CONFERENCE ON

Language Development, Language Revitalization and Multilingual

Education in Minority Communities in Asia

Language development in post-conflict Cambodia: 1993-2003

DrThel Thong
Royal Academy of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

I. Introduction
The language development of Cambodia has not progressed as smoothly as it should due
to decades of civil unrest. Khmer language study is still in its stage of recovery during
these ten years of post-conflict after it was revitalized in the 80s. The languages of
minority speaking communities have suffered the same fate due to war and neglect. This
article looks into the development of some of the languages of the minority speaking
communities in the northeastern region of Cambodia.

II. Agencies responsible for language development

As background information various language policies of Cambodian governments of
different political persuasions are presented here to trace the history of Khmer language
policy. Drastic changes of power, and non-systematic changes forced upon the
Cambodian traditional society in Cambodia are reflected well in the fate of Khmer and
minority languages of Cambodia.

Prior to the conflict

The earliest record of the French authority on minority language policy in Indochina was
a decree issue by the French Governor of Indochina on 2nd December 1935 approving a
common romanized script and writing system for languages spoken by ethnic minorities
in Vietnam's Highlands, Laos and Cambodia (Le Khac Cuong, 1996, p. 747). Eight years
later, in 1943, the Royal Government of Cambodia and the French authority embarked on
the romanisation of Khmer language. According to the opinion of the Minister of
Education of that time, it seemed that the romanisation of Khmer was a great success. But
in fact a large proportion of Khmers in the countryside, religious leaders, and members of
the Khmer Nationalist Movement were against this policy. Romanisation of Khmer and
the introduction of the Gregorian calendar were the two most hurtful reforms which
affected most of Cambodians. The aspiration for independence from France and the wish
to rally the local people to support its cause led the pro-Japanese government of
Cambodia to abrogate these two reforms in July 1945.
During the first ten years of independence from France, the French system of education
still prevailed in Cambodia, and there was no education reform until 1963 when the royal
government of Cambodia set up the first agency responsible for Khmer language
development and policy for secondary education known as the Institute of Khmerisation,
Vidyasthan Khemarayanakam. This institute was in operation up to April 1975 when the
Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia. Its task was to prepare textbooks for all subjects
studied in secondary schools. There was no mention of any language policy for the
Khmer minorities in Northeastern region. In October 1964, the government launched a
massive literacy campaign for adults throughout Cambodia. Everybody had to learn to
speak, read and write Khmer language including the minority ethnic groups and migrants
who had permanent resident status in Cambodia.

During the conflict of the 1970s and 1980s.

The government of Long Nol from 1970 to April 1975 did not have any new language
policy for Cambodia. The government was mainly pre-occupied with the war and the
Institute of Khmerisation continued its work as usual with minimum resources. The Pol
Pot communist government did not set up any language agency to replace the institute
during its rule over Cambodia from 1975 to 1978. The government policy was to institute
a radical change of Khmer language as well as the languages of those minority groups to
reinforce its grip and ruthless control over the population. The language policy of Pol Pot
reflected the so-called classless government policy; and it created problems and
confusion because it was forced on the people. Everybody had to speak Khmer, the
language of Pol Pot's revolution, irrespective of ethnic background. Cambodian people
were alienated within their own society, and they could be punished to death for using the
wrong language terminology because their real identity had been revealed. The
government of Heng Samrin 1979 to 1991 inherited these problems without qualified
teachers and adequate educational infrastructures of the past.

HI. Development of Khmer and minority languages in post-conflict Cambodia

The first move in Khmer language development and policy was started in March 1996
when the royal government of Cambodia has established a National Higher Education
Task Force with financial assistance from the World Bank to consider the following eight
important terms of reference to revive the Khmer language to suit the need of the
development of Cambodia. They are:
1. Linguistic standards for the use of Khmer language as a medium of instruction
2. Identification of the technical requirements for the establishment of a National
Language Institute
3. The identification of priority study and research programmes of the proposed
National Language Institute
4. The identification of the components to be integrated into a proposed national
policy on the use of Khmer, and more specifically in higher education
5. The development of recommendations for the standardization of computer
software for the Khmer language
6. The analysis of data on the current use of Khmer as medium of instruction in
higher education
7. The identification of potential scientific and literary material for publication and
translation
8. The preparation of recommendations for the use of foreign languages in higher
education

Again up to 1996, there was no mention about the policy of the minority languages in
these eight points of recommendation. The royal government was pre-occupied with the
Khmer language for tertiary education. To sum up as well as to present a general picture
of the Khmer language in 1996, it is worthwhile to quote an analogy as stated in the
introduction of the final mission report of the National Higher Education Task Force
which stated that: "the Khmer language development at the moment is comparable to the
growth of cocoons and clusters of cocoons which produced different quality of silk. The
language planners' task will be to refine those silk products and make them marketable
and palatable for the language community" (Thong, 1996, p. 1).

