb muŏyṭáp muaydap muoyColloquially មួយដណ្ដប់ [muəj dɔnɗɑp].
20២០ម្ភៃmpʰej (məpʰɨj, mpʰɨj)mpheymbhaimpeiContraction of /muəj/ + /pʰej/ (i.e. one + twenty)
  • In constructions from 6 to 9 that use 5 as a base, /pram/ may alternatively be pronounced [pəm]; giving [pəm muːəj], [pəm piː], [pəm ɓəj], and [pəm ɓuːən]. This is especially true in dialects which elide /r/, but not necessarily restricted to them, as the pattern also follows Khmer's minor syllable pattern.

Numbers from 30 to 90

The numbers from thirty to ninety in Khmer bear many resemblances to both the modern Thai and Cantonese numbers. It is likely that Khmer has borrowed them from the Thai language, as the numbers are both non-productive in Khmer (i.e. their use is restricted and cannot be used outside 30 to 90) and bear a near one-to-one phonological correspondence as can be observed in the language comparisons table below.

Informally, a speaker may choose to omit the final [səp] and the number is still understood. For example, it is possible to say [paət muəj] (ប៉ែតមួយ) instead of the full [paət səp muəj] (ប៉ែតសិបមួយ).

Value Khmer Word Form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Other Notes
30៣០សាមសិបsaːm səpsam sĕbsām sipsam sepFrom Thai
40៤០សែសិបsae səpsê sĕbsae sipsae sepFrom Thai
50៥០ហាសិបhaː səpha sĕbhā sipha sepFrom Thai
60៦០ហុកសិបhok səphŏk sĕbhuk siphok sepFrom Thai
70៧០ចិតសិបcət səpchĕt sĕbcit sipchet sepFrom Thai
80៨០ប៉ែតសិបpaet səppêt sĕbp″ait sippaet sepFrom Thai
90៩០កៅសិបkaw səpkau sĕbkau sipkao sepFrom Thai

Language Comparisons:

Value Khmer Thai Archaic Thai Lao Cantonese Teochew Hokkien Mandarin
3 ‒*saːmsamsǎamsãamsaam11sa1 (sam1)sān
4 ‒*sɐesisàisiisei3si3si3 (su3)
5 ‒*haːhangùahàang5ŋou6go2 (ngo2)
6 ‒*hokhoklòkhókluk6lak8lak2 (liok8)liù
7 ‒*cətchetjèdjétcat1tsʰik4chit2
8 ‒*pɐətpaetpàedpàetbaat3poiʔ4pueh4 (pat4)
9 ‒*kawkaojaokâogau2kao2kau4 (kiu2)jiǔ
10 ‒*səpsipjǒngsípsap6tsap8tzhap2 (sip8)shí
  • Words in parenthesis indicate literary pronunciations, while words preceded with an asterisk mark are non-productive (i.e. only occur in specific constructions, but cannot be decomposed to form basic numbers).

Numbers from 100 to 10,000,000

The standard Khmer numbers starting from one hundred are as follows:

Value Khmer Word Form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Other Notes[13]
100១០០មួយរយmuəj rɔːj (rɔːj, mərɔːj)muŏy rôymuay raymuoy royBorrowed from Thai ร้อย roi.
1 000១០០០មួយពាន់muəj poanmuŏy poănmuay bânmuoy poanFrom Thai พัน phan.
10 000១០០០០មួយម៉ឺនmuəj məɨnmuŏy mœŭnmuay muȳnmuoy muenFrom Thai หมื่น muen.
100 000១០០០០០មួយសែនmuəj saenmuŏy sênmuay s″ainmuoy saenFrom Thai แสน saen.
1 000 000១០០០០០០មួយលានmuəj lienmuŏy leănmuay lânmuoy leanFrom Thai ล้าน lan.
10 000 000១០០០០០០០មួយកោដិmuəj kaotmuŏy kaôdĕmuay koṭimuoy kaotFrom Sanskrit and Pali koṭi.

