Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| មានន័យ | miən nɨy |
| ចង់ថា | cɑŋ tʰaa |
| ចង់និយាយ | cɑŋ ni’yiey |
When you want to talk about the definition or significance of a word or concept, use មានន័យ. To ask for the definition of something, the standard phrase is មានន័យថាម៉េច?
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase មានន័យ is composed of មាន, which means "to have" and ន័យ, which means "meaning" or "sense".
Which one should you use?
While មានន័យ is the standard way to express meaning, there are colloquial alternatives used for clarification in conversation. ចង់ថា is used when you want to say "I mean…" or "I am trying to say…" to clarify a point. Similarly, ចង់និយាយ can be used to express intent, literally meaning "want to speak" (e.g., "What I mean is…").
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To connect a subject to its definition or a consequence, you should add the particle ថា (that) to the phrase, resulting in មានន័យថា (means that).
How do you pronounce it?
miən nɨy
Did you know?
- In formal or royal contexts, the verbs for 'to speak' and 'to mean' change entirely to specialized vocabulary known as 'Rachasap', making ចង់និយាយ inappropriate for addressing royalty.
- The word ន័យ (meaning) is a loanword from the Pali word 'naya', which originally referred to a 'path' or 'method' of understanding.
- While មានន័យ refers to the meaning of a word, the phrase មានន័យ is also used to describe a moment or a gift as 'meaningful' or 'significant' in an emotional sense.
Examples in context
- …មានន័យថាម៉េច?What does … mean?This sentence is useful for asking for the definition or clarification of a word or concept using មានន័យ.
- ពាក្យនេះមានន័យថាអ្វី?peak nis mean ney tha avei?What does this word mean?
- ស្នាមញញឹមនេះមានន័យល្អណាស់។snam nhonh nim nis mean ney lor nah.This smile has a very good meaning.
Example conversation
Sok and Chinda are looking at a Khmer textbook in a cafe.
- សុខ Sokពាក្យមួយនេះមានន័យថាម៉េច?peak mouy nis mean ney tha mech?What does this word mean?
- ចិន្តា Chindaវាមានន័យថា សំណាងល្អ។vea mean ney tha som nang lor.It means good luck.
- សុខ Sokអរគុណ ចិន្តា។orkun Chinda.Thank you, Chinda.
- ចិន្តា Chindaមិនអីទេ សុខ។min ey te, Sok.You're welcome, Sok.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “mean” translations and entries មានន័យ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries មានន័យ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
