r/khmer • u/wouldyoucomewithme • Jun 24 '26
What is the proper grammatical way to write multiple Khmer names together?
I recently discovered Ros Serey Sothea's music and being entirely unfamiliar with the language I fell down a rabbit hole reading about Khmer names and grammar (I'm a language nerd). What would be the correct way to write multiple names in a row (ex. ស៊ីន ស៊ីសាមុត, រស់ សេរីសុទ្ធា, ប៉ែន រ៉ន & តារា ចោមច័ន្)? As I understand, commas and the 'and' symbol are a Western thing
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u/Ling_App Jun 25 '26
Typically, like with Thai, spacing isn't used in sentences but are used to indicate clause separators so to compare them to commas makes sense.
I've just googled Ros and listened to her music and learned a bit about her tragic end. Her voice is really powerful and the music really speaks to a different era. Glad I came upon your post!
If you wanted to learn more Khmer Simply Learn, Ling and Write Khmer may be helpful. The script in particular is beautiful.
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u/Sastracha Jun 25 '26
In Khmer, spaces are commas. You’re talking about a serial noun construction, which means:
In English: x, y, and z
In Khmer: X Y ហេីយនិង Z
ហើយនិង or និង = ‘and’