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Old Khmer grammar

PhiJip N. lenner
and
Paul Si dwell

Pacific Lmguistics
School of Culture, History and Language
College of Asia and the Pacific
The Australian National Uni versity
Published by Pacific Linguistics
Scbool of Culture, History and Language
College of Asia and the Pacific
The Australian National Un iversity
Canberra ACT 0200
Australia

Copyright in this edit ion is vested with Pacific Linguistics

First published 20 10

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry:

Author: Jenner, Philip N.

Title: Old Khmer grammar I Philip Jenner and Paul SidweJl.

ISBN, 9780858836136 (pbk.)

Subjects: Khmer language--To 800--Grammar.

Inscriptions, Khmer.

Other Authors! Sidwell, Paul J.

Contributors: Australian National University.
School of Cu lture, History and Language,
College of As ia and the Pacific.

Dewey Number: 495.935

Typeset by Paul Sidwell

Cover: photo courtesy of EFEO, Paris, image o f inscritpion K876
Cover design by Julie Manley/Addcolour Digital Pty Lld
Printed and bound by Addcolour Digital Pty Ltd, Fyshwick, Canberra
·m memonam
.

M iyo
 Contents

PREFATORY NOTES •...•.........••.....•..•...........••......•....•......•...•.....•..•...•.....•...••.......•..............................•..•... IX

ABBREVIATIONS ....................................................................................................................................... Xl
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................... ,................. I
2 THE WRITI NG SYSTEM .................................................................................................................... 3
2. 1. VOWEl5YMBOlS .................................................................... ....................................... ...... .................. 4
2.2. CONSONANT SYMBOLS ..... ............. ............................. ............. .............. .............. ............................. ...... 4
2.2.1. Aspirate COIISOl1allt S}mbols. ...... ............... ................... ...................... ...... . ...... ..... 4
2.3. TRANSLITERATION .................................................................. ...................................... ...... .................. 5
J PHONOLOGY ....................................................................................................................................... 6
3. 1. VOWELS.
.................................................................. .... ................................ .................. 6
3.2. CONSONANTS .... .............. .......................................... ........................ ............................. ....................... 7
3.2.1. COlISol1al11 Cluslers ..... ..... ....... .. . ...... ....................................... . 7
3.3. SYLLABLE AN D WORD STRUcrURE.••....... .....•...... ....... ...... ....... ....... 8
3.3.1. The MOllosy[{able.... ................ .. ... ......... .. .8
3.3.2. rhe SlIbdissyllable. . ........................ . .8
3.3.3.
3.3.4.
The Dissyllable....... ............... ..
Compollnds . .............................. . .,
.8

3.3.5. Loanwords. . ........................................ . .9

4 MORPHOLOGY •................ _............................................................................................................... 10
4. I . AFFIXATlON ... .. ........................... ............ . .... ........... ... ... ................ ......................................... 10
4.1.1. "!fixes ................. . .. ... ........... ... ....... ................ ............... ...... ..... 10
4.1.2. Prefixes. ... ....... ................. . ........ ..... ............... ............ 10
4.1.3. Reduplication. ..................................................... ........... ....... If
4.1.4. Analogic Prefixes ............... .. .................... ....... ......... ......... 11
4.1.5. AffIX F/lnctiOIl ..... ............. ........... . .......... ........... .................. /1
5 \VORD CLASSES ................................................................................................................................ 12
5. 1. LEXICA L ITEMS. ............. .... .. ................................. ........ 12
5.1.1. The Verb...... . ......... 12
5.1.2. The Noun .. ... ................ /8
5.1.3. The Adverb.... ......................................................... .. ... .... JO
5.2. G RAMMATICAL ITEMS . ........ . . ..• 33
5.2. 1. COlljullctions .................. . ... ........... . ..... J3
5.2.2. Prepositions . ............................. . .... 38
6 THE PHRASE ...................................................................................................................................... 42
6.1. NOUN PHRASES. .. ... ...................... ...... ........... ........... ........... .............................................................. 4 2
6.1.1. Head + Gellitive Modifier....... ....... ................... .......... .... 42
6.1.2. Head + Appositional Modifier. ...... .............................................................................. 42
6./.3. Head + Verbal Modifier. ..... .............. .... ............... . .................. . ....... ....... 43
6 .2. PREPOSITIONAL PHRASES. ............ .................... ............ ..................... . .............. 4 3
6.3. ADVERBIAL. PHRASES .................. ................. ........ ............................ ....... ................... 4 3

