បាយ
baay
In Khmer, rice is expressed using different words depending on its state, with the default form being បាយ (baay). Wiktionary also lists ស្រូវ (srəw) and អង្ករ (ʼɑɑʼɑngkɑɑ).
Meaning: seeds used as food (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| បាយ | baay |
| ស្រូវ | srəw |
| អង្ករ | ʼɑɑʼɑngkɑɑ |
The word បាយ refers to cooked rice that is ready to eat. Because it is a staple food, it is also often used metonymically to mean a meal in general, such as breakfast, lunch or dinner.
Which one should you use?
Khmer distinguishes between the different stages of rice: ស្រូវ refers specifically to unhusked rice or paddy used for planting or processing, while អង្ករ refers to raw, uncooked rice grains. Once the rice has been prepared and is ready to eat, you must use បាយ.
How do you pronounce it?
baay
What mistakes should you avoid?
Avoid using អង្ករ when you are talking about the cooked rice that is currently being eaten. You should use បាយ instead.
Did you know?
- Because បាយ means both 'cooked rice' and 'meal', asking someone if they have eaten បាយ is a common way to say 'hello' in Cambodia.
- The word for cooked rice, បាយ, is actually a distant relative of the word for 'meat' or 'wild animal' in some related Mon-Khmer languages like Bulo Stieng.
Examples in context
- ថម ចង់ញ៉ាំបាយឆា ។Tom wants to eat fried rice.This sentence shows how to use បាយ when talking about a specific dish like fried rice.Tatoeba #4526987 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #4695586 by CK
- ខ្ញុំកំពុងញ៉ាំបាយ ។I am eating rice.This sentence demonstrates the use of បាយ to describe the act of eating cooked rice.Tatoeba #3941505 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #334464 by guyviet
- ខ្ញុំចង់ទិញបាយ។I would like to buy rice.
- តើអ្នកចង់ញ៉ាំបាយជាមួយអ្វី?tae neak jong nham bay cheamuoy avei?What do you want to eat your rice with?
Example conversation
Mali and Vibol are having lunch together.
- វិបុល Vibolម៉ាលី តើអ្នកចង់ញ៉ាំបាយទេ?Mali, tae neak chong nham bay te?Mali, do you want to eat rice?
- ម៉ាលី Malyចង់ ខ្ញុំឃ្លានបាយណាស់។chong, khnhom khlean bay nah.Yes, I am very hungry for rice.
- វិបុល Vibolចាំខ្ញុំដួសបាយឱ្យ។cham khnhom dous bay oy.Wait, I will scoop some rice for you.
- ម៉ាលី Malyអរគុណច្រើន វិបុល។orkun chreun, Vibol.Thank you very much, Vibol.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “rice” translations and entries បាយ, ស្រូវ, អង្ករ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries បាយ, ស្រូវ, អង្ករ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
