ស្ដាប់
sdap
The Khmer word for 'listen' is ស្ដាប់ (sdap).
ស្ដាប់ is a verb used to express the act of paying attention to a sound. It can also be used as an imperative command meaning 'Listen!'
Meaning: to pay attention to a sound (verb)
How do you pronounce it?
sdap
Did you know?
- In Khmer, ស្ដាប់ can be used to mean 'to obey'. Telling someone to 'listen' to their parents is a common way to say they should follow their instructions.
- When ស្ដាប់ is used in a request for attention, the speaker may accompany it with a sampeah gesture, placing palms together in a prayer-like position.
- The phonetic structure of ស្ដាប់ reveals its ancient roots in the Old Khmer verb *stap, a form that has survived for centuries.
Examples in context
- ស្ដាប់!Listen!This example shows how to use ស្ដាប់ as a direct command.Tatoeba #5673548 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1319588 by saiko
- ចូរស្ដាប់។Listen.This example demonstrates the use of ស្ដាប់ in a sentence to mean 'Listen.'.Tatoeba #2850902 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1913088 by CK
- ខ្ញុំស្ដាប់បទចម្រៀង។khnhom sdap bot chomreang.I am listening to a song.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Maly and Rotanak are in a park.
- រតនៈ Ratanakស្ដាប់សម្លេងបក្សីនោះមើល៍!sdab somleng boksey noh mer!Listen to that bird sound!
- ម៉ាលី Malyវាពិរោះណាស់។vea piroh nah.It is very beautiful.
- រតនៈ Ratanakអ្នកស្ដាប់ឮទេ?neak sdab leu te?Can you hear it?
- ម៉ាលី Malyបាទ ខ្ញុំស្ដាប់ឮ។bat khnhom sdab leu.Yes, I can hear it.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “listen” translations and entries ស្ដាប់, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries ស្ដាប់, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