vii
viii

7 CLAUSE AND SENTENCE .•..•...•.........•.....•.....•.............•..•............•..•.......••.•.....................•.........•..•..44

7. 1. MINIMAL SENTENCES............. .... .............. ..................... .................... .......... .. ....• .•. ..••.•...•... 44
7 .2. EQUATIONAL SENTENCES ............•. .•.......•..•..•...•. .•.....••.•..•. .•. ...••...... ......•............... ......... 45
7.3. COMPOUND SENTENCES. .•• ..•.... .....•. .•....•..•..•..•..••.••.....•..•..•..•..•.•. ... ........ .....•...... ............. 45
7.4. COMPLEX SENTENCES. ....•• . .••...•.••.....•.......•..•....••. .••..•..•..•. ....•....•. .••.. .. .....•...•........•..... ... .•. 46
7.4.1. SlIbordinate Clauses. . ........ .................................................................................. 46
7.4.2. EmbeddedClallses.............. ............................................. ... ........... ............ ...... 46
7.5. COMPOUND COMPLEX SENTENCES . ...................... ....•...•. ... ........•...•. ..... .......•....•..... ...... ............. .......... 47
7.6. CLEfT SENTENCES. ••.•..•..•. ... ....•. ........•..... ..... .•...•.....•.......•........•..•.....•. .•. ... .•. .••.......... . 47
7.7. INVERSIONS .•....•..•..•..•..•..••.•.....•..••.••..•.••..•••.•..•..•..••..•.•........••..•.........•....•........•.....•..•..•..•..•..•..••......•.... 47
7.7.1. Demol/strative Prolloulls. .... ..48
7.7.2. Existemial mlill. ................ .................. ................................. ...... ............... ....... 50
7.7.3. Topicalizalion ... ...... ...... ..... ... ...................... .............. .... 50
8 FIFTY PASSAGES WITH GRAMMATICAL DESCRJPTIONS ................................................... 52
BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................•........•..•..•.............•.......•.....................•.......................•.....•.....•........•..•........... 74
LEXiCON ....................................................................................................................................................... 77
 Prefatory notes

This little volume has been brewed from a mass of memoranda and citations
accumulated over long years of teaching Old Khmer 10 a succession of able graduate
students. Their questions, comments and challenges led to many fruitful discussions on
how this language works. The volume is theirs as much as mine.
My description is meant to serve the immediate needs of readers embarking on the
study of the inscriptions, and assumes that they have some acquaintance with modem
Khmer. Designed for easy reference, it addresses the main points of grammar and style in
the great majority of the texts. A few matters of special interest not previously brought to
public notice are discussed in fair detail. It has been my cndeavor to reduce all that might
be said of Old Khmer to the narrowest possible compass in order to show how this
language achieves its suppleness and grace with a small number of structures.
The reader will fi nd that, after necessary preliminaries, the grammar proper is presented
from 5 (on wordclasses) and runs on to 8 (O D cl auses and sentences). There follows a
battery of passages which may be used for rev iew and exercise, while the last section gives
an excerpt from the V~t Sarnroit Stone. The table of contents makes an index superfl uous.
Suggestions for improvement of the volume will be gratefully received and may be
channeled through the publisher.
Finally, my original work has profited much from numerous additions and corrections
by my esteemed collaborator Dr. Sidwell .
Philip N. Jenner
3 February 2009