Agency responsible for language development in post-conflict Cambodia

The term of reference number 2 of the above list is specific to the creation of the National
Language Institute of Cambodia (NLIC). The recommendation of the Task Force
included the following aspects 1) nature of the institute, academic authority, status; 2)
legal aspects; 3) plan of actions; 4) objectives; and 5) dissemination. The National
Language Institute of Cambodia was officially set up in 1998. The first move of the
institute towards the minority languages was the preparation to undertake a language
survey of those minority languages. Other agencies which are concerned for the
development of minority languages are the Department of Non-formal Education (NFE),
and non-government organizations, especially, the International Cooperation Cambodia
(ICC) and CARE Cambodia. These two non-government organizations have played an
important role in the development of Tampuan, Krung, Brao, Kavet, and Bunong from
1997 up to the present time.

IV. Development of minority languages of the northeastern region

Minority languages of Cambodia have never been considered as useful or equal to
Khmer, the national language, by the government in the past. There has been a shift of
language policy by the royal government since 1997 in respect to minority language
speakers. The government policy implemented by the Department of Non-formal
Education in these recent years has been based on social, linguistic, cultural and political
rights of these speakers by ways of engaging them to preserve their language and culture
through a bilingual mother tongue literacy programme for Tampuan, Krung, Brao, Kavet
and Bunong. The government objectives are to uphold the rights of those speakers and to
be on friendly terms with them as well as to win their heart because this region was one
of the strongholds of the Pol Pot regime. There are two NGOs, the ICC and CARE which
are in operation in the provinces of Ratanakiri and Mondol Kin. They are working
closely with the department of NFE and the provincial authority of those provinces on
bilingual education efforts.

The ICC and the Bilingual Literacy Programme in Ratankiri for school-aged
children and adults
The literacy campaign was for a period of three years. It was a kind of a feasibility
project using Khmer and minority mother tongues as medium languages of instruction. It
was started by a language survey to find out the needs of those minority speech
communities of that area in 1997. The programme was inspired by the government policy
of 'Education for All and All for Education' for young and adult speakers of those
communities. Training of local teachers and other necessary logistics were put in place,
but the hardest part was the transcription of those languages using Khmer scripts and
Khmer writing system. Books, reading materials, and supporting teaching tools were
produced by native speakers, local Khmer teaching staff and foreign experts working in
the field. The recipients of the programme are school-aged children as well as adults of
minority speech communities. Children are included because in those outback areas there
are no public schools

CARE Cambodia and the community primary schools in Ratankiri

CARE Cambodia is the second important partner with MoEYS in conjunction with NFE
Department in the area of primary education for disadvantaged minority school children.
Six community schools for grade 1 to grade 3 are set up in six villages in remote areas
accessible only by means of traditional transport. It is a part of the Highland Children
Education Project (HCEP).

School management and its curriculum

The philosophy behind this project is the bridging between the two cultures for the
benefit of educational needs of marginalized ethnic minority children. HCEP has five
interdependent components assuring the achievement of its goals. They are:
1. Building a team of ethnic minority resource people to support the establishment
and operations of community schools,
2. Support for community governance and management of schools,
3. Production of culturally appropriate curriculum materials in language,
mathematics and socio-cultural studies, adapted from the MoEYS curriculum, in
two minority languages, Krung and Tampuan,
4. Establishment of a stable teaching force of 21 community teachers, increasing in
competence during the project, and
5. Linkages with the provincial and national systems of the MoEYS (CARE, HCEP,
2003, p. 2).
Other important elements of HCEP are a) bringing the schools to the community locality,
b) full support and participation with contribution of parents, c) self-management and
ownership through village school councils. Bridging the two cultures through mother
tongue maintenance and Khmer means developing the whole child and their parents as
well as the whole community within their natural environment and cultural settings. It
reflects well the UNESCO policy on Early Education of the Child through its Mother
Tongue.