Although [muəj kaot] មួយកោដិ is most commonly used to mean ten million, in some areas this is also colloquially used to refer to one billion (which is more properly [muəj rɔj kaot] មួយរយកោដិ). In order to avoid confusion, sometimes [ɗɑp liːən] ដប់លាន is used to mean ten million, along with [muəj rɔj liːən] មួយរយលាន for one hundred million, and [muəj poan liːən] មួយពាន់លាន ("one thousand million") to mean one billion.[14]

Different Cambodian dialects may also employ different base number constructions to form greater numbers above one thousand. A few of the such can be observed in the following table:

Value Khmer Word Form[14][15] IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Notes
10 000១០០០០ដប់ពាន់ɗɑp poandáb poănṭáp bânLiterally "ten thousand"
100 000១០០០០០ដប់ម៉ឺនɗɑp məɨndáb mœŭnṭáp muȳnLiterally "ten ten-thousand"
100 000១០០០០០មួយរយពាន់muəj rɔj poanmuŏy rôy poănmuay ray bânLiterally "one hundred thousand"
1 000 000១០០០០០០មួយរយម៉ឺនmuəj rɔj məɨnmuŏy rôy mœŭnmuay ray muȳnLiterally "one hundred ten-thousand"
10 000 000១០០០០០០០ដប់លានɗɑp liendáb leănṭáp lânLiterally "ten million"
100 000 000១០០០០០០០០មួយរយលានmuəj rɔj lienmuŏy rôy leănmuay ray lânLiterally "one hundred million"
1 000 000 000១០០០០០០០០០មួយពាន់លានmuəj poan lienmuŏy poăn leănmuay ray bânLiterally "one thousand million"

Counting fruits

Reminiscent of the standard 20-base Angkorian Khmer numbers, the modern Khmer language also possesses separate words used to count fruits, not unlike how English uses words such as a "dozen" for counting items such as eggs.[16]

Value Khmer Word form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Notes
4ដំបdɑmbɑːdâmbâṭaṃpaAlso written ដំបរ (dâmbâr or ṭaṃpar)
40៤០ផ្លូនploːnphlonphlūnFrom (pre-)Angkorian *plon "40"
80៨០ពីរផ្លូនpiː~pɨl ploːnpir phlonbir phlūnLiterally "two forty"
400៤០០ស្លឹកsləkslœ̆kslẏkFrom (pre-)Angkorian *slik "400"

Sanskrit and Pali influence

As a result of prolonged literary influence from both the Sanskrit and Pali languages, Khmer may occasionally use borrowed words for counting. Generally speaking, asides a few exceptions such as the numbers for 0 and 100 for which the Khmer language has no equivalent, they are more often restricted to literary, religious, and historical texts than they are used in day to day conversations. One reason for the decline of these numbers is that a Khmer nationalism movement, which emerged in the 1960s, attempted to remove all words of Sanskrit and Pali origin. The Khmer Rouge also attempted to cleanse the language by removing all words which were considered politically incorrect.[17]

Value Khmer Word form IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Notes
10១០ទសtʊəhtôsdasSanskrit, Pali dasa
12១២ទ្វាទសtvietʊəh
tvieteaʔsaʔ
tvéatôs(â)dvādas(a)Sanskrit, Pali dvādasa
13 or 30១៣ or ៣០ត្រីទសtrəj tʊəhtrei tôstrǐ dasSanskrit, Pali trayodasa
28២៨អស្តាពីសʔahsdaː piː sɑː’asta pi sâqastā bǐ saSanskrit (8, aṣṭá-) (20, vimsati)
100១០០សតsaʔtaʔsâtâsataSanskrit sata

Ordinal numbers

Khmer ordinal numbers are formed by placing the word ទី [tiː] in front of a cardinal number.[18] This is similar to the use of ที่ thi in Thai, and thứ (from Chinese ) in Vietnamese.

Meaning Khmer IPA UNGEGN ALA-LC Other Notes
Firstទីមួយtiː muəjti muŏydī muayti muoy
Secondទីពីរtiː piː~pɨlti pirdī bīrti pii
Thirdទីបីtiː ɓəjti bĕidī pīti bei

Angkorian numbers

It is generally assumed that the Angkorian and pre-Angkorian numbers also represented a dual base (quinquavigesimal) system, with both base 5 and base 20 in use. Unlike modern Khmer, the decimal system was highly limited, with both the numbers for ten and one hundred being borrowed from the Chinese and Sanskrit languages respectively. Angkorian Khmer also used Sanskrit numbers for recording dates, sometimes mixing them with Khmer originals, a practice which has persisted until the last century.[19]

The numbers for twenty, forty, and four hundred may be followed by multiplying numbers, with additional digits added on at the end, so that 27 is constructed as twenty-one-seven, or 20×1+7.

