Archive & Chronicle: ‘My dear parents, what if we were to dissolve?

When you're learning a language, one of the first things you usually want to know are a few dirty words, or at least a handful of insults. In Cambodia, we generally separate insults directed at men from those directed at women...

In Cambodia, insults directed at men are generally separated from those directed at women

Mister here, Mister there

At first I was surprised that people called me by putting Mr in front of my first name. Mr Frédéric here, Mr Frédéric there! Charming, but surprising. The reason is simple. Here, the surname precedes the first name. By stating your identity in the French way (first name - last name), or by writing it in this way, a Cambodian to whom you give your business card thinking he is calling you by your first name will in fact call you by your last name. Except, of course, for those who are familiar with this fact. Cambodians often have several names (official, at home, at work, nickname, etc.). When you address someone directly, you either use their whole first name or just the last syllable of their first name. Thavy becomes Vy. Or, to make things more attractive, we add the letter A before the last syllable. Sokchenda becomes Ada, which is nicer than Da.

Complications

La chose se complique lorsque la dame devient mère. Elle perdra alors son prénom pour se voir appeler par le prénom de sa fille précédé de Mé. Ainsi, Thavy qui a une fille prénommée Dathsy deviendra Mé Sy (la mère de Sy) ! Simple non ? Et le bébé Dathsy sera longtemps appelé Oun Sy jusqu’à ce qu’elle soit assez grande pour changer son prénom surtout auprès des copines à l’école.

Orientation

Finding your way around Cambodia is no Google Map. Western users of the various taxi companies that use mobile phone applications know all about this. As soon as their request is accepted and despite their geolocation on a virtual map, the driver makes a phone call to find out where they are. Cambodians orientate themselves using islands in a space that is not continuous, but made up like a leopard's skin. They use important features of the urban landscape such as markets, pagodas and so on. For example, they are generally unfamiliar with 240 Street, whereas all the drivers are perfectly familiar with Pleuv Rong Damrey, the street of the elephant shelter (located in the south-east corner of the Royal Palace).

In Cambodia, but not only in Cambodia, in Thailand too, you can only orient yourself by referring to the points of the compass.

If your wife tells you to go and get the bath towel from the cupboard in your bedroom, she will specify that it is to the east or west in that cupboard, thus indicating to you, according to her system of location, whether you should open the door with your left or right hand. A Cambodian knows immediately where he is in relation to the sun, whereas a Westerner will have to take a few minutes to visualise the wind rose...

Here too, the translation of the four cardinal points is quite extraordinary in its symbolism: the North (Khaing Tcheung) is translated as: on the side of the feet; the South (Khaing tböong) is designated by the side of the precious stones; the East (Khaing kaoet) is the side of birth (the sun rises in the East) and finally the West is situated where the sun disappears (Khaing leck).

Sauciness

When you're learning a language, one of the first things you usually want to know are a few dirty words, or at least a handful of insults. In Cambodia, we generally separate insults directed at men from those directed at women. In addition to the traditional ‘thieves’ and ‘jinxes’, a woman may be called a ‘black liver’, a ‘slave’, ‘impassive’, ‘imperfect’, ‘hard-headed’ and, to top it all off, a ‘spendthrift’! All of these insults begin with the Mi word, which is essential for the aggressive side of the invective.

In the case of the men, the insults are even more outrageous, such as ‘bicycle chain’ (À Tchröva: which actually means ‘go and get yourself handcuffed’) or ‘go and take some bullets you vagabond (A ké bagn A youkôong)’! And if that wasn't enough, you could add: ‘va te faire frapper par la foudre (A rountéah bagn)’ or ‘va te dissoudre (A roliéy)’! Here it's the letter A that reinforces the insulting character. Never call someone a ‘dirty dog’, it's the worst insult there is!

Finally, you should know that verlan is very common in Cambodia, but it is almost exclusively used for naughty phrases that modesty forbids us from revealing here... Verlan competitions are even organised on local television during entertainment programmes, providing the opportunity for huge laughs for the participants and the audience!

And some people still think that Cambodian is a simplistic language, because it has no simple past or future tense, and nouns have no definite or indefinite articles!

So, my dear parents, don't be struck by lightning, don't be shackled and don't dissolve!

Frédéric Amat