Minority language policy advocated by the royal government

In its regular annual meetings from 2000 to 2003 to evaluate various education and
language programmes, and projects through ICC, CARE and other interested agencies,
the government has encouraged and facilitated the use of Khmer scripts, the national
language of Cambodia, to transcribe the languages of those ethnic minorities. It reflects
the government commitment to preserve the languages and culture of the Khmer minority
speech communities and uphold their language rights and human rights. It fits well with
the accommodation theory (Tollefson, 1991, pp. 69-70) and that of social structural
approach (Tollefson, 1991, pp. 202-203) of language planning and policy in the field of
socio-linguistics.

Implementation for equal opportunity, and participation

This language policy provides the opportunity to marginalized masses of uneducated and
poor people to have the opportunity to be literate in their mother tongue and to attend
schools to acquire skills they need for job and political power. It is also the first time, in
the history of Cambodia, that the lowland and highland minority speech communities
could read and listen in their own languages to political agenda and political policies of
various political party campaigns in the general and national election in July 2003. Parent
participation and support is higher compared to public schools in general. Uniformity in
the implementation of language policy in the classrooms has been observed throughout
the adult literacy classes and in community schools throughout the areas. Illustration of
such activities is shown in the diagramme.

Bilingual Model for Adults and Children

Community Schools for Literacy community classes for school-aged children
children (CARE) and adults (ICC)
Languages and % of time Languages and % of time commitment
commitment Up to 2003 Reform effective from
2004
Year mother Khmer Year Mother Khmer Year Mother Khmer
tongue tongue tongue
1 80% 20% 1 80% 20% 1 90% 10%
2 60% 40% 2 50% 50% 50% 50%
3 40% 60% 3 20% 80% 2 10% 90%
4 20% 80%

Benefit of uniform script and writing system

For a long term interest of both, majority and minority languages, benefits are quite
obvious in using a uniform script and writing system. The goals are to:
1. Enhance language learning in Khmer and minority speech communities,
2. Enhance the transferring of skills in speaking, reading, and writing between both
languages,
a. character recognition can enhance reading and writing in bi-lingual
programme
b. word recognition can enhance pronunciation and meaning
c. code switching at all levels of linguistic aspects between languages
d. acceptance of loanwords in the modern field of knowledge
3. Enhance the semantic transfer between languages due to inter-borrowing terms,
4. Enhance a better communication and maintain good relationship between
different speech communities,
5. Enhance and sustain a long term friendship for a peaceful co-existence based on
mutual respect and understanding, and
6. Foster active participation in political, social, cultural, and economic life of the
minority speech communities.

Linguistic problems in using Khmer to transcribe those languages

An evaluation meeting was organized with participation of all parties concerned held at
the provincial city of Ratanakiri to reflect on programmes implemented during the past
three years. The meeting studied and re-evaluated language materials and language
support teaching tools. They came up with adjustments to the writing symbols and
systems that have been used in the past (see appendix of those additional consonant
sounds for Krung, Brao and Kavet). In this exercise, I limit myself to the minority speech
of Tampuan which is simple and familiar to me. The other four language varieties,
Krung, Brao, Kavet and Bunong have more complex phonological and morphological
features compared to Khmer.

Linguistic aspects of Tampuan: consonants and vowels

It is necessary to remind readers and experts in the field of minority languages that the
vowel charts presented in Khmer language do not necessary reflect the true sense of
vowels as it should be in linguistic field. It includes a number of monosyllables which are
traditionally consider as Khmer vowels. As a result there are more vowels than expected.
As a result of historical processes, Khmer writing system now uses two consonant
symbols for each IPA symbol; and a single vowel symbol for two IPA symbols. Khmer
vowel and consonant charts should be taken to mean writing symbols rather than to
represent an accurate IPA as such. What I have to do is to broadly transcribe them and
keep them as faithfully as possible to the original sources in Khmer. I adopt the IPA of
Tampuan consonants and vowels presented by J. D. Crowley (1999).

