Khmer numerals
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/4_fonts_of_Khmer_Numbers.png/244px-4_fonts_of_Khmer_Numbers.png)
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, near Angkor Borei, Cambodia.[1][2]
Numerals[]
Numeral systems |
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Hindu–Arabic numeral system |
East Asian |
American |
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Alphabetic |
Former |
Positional systems by base |
Non-standard positional numeral systems |
List of numeral systems |
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fc/Khmer_Numerals_-_605_from_the_Sambor_inscriptions.jpg/180px-Khmer_Numerals_-_605_from_the_Sambor_inscriptions.jpg)
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] Old Khmer, or Angkorian Khmer, also possessed separate symbols for the numbers 10, 20, and 100.[5]
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 | ០ | ๐ | ໐ |
1 | ១ | ๑ | ໑ |
2 | ២ | ๒ | ໒ |
3 | ៣ | ๓ | ໓ |
4 | ៤ | ๔ | ໔ |
5 | ៥ | ๕ | ໕ |
6 | ៦ | ๖ | ໖ |
7 | ៧ | ๗ | ໗ |
8 | ៨ | ๘ | ໘ |
9 | ៩ | ๙ | ໙ |
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 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | ០ | សូន្យ | soun | sony | sūny | From Sanskrit śūnya |
1 | ១ | មួយ | muəj | muŏy | muay | Before a classifier, /muəj/ is reduced to /mə/ in regular speech.[7] |
2 | ២ | ពីរ | piː (pɨl) | pir | bīr | Also /pir/ |
3 | ៣ | បី | ɓəj | bĕi | pī | |
4 | ៤ | បួន | ɓuən | buŏn | puan | |
5 | ៥ | ប្រាំ | pram | brăm | prâṃ |
- 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[]
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 | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
6 | ៦ | ប្រាំមួយ | prammuəj | brămmuŏy | prâṃmuay | |
7 | ៧ | ប្រាំពីរ | prampiː (prampɨl) | brămpir | prâṃbīr | |
8 | ៨ | ប្រាំបី | pramɓəj | brămbĕi | prâṃpī | |
9 | ៩ | ប្រាំបួន | pramɓuən | brămbuŏn | prâṃpuan | |
10 | ១០ | ដប់ | ɗɑp | dáb | ṭáp | Old Chinese *di̯əp.[12] |
11 | ១១ | ដប់មួយ | ɗɑpmuəj | dábmuŏy | ṭápmuay | Colloquially មួយដណ្ដប់ [muəjdɔnɗɑp]. |
20 | ២០ | ម្ភៃ | mpʰej (məpʰɨj, mpʰɨj) | mphey | mbhai | Contraction 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 modern Khmer numbers from 30 to 90 are as follows:
Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Other | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
30 | ៣០ | សាមសិប | saːm səp | samsĕb | sāmsip | samsep | From Thai สามสิบ sam sip |
40 | ៤០ | សែសិប | saesəp | sêsĕb | saesip | saesep | From Thai สี่สิบ si sip |
50 | ៥០ | ហាសិប | haːsəp | hasĕb | hāsip | hasep | From Thai ห้าสิบ hasip |
60 | ៦០ | ហុកសិប | hok səp | hŏksĕb | huksip | hoksep | From Thai หกสิบ hoksip |
70 | ៧០ | ចិតសិប | cətsəp | chĕtsĕb | citsip | chetsep | From Thai เจ็ดสิบ chetsip |
80 | ៨០ | ប៉ែតសិប | paet səp | pêtsĕb | p″aitsip | paetsep | From Thai แปดสิบ paetsip |
90 | ៩០ | កៅសិប | kaw səp | kausĕb | kausip | kaosep | From Thai เก้าสิบ kaosip |
- The word សិប [səp], which appears in each of these numbers, can be dropped in informal or colloquial speech. For example, the number 81 can be expressed as ប៉ែតមួយ [paət muəj] instead of the full ប៉ែតសិបមួយ [paət səp muəj].
Historically speaking, Khmer borrowed the numbers from 30 to 90 from a southern Middle Chinese variety by way of a neighboring Tai language, most likely Thai.[5] This is evidenced by the fact that the numbers in Khmer most closely resemble those of Thai, as well as the fact that the numbers cannot be deconstructed in Khmer. For instance, សែ *saːm is not used on its own to mean "three" in Khmer and សិប [səp] is not used on its own to mean "ten", while they are in Thai (see Thai numerals). The table below shows how the words in Khmer compare to other nearby Tai and Sinitic languages.
