រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល
riikriəythngaybonyɔɔnouʼael
To say "merry Christmas" in Khmer, use រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល (riikriəythngaybonyɔɔnouʼael). If unsure, use រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល. Wiktionary also lists បុណ្យណូអែល (bon-nouʼael).
Meaning: good wishes at Christmas time (phrase)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល | riikriəythngaybonyɔɔnouʼael |
| បុណ្យណូអែល | bon-nouʼael |
This phrase is used to express good wishes during the Christmas season.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល is composed of រីករាយ (happy), ថ្ងៃ (day), បុណ្យ (festival or holiday) and ណូអែល (Christmas).
Which one should you use?
រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល is the full phrase for "Merry Christmas", whereas បុណ្យណូអែល refers specifically to "Christmas" or "the Christmas festival" itself.
How do you pronounce it?
riikriəythngaybonyɔɔnouʼael
Did you know?
- The word ណូអែល used in the phrase is a loanword from the French 'Noël'.
- The word បុណ្យ in the phrase refers to a merit-making ceremony, reflecting the deep influence of Buddhism on the Khmer concept of a 'holiday'.
- Because Cambodia is predominantly Buddhist, saying រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល is often seen as a friendly gesture of cosmopolitanism rather than a religious statement.
Examples in context
- រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល!reak reay thngay bon noel!Merry Christmas!
- ជូនពរអ្នករីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល។chun por neak reak reay thngay bon noel.I wish you a Merry Christmas.
- រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែលដល់គ្រួសារអ្នក។reak reay thngay bon noel dol kruosar neak.Merry Christmas to your family.
Example conversation
Two friends meet at a holiday party.
- ស្រីនី Sreynyរីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែល រតនៈ!rikray thngai bon noel Ratanak!Merry Christmas, Ratanak!
- រតនៈ Ratanakអរគុណ ស្រីនី! រីករាយថ្ងៃបុណ្យណូអែលដូចគ្នា។orkoun Sreyni! rikray thngai bon noel doch knea.Thank you, Sreyni! Merry Christmas to you too.
- ស្រីនី Sreynyតើអ្នកមានគម្រោងអ្វីសម្រាប់ថ្ងៃនេះ?tae neak mien kumrong ey samrap thngai nis?Do you have any plans for today?
- រតនៈ Ratanakខ្ញុំនឹងទៅញ៉ាំអីជាមួយគ្រួសារ។khnhom neng tov nham ey cheamouy krousar.I am going to eat with my family.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “merry Christmas” translations and entries បុណ្យណូអែល, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries បុណ្យណូអែល, CC BY-SA 4.0.