Tampuan consonants, consonant clusters, and corresponding Khmer scripts

Tampuan Khmer scripts Tampuan words Transcription Meaning
phonemes
(IPA)
k fi fnthn) kaman wife

3 Iff! B khlaom to blow

kh khs:j to be accustomed
W tUJOJ

0 to - o ttii rja:r work

c 0 mfi ca:k to walk
Q] QJi fia: what
n ?snu life, age
n) H1Q]
i
?d ti tJiru ?da:l shallow
n flfl-g (n-n) tfuru nob. that, there
t fi tmi taor ear
ti 5 .
ths? small
th thun season
fl as
P u - n mtu pa:j to cook rice
?b o - o utOfi ?bD?be:t a little
d tiio pha:m blood
ph phe: uncooked rice
fi (fi
m H - H tHlffl maon 3rd person plural

Based on J.D. Crowley's consonant and vowel chart

 j OJ - ttJ tuo jo:c wrong
r I - I nun rsrait to tremble, shiver
1 ej - ru2 8jtJ bQ from
w ? -- t Us wac abdomen
<? w two gaim bird
h tn - t/l tui hai to watch
H H1H ?a:m sweet
T3 ?e: 3rd person singular
fl Iff
hn |fl Hnjtrj: ?iihnah fingernail
hi 10 HP hla: leaf

hm
m Httrji ?mhmao
?mhmo:j
rock, stone
guest
UI Ht/JttJ
hn |fl Hstgi ?nhnam medicine

hr
p myJi kshrsi red
rattan
tLtn hre:
Of
HI HJB ?jou? to be afraid
*
?j ?ju:t to wipe
31 HJR
»
8 8 ?lo? to know
?1 ?lo:rj wood
S P
?w 9 |9 ?wai to reside
They are consonants and consonant clusters in Tampuan with corresponding Khmer
scripts

Tampuan vowels and corresponding Khmer scripts

Tampuan Khmer Tampuan words Transcription Meaning
(IPA) scripts
o:4 H on co:k cup

0 niu k3l head

H cow
iii to hit
trok
tflfi
0 an tpk monkey
H

2 /!/ for 9) - nj /I - ]/ in Khmer can be treated as t and t H t\n with a dot underneath.
3 Glottal stop is marked in this paper by the ? symbol
4 The two dots indicate : the lengthening of vowel sounds
o: U8 mo:n nephew
g

a: fflfl bark white

HI
• •
a 1 HI H^nie ?Qkan woman
war rat
/u
o «> oimo patam five
a 1 HI
A e» shrub
£
H HJ« ?JHt
peh to pound rice
u:
«a«J a. •) o «• kleh to be exhausted
£
- H S-
A e»
i n: pih snake
H
d ol 4H

si U msi old sibling

H
i:
£*

H
Ctf
I? pri: forest

9
«=• <=• on csk to hold in hand
H
f {fiU krtp mouth
H
ai en
9t Bfi t9tt slow
H
e* e*
t: H mtu kamlf: morning

0 8|b lOQ water well, ditch

i Hi ?lo? to know
9
u n^tu rakul knee
i J?i
ou H fl« koum to wait
V * mouh nose
£
u:
»
&a 9 pu: 3rd person plural

U9 H 8
jr
kU9Q gong
3J U
at ct
ag i tH tu ?ba9 not yet
at ct
9: t IH tuti khairj thing

t9 IHJ8 mtan name mtsn

i-] IH]
13
»-3«il ts]n tiak

ke:rj
water

clever
e: t 1H fftfi

e: * «>_ Wife sake: P»g

1 If?
e: j «»*-. **
t If? HP krs: bed

ai V
1 IH
V
tot? cai? to put

ao H IHI imi taor ear

klao husband
tin
Khmer vowel symbols and the corresponding IPA
Khmer vowel IPA Tampuan Transcription Meaning
symbols
Inherent vowel D ROt kol head
D: Ofi co:k cup
H fl
o: L8tJ troorj road
s
D fifi k?? pot

1 HI a: cnn paak white

1 ' HI a mi ?dar sun, day

j
1 a mmfi katar to call
o. e*
H e f\JtU kytl nibble
e> 0
H £ «M pen full
eh
H i ne pin we, us
<=J eJ •i
ff i: 9 tj: have
Ql