Value | Khmer | Southwestern Tai | Northern Tai | Sinitic | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Thai | Archaic Thai | Lao | S. Zhuang[13] | Nanning[14] | Cantonese | Teochew | Hokkien | Mandarin | ||
3 ‒ | *saːm | sam | sǎam | sãam | ɬaːm1 | ɬam41 | saam1 | sã1 | sa1 (sam1) | sān |
4 ‒ | *sɐe | si | sài | sii | ɬi5 | ɬi55 | sei3 | si3 | si3 (su3) | sì |
5 ‒ | *haː | ha | ngùa | hàa | ha3 | ŋ̩13 | ng5 | ŋou6 | go2 (ngo2) | wǔ |
6 ‒ | *hok | hok | lòk | hók | huk7 | løk24 | luk6 | lak8 | lak2 (liok8) | liù |
7 ‒ | *cət | chet | jèd | jét | tɕit7 | tsʰɐt33 | cat1 | tsʰik4 | chit2 | qī |
8 ‒ | *pɐət | paet | pàed | pàet | pet7 | pat33 | baat3 | poiʔ4 | pueh4 (pat4) | bā |
9 ‒ | *kaw | kao | jao | kâo | kau3 | kou33 | gau2 | kao2 | kau4 (kiu2) | jiǔ |
10 ‒ | *səp | sip | jǒng | síp | ɬip7 | ɕɐp22 | sap6 | tsap8 | tzhap2 (sip8) | shí |
- Words in parenthesis indicate literary pronunciations, while words preceded by an asterisk only occur in specific constructions and are not used for basic numbers from 3 to 10.
Prior to using a decimal system and adopting these words, Khmer used a base 20 system, so that numbers greater than 20 were formed by multiplying or adding on to the cardinal number for twenty. Under this system, 30 would've been constructed as (20 × 1) + 10 "twenty-one ten" and 80 was constructed as 4 × 20 "four twenties / four scores". See the section Angkorian numbers for details.
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[15] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
100 | ១០០ | មួយរយ | muəj rɔːj (rɔːj, mərɔːj) | muŏy rôy | muay ray | muoy roy | From Thai ร้อย roi. |
1 000 | ១០០០ | មួយពាន់ | muəj poan | muŏy poăn | muay bân | muoy poan | From Thai พัน phan. |
10 000 | ១០០០០ | មួយម៉ឺន | muəj məɨn | muŏy mœŭn | muay muȳn | muoy muen | From Thai หมื่น muen. |
100 000 | ១០០០០០ | មួយសែន | muəj saen | muŏy sên | muay s″ain | muoy saen | From Thai แสน saen. |
1 000 000 | ១០០០០០០ | មួយលាន | muəj lien | muŏy leăn | muay lân | muoy lean | From Thai ล้าน lan. |
10 000 000 | ១០០០០០០០ | មួយកោដិ | muəj kaot | muŏy kaôdĕ | muay koṭi | muoy kaot | From Sanskrit and Pali koṭi. |
Although មួយកោដិ [muəj kaot] 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 មួយរយកោដិ) [muəj rɔj kaot]. In order to avoid confusion, sometimes ដប់លាន [ɗɑp liːən] is used to mean ten million, along with មួយរយលាន [muəj rɔj liːən] for one hundred million, and មួយពាន់លាន [muəj poan liːən] ("one thousand million") to mean one billion.[16]
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[16][17] | IPA | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 000 | ១០០០០ | ដប់ពាន់ | ɗɑp poan | dáb poăn | ṭáp bân | Literally "ten thousand" |
100 000 | ១០០០០០ | ដប់ម៉ឺន | ɗɑp məɨn | dáb mœŭn | ṭáp muȳn | Literally "ten ten-thousand" |
100 000 | ១០០០០០ | មួយរយពាន់ | mu��j rɔj poan | muŏy rôy poăn | muay ray bân | Literally "one hundred thousand" |
1 000 000 | ១០០០០០០ | មួយរយម៉ឺន | muəj rɔj məɨn | muŏy rôy mœŭn | muay ray muȳn | Literally "one hundred ten-thousand" |
10 000 000 | ១០០០០០០០ | ដប់លាន | ɗɑp lien | dáb leăn | ṭáp lân | Literally "ten million" |
100 000 000 | ១០០០០០០០០ | មួយរយលាន | muəj rɔj lien | muŏy rôy leăn | muay ray lân | Literally "one hundred million" |
1 000 000 000 | ១០០០០០០០០០ | មួយពាន់លាន | muəj poan lien | muŏy poăn leăn | muay ray bân | Literally "one thousand million" |
Counting fruits[]
Reminiscent of the standard base 20 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.[18]
Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
4 | ៤ | ដំប | dɑmbɑː | dâmbâ | ṭaṃpa | Also written ដំបរ (dâmbâr or ṭaṃpar) |
40 | ៤០ | ផ្លូន | ploːn | phlon | phlūn | From (pre-)Angkorian *plon "40" |
80 | ៨០ | ពីរផ្លូន | piː~pɨl ploːn | pir phlon | bir phlūn | Literally "two forty" |
400 | ៤០០ | ស្លឹក | slək | slœ̆k | slẏk | From (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.[19]
Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
10 | ១០ | ទស | tʊəh | tôs | das | Sanskrit, Pali dasa |
12 | ១២ | ទ្វាទស | tvietʊəh tvieteaʔsaʔ |
tvéatôs(â) | dvādas(a) | Sanskrit, Pali dvādasa |
13 or 30 | ១៣ or ៣០ | ត្រីទស | trəj tʊəh | trei tôs | trǐ das | Sanskrit, Pali trayodasa |
28 | ២៨ | អស្តាពីស | ʔahsdaː piː sɑː | ’asta pi sâ | qastā bǐ sa | Sanskrit (8, aṣṭá-) (20, vimsati) |
100 | ១០០ | សត | saʔtaʔ | sâtâ | sata | Sanskrit sata |
Ordinal numbers[]
Khmer ordinal numbers are formed by placing the word ទី [tiː] in front of a cardinal number.[20][5] This is similar to the use of ที่ thi in Thai, and thứ (from Chinese 第) in Vietnamese.
