ខាងត្បូង
khaang tboung
In Khmer, the English word 'south' is ខាងត្បូង (khaang tboung). Wiktionary also lists ទក្សិណ (tĕəksən).
Meaning: compass point (noun)
Ways to say it
| Khmer | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| ខាងត្បូង | khaang tboung |
| ទក្សិណ | tĕəksən |
The term refers to the compass point south.
What does it mean word for word?
The word ខាងត្បូង is composed of ខាង (khaang), meaning 'side' or 'direction' and ត្បូង (tboung), meaning 'south'.
Which one should you use?
ខាងត្បូង is the standard, everyday term for 'south', whereas ទក្សិណ is a formal or literary term derived from Sanskrit/Pali.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To express movement toward the south, the verb ទៅ (to go) is added before the direction ខាងត្បូង to form ទៅខាងត្បូង.
How do you pronounce it?
khaang tboung
Did you know?
- The word ទក្សិណ shares a common ancestor with the Sanskrit word dakṣiṇā, which originally referred to a 'gift' or 'payment' given to a priest.
- In traditional Khmer culture, the word for 'south' is closely linked to how people position themselves while sleeping. It is custom to lay one's head toward the south and feet toward the north.
- Khmer uses distinct registers for simple directions, where ខាងត្បូង is common speech and ទក្សិណ is reserved for literature and royal contexts.
Examples in context
- ផ្ទះរបស់ខ្ញុំនៅខាងត្បូងទីក្រុង។phteah roboh khnhom nov khang tboung ti krong.My house is south of the city.
- យើងត្រូវធ្វើដំណើរទៅទិសខាងត្បូង។yeung trov tveu dam ner tov tis khang tboung.We must travel towards the south.
Example conversation
Sokha and Narong are looking at a map.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongតើខេត្តនេះនៅផ្នែកណា?Ter khet nis nov pnek na?Which part is this province in?
- សុខា Sokhaវាស្ថិតនៅខាងត្បូងនៃប្រទេស។Veas sthet nov khang tboung nei prateh.It is located in the south of the country.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongអូ ខ្ញុំយល់ហើយ។Oh, khnhom yol haey.Oh, I understand now.
- សុខា Sokhaយើងគួរតែទៅទីនោះ។Yeung kuar tae tov ti noh.We should go there.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “south” translations and entries ខាងត្បូង, ទក្សិណ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