H 0i RfU tai seed

«=» C9

H 3 ]fi wet toss

Ctf
H t |RU krip every
cs en
H 9t fiR tatt slow
e» o «•
H f: mru kamlt: morning

0 fi to? hot
i Hi
 , If u L«i
msjj
cru?
talouh
deep
overtakr
. 9 ou
u: pu: they
5 9

oi
n
a
el
U9 nu; PM*y follow

I IH SL9 tH ?aa to call

IHi 3: tlm da:l also, too

'-] t9
-] phta so that

fa pial to hunt
•-3 KJJOI
ta «a tta (81)5 duck

1 tH e: tnb Ke:0 clever

•> •>-. id ce: don't
I Ifl e:
•> «»-. •* Hefje " ?ntre: pestle
I tfl E:
V V
t IH ai 13 khai moon

l-l Uf) ao tm tao there-

t-1 tfll tw tnt ptw hold a child

o o o

-i Hi om q com kiss
0 0 o

- H om R kom to fast
o o
1 HI am LR1 kram to sink
0 O 0 J

1 HI am RJ1H kjam near

o
0
tjo
rto ah moj kacah rust
O 13
H; ah fiS tah to curse
ea o.
S HS £ n: ksh already
Cx
o
o
0 0
fno
f°
J

eh R:
A 0
teh give birth
» &
o tj o
a rt o
1 ih S; cih to ride

t-i: IHI: oh tyn: kroh dried

5 The distinction between these two words has to be established, although the young generation, especially
city-dwellers, have a tendency to overlook them.

10
 wn: J oh UK kph dispose of
oi <=*

t-s IH: a9h ifis lash perch

0
0
ff 0
d~j 0 ouh fHfiS takouh fight
2/ i/
, . .— .

Khmer scripts in this table contain vowel symbols as well as syllables. Cambodian
traditional grammar considers all of them as vowel symbols, and they are represented by
42 symbols which are used to transcribe the tampuan vowels. These three consonant and
vowel charts will assist teaching staff and adult learners to work out themselves the
vowel quality of Tampuan and Khmer. It is advantageous for Khmer instructors and
Tampuans alike to distinguish between phonemes and scripts of these two languages. IPA
charts, vowel and consonant charts are for linguists, experts in the field of languages, but
not for people without linguistic background. Cambodians and Tampuans alike are
accustomed to work out through the scripts, therefore, such charts which are based on
signs and symbols are helpful for them in their teaching career.

The adoption of Khmer writing system and its related problems

The Khmer writing system has been officially approved to transcribe the minority
speeches, Tampuan, Krung, Brao, Kavet, and Bunong at the general meeting of all
interested and concerned parties in March 2003. MoEYS approval of the official used of
Khmer to transcribe those languages was in August, 30th 2003. Khmer writing system
involves on the two vowel and consonant registers as has been explained in Henderson,
1952. As a starting point, the Khmer writing system has to adjust itself to the existing
speech patterns of those languages, for example, avoiding the syllable structures which
are based on sound registers. Khmer writing system has to use the existing diacritic
symbols as a means to avoid influences on consonants and vowels from its positions in
syllabic structures6.

Linguistic problems in transcription of minority languages

My discussion is based on a MoYS paper entitled Official Approval by MoEYS on using
Khmer orthography to write ethnic minority languages in Cambodia, dated 26 March
2003. There are problems for Krung, Brao and Kavet in relation to two voiced consonant
sounds /j/ and /d/ which are represented by two pairs of Khmer scripts 0 d for /j7 and fl
3 for /d/. It is the question of symbols or scripts representing the sound rather than the
sounds themselves. Native speakers, members of the committee, wish to see these four
scripts having common or uniform diacritics as in the first pair of the same list, namely
using the symbol ^ called /chnal/ (=spur) to be incorporated in those two pairs of scripts
(see appendix: chart of additional consonants, items no.3 to 6). Foreign linguists, expert
in the field, explained that the choice of these four Khmer scripts 0 QU and U m is
based on the following three reasons. Firstly, they are part of the existing Khmer scripts;

6 Example in consonsnt cluster CC, the first C belonging to /a:/ series changes the second C belonging to

ly.l series into an /a:/ one. e.g. the Khmer clusters [fi g [G fl d

11
secondly, they have not been used yet; and lastly for technical reason. It does not require
any extra modifications which may cause problems for Khmer font development in the
future. Dr Iv Chan representing the National Language Institute of Cambodia explained
to the meeting that he would raise the matter with NEF department and MoEYS when he
returned to Phnom Penh7.