Meaning | Khmer | IPA | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Other | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
First | ទីមួយ | tiː muəj | ti muŏy | dī muay | ti muoy | |
Second | ទីពីរ | tiː piː~pɨl | ti pir | dī bīr | ti pii | |
Third | ទីបី | tiː ɓəj | ti bĕi | dī pī | ti 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.[21]
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 |
---|---|---|---|
1 | ១ | mvay | |
2 | ២ | vyar | |
3 | ៣ | pi | |
4 | ៤ | pvan | |
5 | ៥ | pram | (7 : pramvyar or pramvyal) |
10 | ១០ | tap | Old Chinese *di̯əp.[12] |
20 | ២០ | bhai | |
40 | ៤០ | plon | |
80 | ៨០ | bhai pvan | Literally "four twenty" |
100 | ១០០ | çata | Sanskrit (100, sata). |
400 | ៤០០ | slik |
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.[22]
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.[22]
Value | Khmer | Reconstruction[23][24] | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
5 | ៥ | *pram | |
6 | ៦ | *krɔɔŋ | |
7 | ៧ | *knuul | |
8 | ៨ | *ktii | Same root as the word hand, *tii. |
9 | ៩ | *ksaar | |
10 | ១០ | *kraaj | Corresponds to present-day /rɔj/ (one hundred). |
References[]
- General
- David Smyth (1995). Colloquial Cambodian: A Complete Language Course. Routledge (UK). ISBN 0-415-10006-2.
- 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.
- Unknown (2005). Khmer Phrase Book: Everyday Phrases Mini-Dictionary.
- Smyth, David; Tran Kien (1998). Practical Cambodian Dictionary (2 ed.). Tuttle Language Library/Charles E. Tuttle Company. ISBN 0-8048-1954-8.
- Southeast Asia. Lonely Planet. 2006. ISBN 1-74104-632-7.
- preahvihear (2008). "The original names for the Khmer tens: 30–90". Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- "SEAlang Library Khmer Lexicography". Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- "Veda:Sanskrit Numbers". Retrieved 2008-12-10.
- Specific
- ^ Jump up to: a b Eugene Smith, David; Louis Charles Karpinski (2004). The Hindu–Arabic Numerals. Courier Dover Publications. p. 39. ISBN 0-486-43913-5.
- ^ Kumar Sharan, Mahesh (2003). Studies In Sanskrit Inscriptions Of Ancient Cambodia. Abhinav Publications. p. 293. ISBN 81-7017-006-0.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Diller, Anthony (1996). New zeroes and Old Khmer (PDF). Australian National University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-02-20.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c d e Jacob, Judith M.; Smyth, David. Cambodian Linguistics, Literature and History (PDF). Rootledge & University of London School of Oriental and African Studies. pp. 28–37. ISBN 0-7286-0218-0.
- ^ "Khmer/Cambodian alphabet". Omniglot. 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- ^ Ehrman, Madeline E.; Kem Sos (1972). Contemporary Cambodian: Grammatical Sketch (PDF). Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office. p. 18.
- ^ Asian Superstitions (PDF). ADB Magazine. June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2009-01-07.
- ^ "Khmer superstition". 2008-03-01. Archived from the original on 2009-08-04. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ "Info on Cambodia". 2006. Retrieved 2009-01-05.
- ^ Huffman, Franklin E. (1992). Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader. SEAP Publications. pp. 58–59. ISBN 0-87727-520-3.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Gorgoniev, Yu A. (1961). Khmer language. p. 72.
- ^ "Zuojiang Zhuang /South Zhuang". Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ "Nanning Pinghua". Retrieved 2021-03-08.
- ^ Jacob (1993). Notes on the numerals and numeral coefficients in Old, Middle, and Modern Khmer (PDF). p. 28.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Khmer Numeral System". 2005-06-19. Archived from the original on 2009-08-03. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- ^ "Spoken Khmer Number". 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
- ^ Thomas, David D. (1971). Chrau Grammar (Oceanic Linguistics Special Publications). No.7. University of Hawai'i Press. p. 236.
- ^ "Khmer: Introduction". National Virtual Translation Center. 2007. Archived from the original on 2008-07-31. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- ^ "Khmer Cardinal Number". 2003. Retrieved 2008-12-18.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Gvozdanović, Jadranka (1999). Numeral Types and Changes Worldwide. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 263–265. ISBN 3-11-016113-3.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Fisiak, Jacek (1997). Linguistic Reconstruction. Walter de Gruyter. p. 275. ISBN 3-11-014905-2.
- Khmer language
- Numerals