កូនស្រី
koun srəy
In Khmer, the word for daughter is កូនស្រី (koun srəy). Wiktionary also lists តនយា (taʼnaʼyaa) and ធីតា (thiidaa).
Meaning: female offspring (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| កូនស្រី | koun srəy |
| តនយា | taʼnaʼyaa |
| ធីតា | thiidaa |
| បុត្រី | botrəy |
The term refers to a female offspring.
What does it mean word for word?
The word កូនស្រី is composed of កូន, meaning child and ស្រី, meaning female or woman.
Which one should you use?
កូនស្រី is the standard, everyday term for daughter. In contrast, the other available forms are more formal or literary in nature.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
បុត្រី is a formal or high-register term often found in official documents or literature. ធីតា is a formal or poetic term frequently used in names or classical literature. តនយា is a highly literary or poetic term that is rarely used in spoken conversation.
How do you pronounce it?
koun srəy
Did you know?
- The formal term បុត្រី is part of a linguistic family shared with Hindi and Sanskrit, making it a cognate of the word 'putri', which means daughter in those languages.
- While 'koun srəy' is the common term, the word 'koun' (child) is also used as a respectful way to address much younger people, regardless of their gender.
- The formal words like ធីតា and បុត្រី are so literary that using them in a casual conversation would sound like someone speaking in a period drama or a poem.
Examples in context
- ខ្ញុំមានកូនស្រីម្នាក់។khnhom mean kon srey mnak.I have one daughter.
- កូនស្រីរបស់គាត់ឆ្លាតណាស់។kon srey robas koat chlat nah.His daughter is very smart.
- តើអ្នកមានកូនស្រីប៉ុន្មាននាក់?tae neak mean kon srey ponman neak?How many daughters do you have?
Example conversation
Two friends are talking about their families.
- សុខ Sokតើអ្នកមានកូនប៉ុន្មាននាក់?tae neak mean koun ponman neak?How many children do you have?
- ចិន្តា Chindaខ្ញុំមានកូនស្រីពីរនាក់។khnhom mean koun srey pi neak.I have two daughters.
- សុខ Sokពួកគេអាយុប៉ុន្មានឆ្នាំហើយ?pouke ayu ponman chhnam haey?How old are they now?
- ចិន្តា Chindaកូនស្រីច្បងអាយុប្រាំឆ្នាំ។koun srey chbong ayu pram chhnam.My eldest daughter is five years old.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “daughter” translations and entries កូនស្រី, តនយា, ធីតា, បុត្រី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries កូនស្រី, តនយា, ធីតា, បុត្រី, CC BY-SA 4.0.