I fi rst met Prof. Jenner in Olympia in 2007, when his dictionaries of pre-Angkorian and
Angkorian Khmer were being prepared for publication. At that time Prof. Jenner
mentioned that he had a draft grammar of Khmer, based upon lesson notes he prepared
over years of teaching Old Khmer at the University of Hawaii. It was clear that a grammar
would be an excellent complement to the di ctionaries, and J was invited to develop the
draft for publication.
The tex t was sign ificantly rewritten and refonnaUed to make it accessible to a wider
audience and to update some o f the content (givcn developments in this dymanic fi eld),
and the b ibliography and lexicon were compiled . In this process Prof. Christian Bauer
(Humboldt-Uni versitat, Berlin) rendered valuable advice and assistance for which I offer
my thanks.

ix
x

Finally, I shou ld mention that my work on this project was made possible by support
from the National Endowment for the Humanities (Washington). Any views, findings,
conclusions or recommendations expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent
those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Paul Sidwell
10 April 2010
 Abbreviations

A ng. Angkorian
mod. modem
NP noun phrase
pre-A pre-A ngkorian

xi
 1 Introduction

Old Khmer, a living language for eight centuries, is attested from the early 7th century
A.D. to the first decades of the 15 th century. It is the direct ancestor of Modem Khmer
(Cambodian), and an important member of the Austroasiatic (Mon-Khmer) language
phylum. Preserved in well over a thousand inscriptions, it embodies the most extensive
record of language and life in ancient lodo-China.
The inscriptions have been recovered during the past century from modem Cambodia
and adjacent parts of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos. All these were engraved on stclre. walls,
lintels, and other available spaces in the numerous monuments erected in these areas. I A
good many inscriptions in the corpus are bilingual, consisting of Sanskrit texts followed by
complementary texts in Old Khmer. New inscriptions are being recovered every year.
Most of these documents promulgate royal directives, commemorate the foundation of
sanctuari es, va lidate privileges, or confirm title to lands and other property. Typically
therefore they are legal documents - royal directi ves, charters, deeds, conveyances -
couched in legalistic form and employing a chancery idiom cultivated by a small educated
elite. Because of their limited concerns they afford only a partial representation of the
language as a whole. As with Icga l writing everywhere, the reader may expect many a text
to open with a long and involved passage refl ecting insistence on typicall y legal precision
and detail, usually with namelists and a concatenation of clauses reporting each provision
of a royal directive.
The inscriptions show two dialectal variants: pre-Angkorian (pre-A), attested from A.D.
6 12 to 802, and Angkorian (Ang.), attested from 802 to the abandonment of Angkor in
143 1-2. These dates are cQnventional, and hence approximate; the degrce of
standardization apparent in the earliest pre-A inscriptions is sure evidence that the
language had been written well before 612.
As used in this description, grammar should be distinguished from syntax. Grammar is
the more gencral term, and denotes the systematic study of a language in terms which
normally include morphology and syntax and may include phonology. Syntax is the
speci fi c study of the ways in which the stream of speech is arranged as a sequence of
recurrent structures or patterns - phrases, clauses and sentences. Both terms are employed
hereafter.
Analysis of Old Khmer shows that the default ordering of constituents is subject + verb
+ optional direct object + optional indirect object, with modifiers following their head.
This is not only rather typical among Austoasiatic languages, but the student will also find
that this is reassuringly similar to many European languages. The grammar nonetheless
exhibits its own pecllliarities, notably in its phonology and morphology, although the
student may well find that the syntax is not qllite so exotic, and no body of special

1 Olher objects were also inscribed, such as bronze objects (from Prnchinburi) and recently a gold vase was
described by Jacque5 (2003).
2 Introduction

grammatical labels is used here for its description. Employed hereafter is the terminology
which has become traditional in Western Europe over the last hundred years. Here and
there in the descriptions to follow we make free use of the classical case~names:
nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, localive, ablative and instrumental. Should such
referenccS give the impression that Old Khmer is being forced into a European mold, the
reader may be assured that every effort has been made to describe the language in its own
terms.
It is apparent that from the first pre~Angkorian inscriptions to the last of the Angkorian
the underlying grammar is relatively unchanged. Such developments in exposition as can
be recognized have little or nothing to do with syntax but relate to subject~matter,
accessions to the lexicon, and stylistic devices as authors experiment with the rich
resources of the language and find new, elegant and powerful ways of expressing
themselves.
Of the many problems the texts raise most will be found to concern lexical rather than
grammatical items. For the khmerophonc reader Old Khmer can be insidious in the sense
that its similarities to thc modem language invite overconfidcnce in achieving full
understanding of what is given on the stone. The reader is reminded that no text can be said
to be fully understood unless all its parts are understood first. This is the reason for our
emphasis on grammatical items in all that follows.
2 The writing system

