អរគុណ
ʼɑɑ kun
To say thank in Khmer, use អរគុណ (ʼɑɑ kun).
The phrase អរគុណ is used to express gratitude toward someone.
What does it mean word for word?
The word អរគុណ is composed of អរ, meaning to be happy or glad and គុណ, meaning virtue, favor or benefit.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The standard form is អរគុណ. For a more formal and polite expression, you can add សូម to the beginning to say សូមអរគុណ.
How does it change in a sentence?
To express that you are thanking someone very much, you can add the word ច្រើន (many/much) after the phrase to say អរគុណច្រើន. You can also add ណាស់ (very/extremely) at the end to say អរគុណណាស់ to emphasize the depth of your gratitude.
How do you pronounce it?
ʼɑɑ kun
When do people say it?
When someone says អរគុណ, a common response is មិនអីទេ, which literally means 'it is nothing'.
Did you know?
- The word គុណ in អរគុណ is actually a loanword from ancient Sanskrit, sharing a direct lineage with the English word 'quality' via the concept of a person's inner merit.
- The height of your hands during a sampeah while saying អរគុណ changes based on the social status of the other person, with higher hands showing more respect.
- In some traditional Cambodian contexts, thanking someone too frequently for small favors can actually be seen as creating a formal distance between people.
Examples in context
- អរគុណណាស់!Thank you very much!This example shows how to use the phrase អរគុណ with an intensifier.
- អរគុណ ចំពោះ កាដូ នេះ។orkun champous kado nih.Thank you for this gift.
Example conversation
Narong gives Mali a cup of coffee.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongនេះ សម្រាប់ អ្នក។nih samrab neak.This is for you.
- ម៉ាលី Malyអរគុណ ណារ៉ុង។orkun Narong.Thank you, Narong.
- ណារ៉ុង Narongមិន អី ទេ។min ey te.You're welcome.
- ម៉ាលី Malyវា ឆ្ងាញ់ ណាស់។vea chnganh nah.It is very delicious.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry អរគុណ, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries អរគុណ, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Wiktionary CC BY-SA 4.0.