Problems with Krung, Brao and Kavet in relation to alteration of consonant scripts
From the beginning, they used eleven consonant scripts for voiced consonants which do
not exist in Khmer. They are represented by Khmer consonants preceded by an
g
apostrophe or ' . The meeting in March 2003 has decided to drop these single and
double apostrophe diacritic marks. There are two problems related to these script
changes, firstly, the reprint of books using the old system and secondly, there was no
unanimous decision yet on the form of four consonant scripts representing /j/ and /d/.
They are represented in Khmer by / 0 /, /Cli# and /l5/, /tW. No reprint of materials
developed in the early time will be possible due to these two problems. So far, Tampuon
and Bunong seem to have less problems in relation to transcription compared to Krung,
Brao, and Kavet (see appendix: chart of additional consonants)

Effect of changes on teachers and students

Teachers and students on Krung, Brao and Kavet programmes of the past have to learn
the scripts and the sounds of these eleven additional consonants again if they wish to be
on the programme in the years to come. Some temporary adjustments have taken place.
Twenty-five teachers of Krung, Brao and Kavet have been retrained in October to cope
with these changes. They cannot reprint the old materials because it is too costly to do so.
Students and teachers still use the old reading materials, but they correct them gradually
by hand.

V. Some linguistic aspects of Tampuan in relation to Khmer

In this study, I consider only Tampuan for the following reasons. Firstly, Tampuan is one
of the major minority languages in terms of speakers. Secondly, this language is socially,
culturally and broadly linguistically related to Khmer. Thirdly, there are. enough words in
Tampuon that I can collect them from bilingual reading materials available in Phnom
Penh. Tampuan is central Bhanaric and Khmer is in a separate branch of Mon-Khmer
called Khmeric.9
The aim of the study is to look for prototype sounds and words in Tampuan and Khmer
as well as some other grammatical features in order to add other dimensions of Tampuan
linguistic features to enable native Tampuans, Khmers and foreign linguists working in
the field, and Khmer ministry officials to have a better understanding of it as well as to
facilitate the preparation of a Tampuan grammar book for primary bilingual schools of
that language as well as for the adult literacy bilingual programme. The steps involved in
this work is to collect Tampuan words from classroom textbooks and prepare a list of
cognate words, and to analyze them according to linguistic characteristics. We wish to

7 This was the answer of my query to Dr Iv Chan in Phnom Penh.

8 See appendix on consonant chart.
9 In a private discussion, Dr Gregerson told me that Khmer language has its own group called Khmeric.

12
know who would be the main borrower in the past and who can be considered as the
prototyped language among the two. I do not consider Tampuan words which are of
recent loans. Shortcoming in this exercise is expected because it involves only Tampuan
and Khmer There are at least two benefits resulted from the study of cognate words
which are to trace the 'lost' root words in the Khmer language, and to discover some
linguistic features common to these two languages.

List of cognate words in Tampuon and Khmer

Tampuon Transcription Khmer Transcription Meaning Number
my/ kapouw (fiU krspai water buffalo 1
mn kapi: jfiin krapa: crocodile 2
mtjnj kacil §nj khcil lazy 3
ff: cih 0s cih to ride 4
cm ?da:w B1J ta:w sword 5
tflnj ?del tfll dae also 6
mnj ta:n lu fiPffl tpa:n to weave 8
tm: tab tm: doh to take off 9
tinnjifi thokna:t tmntihR taokyark miserable 10
«9 tia m tie duck 13
• _-«,

l fl« tide 8fi ttk water 12

yn blok 5" phluk ivory 13
aim/ pakaaw 5 phka: flower 14
rnttnj pahjaa t|^> phnae to send 15
tnnj pan tnnj pan to shoot 16
trjji piar m pi: two 17
IP" pro:k fiLUfi kaprok squirrel 18
tyittf maoj HtU muaj one 19
» a.*>
mat rateh U9: rateh carriage, 20
cart
5
hfifi rarait BM no: to tremble, 21
shiver
tnti raoQ mtt roog meeting 22
house
hthti ramaQ JHltl maorj schombing 23
deer
fin) wal /in) woal to measure 24