Old Khmer is written almost exclusively in a writing system brought from South India.
Its precise antecedents arc a question for paleography which is still in debate and are not
considered here.
This system is the direct ancestor of the writing system used for modem Khmer, and for
that reason its symbols and organization need not be reviewed here (see, for example, the
Introduction to Jenner & POll 1980-8 1) and the present lext uses exclusively roman
transcription. The writing system may be termed a consetvative onc in that, like Mon (with
which it was in contact in Northeast Thailand in the 8th and 9th c.) it has preserved the
conjunet consonant symbols by which ligatures (digraphs) arc formed for the
representation of consonant clusters. This contrasts with Thai and Lao, for which the
writing system was adapted several hundred years later.
To the epigraphist w hose task it is to read the inscriptions as they appear on stone the
inscription s offer a range of problems. Many are badly weathered or otherwise damaged,
resulting in frequent lacunre in the tex.ts, while a certain proportion was engraved by
careless lapi cides. Under the best of conditions, the student's understanding of a text is
often attended by uncertainties. These uncertainties will not be touched upon in what
follows, our concern bcing to say what needs to be said 10 describe the mechanics of the
language.
The fit of the Indic writing system to Old Khmer as a once-living language is generally
good but no better than the fit of the roman alphabet to modern English or French. In
pairing it with Old Khmer phonology one must bear in mind that the reality in question is
in the words that issue from a speaker's mouth, to be received by his interlocutor's ear and
brain. The writing system can offer no more than an imperfect representation of these
spoken words.
Old Khmer orthography has a number of idiosyncrasies (discussed furth er in the
introductions to lenner's (2009) pre-A and Ang. dictionaries). These include:
tbe doubling of consonant symbols following r ('iiciiryya for Sanskrit iiciirya);
the replacement of b by v (vllddha for buddha);
vacillation in presyllables between anusviira (-Ill) and the four nasal consonants
(n, n, n, m);
the reinforcement of visarga Hl) by final h (vratlh - vra(lha for vraM;
indecision in the representation of consonant clusters (kl)'al - karyyal 'cranc');
the doubling of certain final consonant symbols (prasapp for prasap) for a motive
as yet unci car;
and, in pre-A as well as Ang., vacillation in representing the prior member of
ligatures by an unaspirated or an aspirated stop symbol (kvas - kltvas).

3
4 Old Khmer Grammar

Of special interest are a number of loans from Sanskrit which show final -e where final
-a would be expected (kalpe for ka/pa). Another group comprises fonns with initial' n I,
difficult to explain by recourse to solely internal evidence, exemplified by 'nak - 'anak
Inak! 'person' and 'se/;1 - ase!; - se!; Isehl 'horse'.

2.1. Vowel Symbols.

The cOlTespondence of the vowel symbols to their phonological actuality is poor.
Ambiguity is noted in the case of written a, which may represent 10:, 0, a:, ai, written
a l a:, ai, written 0 10: , ;':, 'J/, and above all written e and e l e:, e, £:, £, T:, T/ . The two
diphthongs of Ang. are represented as in Thai (cr. ,"-u,JAiarj! ' bed', A'lAual 'body') by
post-initialya I i:,:}/ and va l u:':}/: 'yal ni:at/ 'to be lacking', chkval l cbku:at/ 'to be crazed'.

