សួស្តី
suəsdəy
សួស្តី (suəsdəy) is the Khmer way to say hey.
សួស្តី is used as an informal greeting.
Meaning: informal greeting (intj)
How do you pronounce it?
suəsdəy
When do people say it?
It is common for Cambodians to bow slightly while saying greetings as a sign of respect.
Did you know?
- In very casual settings, friends may skip សួស្តី entirely and instead ask ញ៉ាំបាយនៅ? meaning 'Have you eaten rice yet?', which functions as a greeting.
- The word សួស្តី is actually a direct descendant of the Sanskrit word svasti, which is the same root found in the English word 'swastika'. In its original Sanskrit context, it signifies 'well-being' or 'good fortune'.
- The 'Sampeah' gesture, often performed alongside greetings, involves pressing your palms together near the chest. The higher you hold your hands on your body, the higher the social status of the person you are greeting.
Examples in context
- សួស្តី ឯង!suosdey eng!Hey you!
- សួស្តី សុខសប្បាយទេ?suosdey sok sabaay te?Hey, how are you?
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a cafe.
- រតនៈ Ratanakសួស្តី ស្រីនី!Suostei Sreyniy!Hey Sreyniy!
- ស្រីនី Sreynyសួស្តី រតនៈ! អ្នកមកដល់ពេលណា?Suostei Rotanak! Neak mok dol pel na?Hey Rotanak! When did you arrive?
- រតនៈ Ratanakខ្ញុំទើបតែមកដល់មិញនេះទេ។Khnom teub tae mok dol minh nis te.I just arrived right now.
- ស្រីនី Sreynyតោះ ពួកយើងចូលក្នុងទាំងអស់គ្នា។Toh, pouk yeung chol knong teang os knia.Come on, let's go inside together.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries សួស្តី, CC BY-SA 4.0.