IOFor convenient sake, I use fl for Khmer letter n) instead of the ordinary IPA

13
 wiwri 339 Dk Wfi(t(U3S) sok hair on body 25
u

wim saktr W sko: drum 26

Wlffil sakerr Lwtffl^Q) srskia sour 27
wnu somrap wnu samrap for 28
w: seh tWJ seh horse 29
rifO srs: f(W srae open field 30
flfOn sre:k i(fun srek thirsty 31
UP ha: tm ha: open 32
tnufiiu hu:p pharp jtmin ru:p phiep picture 33
tt/fle hisn tja rian to study 34
It/lU heep mu hoep box, case 35
BJltil lana: ty Irp: sesame 36
spsjnj Islon «f£fl lun to rub 37
briskly
8Jti log H|fi ?anb3r]li well, pond, 38
i
ditch
HSHiPti ?nsaoQ et^fiti tansaog wild ox 39
Hlti ?arj «iti ?3Q to roast 40
win) ?an HQ3 ?an I 41
HIS ?a:n H18 a:n to read 42
H: ?ouh HW ous to drag 43
Hjn ?ysDk tun jo:k to take 44
Htlfp ?mhmao 8 thrno: rock, stone 45
HBigi ?nhnam # thnam medicine 46

People with linguistic background can notice straight away the similarity and differences
between Tampuan and Khmer and suggest which one of them may be the prototype-
sounds or prototype-words for these two languages. I consider some examples as an
exercise to trace this phenomenon, and there is limit on it.
From the .first look, the items no. 45, /?mhmao/ and /thmo:/ , and 46, /?nhnam/ and
/thnam/ show parallel evolution and changes that took place sometimes in the past. The
prototypes, /?mhmao/ and /?nhnam/ has dropped the prefixes /?m/ and /?n/ and been
replaced both by /th/ in Khmer to be accepted as regular clusters /thm/ and /thn/. If we go
a step further to include other languages in the corpus as it has been discussed by
Crowley, 1999, p. 3, we find the term /tamo:/ in Proto North Bahnaric which is closer to

11 When I cannot find a suitable transcription, I follow the transcription used in the Cambodian-English
dictionary by Headley, R. K. et al., 1997.

14
Khmer than the Tampuan language can offer. The problem is to answer how it turned
from N to /th/ in Khmer. For the word /thnam/medicine, Dr Gregerson in a private
discussion has suggested to me that it might have come from the prototype Malay root
/tarn/ to plant. I found the old Khmer word /torn/ in Long, 2000, p. 265 which means the
same. This means that /torn/ R• to plant was a Khmer prototype for Khmer language
rediscovered from the old Khmer repertoire which is the stone inscription dated 7th AD.
o o
We could not see the connection because we use /tam/fll for old Khmer /tom/fi. How to
explain the change that took place? fi can have a subscript ' ^ ' as a second element of
o
the cluster as well as /th/ ti in /tnaot/ t JJ1R and /thnam/ Cjl .
The Tampuan word /tiskf tSjfi and the Khmer word /ttk/ 8fi, (item no. 12), for water is
useful to decide whether the Khmer word for water was derived from the Pali word daka
or the Pali-Sanskrit udaka as it has been suggested by Khmer Pali scholars, see Khmer
K Cff
dictionary, v ol. 1, p. 431 and p. 1791. These two words /tisk/ 18] fi and /ttk/ 8 fi, are in a
minimal pair contrast between the two vowels hi and /is/. If we can decide the likelihood
of the direction of the change of the vowel, then we can decide which term was the
prototype, /is/ is a front vowel and the final consonant /k/ is a back one. The consonant
/k/ which is in the back position may facilitate the /ia/ vowel to retract to the central
position to form the vowel hi. If one contemplates to justify that the Khmer word /ttk/
was derived from udaka or daka, how can one explains the change of/a/ to hi.

From the list of cognate words, it is interesting to find the word /tarn/, item no.8, in
Tampuan which means to weave. /tarn/ is also found in the old Khmer to denote the title
of high ranking officials as well as an element of the compound /kamratarn/, Long, 2000,
p. 103, and p.273. The word /tparn/ is found from the same source on page 297. It means
a weaver. The Khmer dictionary, vol.1, page 359, gives the word /tparn/ the meaning to
weave and /tamparn/ on page 337. /tamparn/ mean tools used to weave. What is lacking is
the root word /tarn/ which means to weave, /tarn/ has been considered as a long-lost term,
/tarn/ is a tampuan word. How can one consider it as a prototype of the Khmer words
/tparn/ and /tamparnY? The presence of the old Khmer word /tparfi/ on stone inscription in
726 AD, and its derivative /tamparn/ in the present time show that these terms had been
developed long ago in the past. This is to show that Khmer has changed more than
Tampuan. Tampuan though an undeveloped language compared to Khmer can be
considered to preserve certain prototype language features such as the term /tarn which is
lost in the modern Khmer repertoire. We can be sure that /tarn/ is the original root term
from which the two derivatives are formed, /tparn/ and /tamparn/. /tarn/ in /tparn/ and
/tamparn is considered as a 'lost relative' and it can be admitted as a new entry into the
revised Khmer dictionary in the future12.