2.2. Consonant Symbols.

On the other hand, the cOlTespondence of the consonant symbols to their phonological
counterparts is generally close. Ambiguity is pretty much confined to p and t before a
vowel, where it is impossible to know whether these were realized as explosive Ip! and It/,
or as implosive 161 and IcJl. In this environment we risk taking them as implosive in most
cases, following the tendency apparent in the modem language. Final written s is regularly
rendered !hi, consistent with mod. Khmer. 2

2.2.1. Aspirllte ConsoJtllnt Symbols.

Used before a vowel in all stages of Khmer, the ten aspirate conson ant symbols kh, gh;
ch, jh; .rh, t;lh; Ih, dh; ph, bh (corresponding to modem 3 , W; IJ, ru.t; 11, nJ; D, D; a, n)
represent what cou ld have been written as ligatures a, a,
g, S, and so forth.
These ligatures never took root; the aspirate symbols, as part of the inherited system,
were preferred as a shortcut. Care must be exercised in interpreting these same aspirates
when they occur as the prior member of ligatures. In this case the aspiration, usually shown
in Ang. fonns, is sUbphonemic. Pre-A. eke contrasts with Ang. ellke 'dog' only
orthographically, both representing Ichk€:/.
Note pre-A tkep Ithkepl and Ang. lhkyap Ithki:ap/ 'to nip', pre-A pka and Ang. phka
'nower', both Iphka:/. Positing separate phonological fonns, one for pre-A and the other for
Ang .• is not justified. That the /hi of the aspiratc initial is subphoncmic is shown by such
other fonns as pre-A and Ang.jmah IJ1l1'JhI 'name', which with the devoicing of the initial
is rewritten in mod. Khmer with an aspirate: H11J1: jllmo/; Ic hmu:)h1. The aspiration
represented in the latter fonn and in all such Ang. fonns is no more than an ephenthesis, a
phonetic bridge from the initial to the postinitial. The tendency, wh ich is fairly consistent
in the modem language, is for the bridge to be realised as aspiration be rare nasals, and as a
schwa before stops.

None the less, final /si and IhJ did contrast at an early stage of the language, and this is maintained in
many cognate languages.
 The wriring system 5

2.3. Transliteration.
The present description of the grammar employs a system of transliteration of the kind
now standard for most languages that are expressed in a writing system belonging to the
Indic script family.
It is essential for the reader to understand that the purpose of transliteration, as opposed
to other systems in use, is to report in roman letters exactly what is represented in a
nonroman writing system. lts purpose is not to show the pronunciation of the fonns so
transliterated, Ihis being the function of a phonological transcription of the kind introduced
below. This latter is here used sparingly and only as needed.
3 Phonology

A chief feature distinguishing Old Khmer from modern Khmer is its phonology. The
Middle Khmer period, lying between the two and extending from the abandonment of
Angkor do\"," 10 the early 19 th century, was a time of phonological change. Specifi cally,
the old voiced stops were devoiced, while the vowel inventory split into two
complementary subsets, now usually known as the registers. Old Khmer phonology
predates these conspicuous changes.
It is entirely possible to read an Old Khmer text without knowledge of the phonology
which that text represents. This approach to the language is not recommended, because the
text or its parts would be read as if they were modem Khmer, w hich is anachronistic. Such
a practice is comparable to giving a modem pronunciation to Old English or Old French, or
to reading classical Greek as if it were modem Greek. Old Khmer is not modem Khmer.
Using the modern pronunciation for it is a spiritless approach, and is alllhe more needless
in that Old Khmer phonology stands much closer to the writing system than does that of
modern Khmer. The serious student will take satisfaction in learning the phonology of Old
Khmer, because without this knowledge the rationale of the modem phonology cannot be
understood.
This said, we tum to consider the main features of Old Khmer phonology. This is a
reconstructed system, plausible enough but liable 10 modification as new details come to
light. Its members are here given in a broad phonological transcription, in standard IPA
symbolization, not unlike a strict phonemic transcription.

3.1. Vowels.
The vowel inventory has both long and short members, plus the two long diphlhongues
of Angkorian: li :~1 and lu:~/, as well as /;}/, the unstressed allophone of I~I occurring in
presyllables and lndie loans. Evidence for Iw:~/, short IwJ, and short If~ wa od! is
unreliable.