Value Khmer Orthography[5] Notes
1mvay
2vyar
3pi
4pvan
5pram(7 : pramvyar or pramvyal)
10១០tapOld Chinese *di̯əp.[12]
20២០bhai
40៤០plon
80៨០bhai pvanLiterally "four twenty"
100១០០çataSanskrit (100, sata).
400៤០០slik

Proto-Khmer numbers

Proto-Khmer is the hypothetical ancestor of the modern Khmer language bearing various reflexes of the proposed proto-Mon–Khmer language. By comparing both modern Khmer and Angkorian Khmer numbers to those of other Eastern Mon–Khmer (or Khmero-Vietic) languages such as Pearic, Proto-Viet–Muong, Katuic, and Bahnaric; it is possible to establish the following reconstructions for Proto-Khmer.[20]

Numbers from 5 to 10

Contrary to later forms of the Khmer numbers, Proto-Khmer possessed a single decimal number system. The numbers from one to five correspond to both the modern Khmer language and the proposed Mon–Khmer language, while the numbers from six to nine do not possess any modern remnants, with the number ten *kraaj (or *kraay) corresponding to the modern number for one hundred. It is likely that the initial *k, found in the numbers from six to ten, is a prefix.[20]

Value Khmer Reconstruction[21][22] Notes
5*pram
6*krɔɔŋ
7*knuul
8*ktiiSame root as the word hand, *tii.
9*ksaar
10១០*kraajCorresponds to present-day /rɔj/ (one hundred).

References

General
  1. David Smyth (1995). Colloquial Cambodian: A Complete Language Course. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-415-10006-2.
  2. Huffman, Franklin E.; Charan Promchan; Chhom-Rak Thong Lambert (2008). "Huffman, Modern Spoken Cambodian". Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  3. Unknown (2005). Khmer Phrase Book: Everyday Phrases Mini-Dictionary.
  4. Smyth, David; Tran Kien (1998). Practical Cambodian Dictionary (2 ed.). Tuttle Language Library/Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-1954-8.
  5. Southeast Asia. Lonely Planet. 2006. ISBN 1-74104-632-7.
  6. preahvihear (2008). "The original names for the Khmer tens: 30–90". Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  7. "SEAlang Library Khmer Lexicography". Retrieved 2008-12-07.
  8. "Veda:Sanskrit Numbers". Retrieved 2008-12-10.
Specific
  1. Eugene Smith, David; Louis Charles Karpinski (2004). The Hindu–Arabic Numerals. Courier Dover Publications. p. 39. ISBN 0-486-43913-5.
  2. Kumar Sharan, Mahesh (2003). Studies In Sanskrit Inscriptions Of Ancient Cambodia. Abhinav Publications. p. 293. ISBN 81-7017-006-0.
  3. Diller, Anthony (1996). "New Zeros and Old Khmer" (PDF). Australian National University. pp. 1–3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-20. Retrieved 2009-01-11.
  4. Diller, Anthony (1996). New zeroes and Old Khmer (PDF). Australian National University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-20.
  5. Jacob, Judith M.; David Smyth. Cambodian Linguistics, Literature and History. Rootledge & University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. pp. 28–37. ISBN 0-7286-0218-0.
  6. "Khmer/Cambodian alphabet". Omniglot. 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  7. Ehrman, Madeline E.; Kem Sos (1972). Contemporary Cambodian: Grammatical Sketch (PDF). Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 18.
  8. Asian Superstitions (PDF). ADB Magazine. June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
  9. "Khmer superstition". 2008-03-01. Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  10. "Info on Cambodia". 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
  11. Huffman, Franklin E. (1992). Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader. SEAP Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-87727-520-3.
  12. Gorgoniev, Yu A. (1961). Khmer language. p. 72.
  13. Jacob (1993). Notes on the numerals and numeral coefficients in Old, Middle, and Modern Khmer (PDF). p. 28.
  14. "Khmer Numeral System". 2005-06-19. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  15. "Spoken Khmer Number". 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  16. Thomas, David D. (1971). Chrau Grammar (Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications). No.7. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 236.
  17. "Khmer: Introduction". National Virtual Translation Center. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  18. "Khmer Cardinal Number". 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
  19. Jacob, Judith M. "Mon–Khmer Studies VI: Sanskrit Loanwords in Pre-Angkorian Khmer" (PDF). School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Retrieved 2008-12-10.
  20. Gvozdanović, Jadranka (1999). Numeral Types and Changes Worldwide. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 263–265. ISBN 3-11-016113-3.
  21. Jenner, Phillip N. (1976). Les noms de nombre en Khmer [The names of numbers in Khmer] (in French). 14. Mouton Publishers. p. 48. doi:10.1515/ling.1976.14.174.39. ISSN 1613-396X.
  22. Fisiak, Jacek (1997). Linguistic Reconstruction. Walter de Gruyter. p. 275. ISBN 3-11-014905-2.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.