ជម្រាបសួរ
cumriəp suə
Hello in Khmer can be said as ជម្រាបសួរ (cumriəp suə) or សួស្តី.
Meaning: greeting (intj)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ជម្រាបសួរ | cumriəp suə |
| សួស្តី | suəsdəy |
What does it mean word for word?
The formal greeting ជម្រាបសួរ is composed of the respectful verb ជម្រាប, which means to inform or to report respectfully and the verb សួរ, which means to ask or to greet.
Which one should you use?
ជម្រាបសួរ is the formal way to say hello, whereas សួស្តី is the informal way to say hello.
How do you pronounce it?
cumriəp suə
Did you know?
- In many social contexts, Cambodians may skip the word 'hello' entirely and instead ask 'Have you eaten yet?' as a way to greet someone.
- The informal 'hello', សួស្តី, shares a common ancestor with the Sanskrit word svasti, which is the root of the English word 'good fortune' or the concept of 'swastika'.
- When using the formal ជម្រាបសួរ, it is customary to perform the 'Sampeah', a gesture where you press your palms together near your chest. The higher your hands are held, the more respect you show to the person you are greeting.
Examples in context
- ជម្រាបសួរ លោកគ្រូ។chum reap suor lok kru.Hello, teacher.
- សូមជម្រាបសួរ អ្នកទាំងអស់គ្នា។soum chum reap suor neak teang os knia.Hello to everyone.
Example conversation
Ratan greets Mali formally at the office.
- ម៉ាលី Malyជម្រាបសួរ រតនៈ។choum reap sour RatanHello, Ratan.
- រតនៈ Ratanakជម្រាបសួរ ម៉ាលី។choum reap sour MaliHello, Mali.
- ម៉ាលី Malyតើអ្នកសុខសប្បាយទេ?tae neak sok sabbay te?How are you?
- រតនៈ Ratanakខ្ញុំសុខសប្បាយទេ អរគុណ។khnhom sok sabbay te, or kunI am fine, thank you.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “hello” translations and entries ជម្រាបសួរ, សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ជម្រាបសួរ, សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0.