/ i: w: u: u
e: T: 0: e T o
£: a: >:
• a ,
i:., u :~ /

Examples of the long vowels:

1. pi 16i :/ ' in order to'

2. ge/ge:/ 'person'
3. cek/c€:ki 'to divide'
6
 Phonology 7

4. gi Igw:1 'it'
5. ket /kT:t/ ' to be born'
6. kar Ika :rl 'to protect'
7. nu lnu:! ' with'
8. oy no :y/ 'to give'
9. dan ~ don Id:u]l 'to bear'

Examples of the diphthongs:

10. (yak IdbkJ 'to lie down'

11 . kvan /ku::m/ 'child'

There was probably a tendency, as in the modem language, to labialize both lu :! and 10: /
in open syllables, as in Srl/ Isru: - snu:w/ 'paddy' and vo Iba: - bT:w/' banyan'.

3.2. Consonants.
The consonant inventory contains twenty~on e members. These include:

voiceless stops: / p c k ?
voiced stops: b d J g
implosive stops; 0 <f
nasals: m n Jl ~
liquids: " I
spirants: s h
semivowels: w y /

All ofthese occur in initial position before a vowel nucleus.

In final position the voiced stops are devoiced, all voiceless final stops being
unreleased, while Is! does not occur - as has been said, final written s is realized as IhI.
Note that, unlike the case in modem Khmer, fin al /rl is pronounced. Note also thai, as in
the modem language, the two implosive stops, 16, Of, stand only before a vowel.

3.1.1. COII.'Wllall( Clusters.

Consonant clusters, nonnally binary and found only in initial position, exhibit great
variety.
The prior member may not be any of n , 6, cf, n, ]1, I) , h, w, yl , whereas all twenty-one of
the consonants may be found in post-initial (pre-vocalic) position. Examples of the sing le
consonants as well as consonant clusters will be found in abundance in all that follows.
Junctu re between the prior and latter member of clusters may be close or open. C lose
juncture is here unmarked:

12. trap Itr:lpl 'eggplant'

Open juncture is marked as an aid to pronunciation by subphonemic fb/ or N:

8 Old Khmer Grammar

13 . phlU Iphl u: - phlw :wl ' road'

14. manU$ya Im"nuh/ ' man, human '
15. ph 'val1 l p"?u :;}n/ 'younger sibling'

3.3. Syllable and Word Structure.

The structure of the vernacular word is similar to mod. Khmer.

3.3.1. The Monosyllable.

The monosyllable has the canonical fonn CVF, in which C represents any consonant, V
any vowel nucleus, and F an optional final consonant. In open syllables V is necessarily
long; in closed syllables it may be long or short. This monosyllable may fun ctions as the
primary wordbase of derivatives.

3.3.1. Tlte Subdissyllable. J

What may be called the subdissyllable has the canonical fonn CCVF.
The term is appropriate because on the phonetic level Ihese range from monosyllabic
(rhmo - lhma I thm;):/ 'stone') to dissyllabic (radeb - rddel; lrodeh - r"dehl 'cart'), whcn the
juncture vowel may take on calor. Note that the privileges of occurrence of Cl. C2, V and F
continue to apply. This subdissyllable may function as the secondary wordbase of
derivatives.

3.3.3. Th e Dissyllable.
The dissyllable, invariably iambic, consists of a stressed monosyllable or subdissyUable
with an unstressed prcsyllable of the shapes Cid- and C;}N-.
In these fonnul re C continues to represenl any allowable consonant. This is foll owed in
the first case by I-F.J!, in the second case by I-~N/, in which N represents a nasa l frequently
but not always assimilating to the initial of the main syllable. Examples:

16. Iraviin Itr~ba!JI'reservoir'

17. cramllb Icrnmuhl ' nose'
18. prasir IpIdsi: r/ 'writing'
19. cailvii[ IC~lJwat/ ' delimited terrain '
20. kaiijub 1k~J1Juhl 'dung'
21 . randafl /ldndahl ' lightning'
22. PQl!/rob 16~mr:)hI 'trash'

