ពូ
pou
The Khmer word for uncle is ពូ (pou).
ពូ is a noun used to refer to the brother (or brother-in-law) of someone's parent.
Meaning: brother (or brother-in-law) of someone’s parent (noun)
Which one should you use?
Adding the honorific លោក to the front makes the term more polite when addressing or referring to an uncle.
How do you pronounce it?
pou
Did you know?
- If you use ពូ to address someone much older than your parents, it could actually be perceived as disrespectful. In those cases, more senior honorifics are required to avoid sounding condescending.
- In Cambodia, you might call a complete stranger ពូ if they appear to be around your parents' age. It is a way to show friendliness and social closeness rather than literal kinship.
- While ពូ is used for an uncle, Khmer has different specific words depending on whether the uncle is older or younger than the parent.
Examples in context
- ម្សិលមិញពូខ្ញុំទិញឆ្កែ។Yesterday my uncle bought a dog.This sentence is useful for practicing the use of ពូ in a sentence about a past action.Tatoeba #2831805 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #602524 by CK
- ពូរបស់ខ្ញុំចិត្តល្អណាស់។pou robos khnhom chet laor nah.My uncle is very kind.
- តើពូរបស់អ្នកនៅឯណា?tae pou robos neak nov ena?Where is your uncle?
Example conversation
Chinda is showing a photograph to Ratanaka.
- រតនៈ Ratanakតើអ្នកនេះជាអ្នកណា?tae neak nih chea neak na?Who is this person?
- ចិន្តា Chindaគាត់គឺជាពូរបស់ខ្ញុំ។koat keu chea pu robos khnhom.He is my uncle.
- រតនៈ Ratanakគាត់មើលទៅចិត្តល្អណាស់។koat merl tov chet l-or nah.He looks very kind.
- ចិន្តា Chindaចាស ពូខ្ញុំចិត្តល្អណាស់។chas pu khnhom chet l-or nah.Yes, my uncle is very kind.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