12 In a private discussion, Prof. Long Seam has mentioned to me that in the time of Angkor he came across
the Khmer word /ta:fl7.1 am waiting for the edition of the old Khmer dictionary in the time of Angkor to
reconsider the case again.

15
Reduplication or prefix particles in Tampuan
Item no. 21 /rsrait/ is a verb meaning tremble or shiver, and the item no. 37 /blon/ means
to rub brisly. These two terms can be considered as reduplication or derivatives by
prefixes /ra—/ and /la--/. These prefixes indicate repetitive actions. This characteristic is
again similar to Khmer.

Classifier in Tampuan
Other grammatical features of Tampuan that I came across are numerical classifiers and
simple syntactic structures. I provide one example for each of them. The example of
numerical classifier is taken from Tampuan Reader vol. 1, p. 12.
fig fllB Ejf ko:n ptan ?douv flB 6 81 fi four siblings The structure is Noun +
Cardinal Number + Classifier.

Simple syntactic structure in Tampuan

The example of a simple syntactic structure is taken from Tampuon Reader vol. 1, p. 7.
fl 8 fflBfrlB {Ufi fl 8 tOJJB tntin ?o: ti: ka:nrja:npro? ?o: ti: lisn ca:j
M
fJlBmitnillJ finSLfflfltntin Having no job having no money to spend.

Tracing the origin of Khmer script/r/ I

Two is ttjjl /piar/ in Tampuan and tu /pi:/ in Khmer, item no. 17, and to exchange is
fil/tour/ in Tampuan13 and til /tour/ in Khmer. The 'r' in Khmer is not pronouce, and
why it is there. In this case the Khmer ' I ' in til /tour/ is for etymological reason tracing
the source to old Khmer prototype. Tampuon and Surin Khmer can be considered as the
prototype of Khmer for til /tour/.
Is etymological spelling of Khmer loanword into Tampuan necessary?
There is one example to highlight the case. The Khmer word UClflj /bon/, ceremony or
merit, has been borrowed into Tampuan14. The loanword has been stripped off the
underscript 'J ' lyl as it is written as UfUl /bon/ or /pon/. This spelling will cause
confusion if the word U^fl /pona?/ (Khmer dictionary, vol. l, p. 557) will be introduced into
Tampuon because according to this rule it will be stripped off its underscript ' ^ ' /n/;
and it will become also another UCUl /bon/ or /pon/. This kind of spelling will not
facilitate the linguistic transfer of bilingual learners and speakers of either Tampuon or
Khmer.

There are many cognate words that we can consider in the future once the bilingual
Tampuan-Khmer dictionary is published. The following areas are suggested to be
considered in the future study of Tampuan:

13 The Tampuan word fiftour/ is found in Tampuon reader vol. 4.

14 Pampuan reader, vol. 3, p. 141

16
 1. word structures e.g. monosyllable and disyllabic
2. word formation e.g. affixation
1. sources of loanwords from Khmer and Lao, and its Tampuanization
4. idiomatic expressions
5. grammatical similarities and differences between Khmer and Tampuan etc...

VI. Conclusion
Tampuan has complex consonant cluster sounds which do not exist in Khmer. They
create more problems for Khmer to learn Tampuan than the Tampuans who wish to learn
Khmer. Tampuan as well as other foreigners who wish to learn Khmer have two main
problems which are a) word boundary or syllable boundary within each word and
between two or three words, and to distinguish consonant and vowel registers within each
single words and syllables because each consonant and vowel is determined by the
preceding types of sound registers. Instructors have to be alert on these characteristics in
order to enhance the teaching and learning of Khmer in its written form.

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 Appendix
Chart of additional consonants for Krung, Brao and Kavet
Number Consonant scripts Change to IPA
1 11
'n ft
2 'fi » /g/

3
'o 0 /j/
4 nu
'd /)/
5
'a ti /d/
6
'a ni /d/
7 'o tf Ibl
8 9 ft
/b/
0-
9
'ttf « /?y/
10
"n H
/?g/
11
"a a
The two pairs of Khmer scripts in question are numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6. The four scripts

with spurs look like this: u^ U' Cr Q .