3.3.4. Compoul1ds.
The above are the characteristic wordfonns of vernacular Old Khmer. Other words,
relatively few in number, show these same form s grouped into compounds. Examples:

l These are also often rcfcred to as sesqllisy llablic words, literall y having a syllable and a half, since the
subphouemic juncture (1"1 or />/) creates a light initial syllab le with no phonological weight.
 Phonology 9

23. sUi m/ii 'arecanut [and] betellear

24. snlk sre 'villages [and] ricefields'
25. vagam vagOI!/ 'beads, rosary', hiti hwi 'bullfrog'
The latter two show typical alliteration and phonetic variation.

3.3.5. Loallwords.
The structure of loanwords generally follows that of the source language, though
assimilation to Khmer phonology is not infrequent. It will nonetheless be found that a good
many loans from Sanskrit and Prakrta conform to the canoni cal forms of vernacular
Khmer:
26. ku~{ia/a lk.:md::rV ' ring'
27. /anka Ikl1Jka:1 'Ceylon'
28. sal?lkhya Isa1Jkhja:/ 'count, reckoning'
4 Morphology

4.1. Affixation.
Affixation is an important feature of Kllmcr and Mon-Khmer morphology. Because
little has been done to investigate the processes of affixation, not much of a substantive
nature can be added to the wordfonns just described.
Like the modem language, Old Khmer shows a set of infixes and two or three sets of
prefixes, the number depending on how onc interprets them. There are suggestions of
ancient suffixes. but it is generally assumed that suffixation was never a productive process
in Khmer.
The full sequence of derivation shows the use of in fixes and prefixes with the same
wordbasc. It proceeds from a primmy wordbase to a primary derivative, while the latter
serves as a secondary wordbase yielding a secondmy derivatlve. Example: Ang. pvas
16u : ~h1 'to enter holy orders', > phnvas Ipbnu : ~h1 'holy orders', > pa'llnvas 16amnu:ohl
'one in holy orders'.

4.1.1. ["lIXes.
The infi xes of Old Khmer are a syllabic /·~mn·1 occuring in CVF forms; a syllabic I-;}N-I
occurring in CCVF forms; and nonsyllabic 1-5·1, I·m.f and I-n·/. The latter two show
allomorphs l-mm·1 and l-r:'1n-1 in a few derivatives. What appear to be other allomorphi c
infixes include I·r/, I·'N, 1·1)1, and l-h·I, none of which can be convincingly assigned. As is
suggested by the form pal/1nvas cited above, the 1-;:)mn·1 infix may be compound.

4.1.2. PrefIXes.
Old Khmer has a set of simple prefixes: Ip·, t·, e-, k·, r· - 1-, S-, m-I, the first four of
which show voiced counterparts, lb· , d·,)·, g·l.
Parallel with tbese is a sel of rhotacized prefixes: Ipro·, tt';}·, era·, km-, ffif;}-, sr.l-I, the
first four again showing the voiced counterparts Ibm-, dro-, Jrn-., gm-I. In modem
Cambodian the postinitial Irl of this second set is so weakly articulated as to often be
inaudible; it appears to be no more than a buffer which preserves their syllabicity.
The mot ive for distinguishing Ip·/ from Ipr;}-I and so on is unclear. The moslthat can be
said at present is that the data are ambiguous. It is possible that the rhotacized set is
original, and that the simple prefixes bave been reduced 10 nonsyllabic status because of
the weakness of the Irl in the rhotacized set, or they may be originally distinct series that
have fallen together over time. The latter is perhaps supported by the fact that similarly
rbotacized prefixes occur in other branches of Mon-Khmer; e.g. in Northern Man-Khmer
(see: Shorto 1963), in West Bahnaric (sec: Sidwell & Jacq 2003), in Katu (see: Coslello
1998) and others.
10
 Phonology 11

See 4.2.4. on the analogic prefi xes.

