ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ
ziiraaf
The English word giraffe can be translated into Khmer as either ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ (ziiraaf) or កវែង.
Meaning: mammal (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ | ziiraaf |
| កវែង | kɑɑ vɛɛng |
You can use the loanword ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ to refer to the mammal, or use the descriptive term កវែង which literally describes the animal's physical traits.
What does it mean word for word?
The descriptive term កវែង is composed of ក, meaning neck and វែង, meaning long.
Which one should you use?
ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ is a phonetic loanword adapted from English, while កវែង is a native descriptive term meaning 'long-neck'. កវែង is more frequently used in educational or descriptive contexts.
How do you pronounce it?
ziiraaf
Did you know?
- The loanword ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ entered the Khmer language via French 'girafe' rather than directly from English.
- Because កវែង literally means 'long neck', it can be used in Khmer to describe things that are not animals, such as a 'long-necked' bottle or a specific shape, whereas ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ is strictly for the animal.
- The word ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ uses a specific consonant cluster that does not exist naturally in the Khmer phonetic system, reflecting its status as a foreign import.
Example sentences for Khmer are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Sok and Mali are visiting the zoo.
- សុខ Sokមើលនោះ! ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វខ្ពស់ណាស់។meul noh! hsiraaf khpous nah.Look there! The giraffe is so tall.
- ម៉ាលី Malyពិតមែនហើយ សុខ។pit maen haey, Sok.It really is, Sok.
- សុខ Sokតើម៉ាលីចូលចិត្តហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វទេ?tae Mali chol chett hsiraaf te?Do you like giraffes, Mali?
- ម៉ាលី Malyខ្ញុំចូលចិត្តវាណាស់។khnhom chol chett vea nah.I like them very much.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “giraffe” translations and entries ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ, កវែង, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries កវែង, ហ្សីរ៉ាហ្វ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