4.1.3. Reduplication.
With the simple prefi xes may be grouped JR-I representing reduplication of the
wordbase in itial: *krek 1krT:k/ (modem loin krak Ikra:;)k/) 'to stir', > kakrek Ik?krr:k/ 'to
quake'. This process appears to be fairly productive, and numerous examples will be
found.

4.1.4. Analogic PreFIXes.

However it is dissected, the fonn p01!IIIVaS cited above shows the basis for a collateral
set of analogic prefi xes: 16oN-, cfON- , C;)N- , k::>N-/, along with their voiced counterparts /bON-,
CON-, JaN-, g'dN-/, and Ir'dN-, laN-, SON-, ?aN-I. These are compound in fonn, and consist of a
si mple prefix with infix I -ON-I attached. They are li fted analogically from the numerous
fonns derived as described above and are used with secondary wordbases.
They are also used with certain primary wordbases to avoid confusion with I R-I. For
example, pvas 'to entcr orders ' yields PaJ!lpvas 'to cause to enter orders' rather than
*papvas 16~6u : ;)h1, which would mean 'to enter orders repeatedly'.

4.1.5. Affil:: Fun ction.

This much describes the fonn of the Old Khmer affix es. It remains to describe their
function. In the past explicit functions have been assigned to some of the Khmer affi xes.
For example, there is no doubt that in fi x I-m-I in some cases yields agentival derivatives
while I-n-I in some cases yields instrumentals. There is no doubt that prefix l p-I fo nns
causative derivatives in some cases, and that Ir-I in some cases yields pcrfect ives. Prefix
fm-I is presumed to be a reduction of moy Imo:yl - mvay Imu:'Jy/ 'onc' and serves a
singularizing and particularizing fu nction.
However, the danger of in ferring the affix fu nction from the derivative rather than fro m
the affi x is great, and the interpretations of the past are as incomplete as they are doubtful.
Progress in comparative studies of affi xation in Austroasiatic is necessary, and it is a good
thing that a body of such work is accruing, see for example: Jacob ( 1976), Bauer ( 1988),
Sidwell (2008).
5 Word classes

We begin our examination of Old Khmer syntax by considering the classes of words
whose forms have been described above. The class to which a word is assigned is
detcnnined by its syntactic function.
The major wordclasses are the verb, the noun, and the adverb, all divisible into
subclasses, together with the conjunction and preposition. The question of whether Khmer
has a class of adjectives is an old controversy arguable from either direction but leading
nowhere; in this description they are tenned stative verbs.
It must be emphasized that, as in other languages, one and the same item or word may
be assigned to more than ooe wordclass. A given wordform may function now as a noun,
now as a verb, or one and the same fann may function now as a conjunction, now as a
preposition . Reference to a dictionary will exhibit these sh ifts of class.
The ease with which a given fonn changcs function is a feature that merits the reader's
close auention, as it is onc of several which give the language its fl exibility and vigar.
Example: 'alflcas var$a chniiJtI tap pra,!1 piy (K.254B: 2), ' to be agcd eighteen years',
where 'a'!u:as, although usually a noun, is here clearly a stative verb.
A minor wordclass is the interjection, aUested by ten occurrences of hai Ih-ry/ '0' in two
texts:

29. hai ta ja kurwi ta vrksaphOli (K.484B: 3-4)

'0 [thou] who art king of trees! ,
30. Ita; sad/m salparusa pho!i (K.l77: 28)
'0 holy men [and] good!'

5.1. Lexical Items.

An essential distinction is that obtaining between lexical items and grammatical items.
Lexical items are verbs, nouns and adverbs, presumed to be infinite in number. Lexical
items have meanings which can be readily defined or paraphrased in a dictionary.
Grammatical items, in contrast, fann a closed set and have no lexical meaning such as is
given in dictionaries.

5.1.1. TIle Verb.

As with other Mall-Khmer languages, the verb is unmarked for person, number, tense or
mood. Unchanging, it shows no features comparable to the conjugations of Indo-European
languages. Subclasses of the verb include the copular, stative, intransitive, transitive,
passive, and causative.

12
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