សូមស្វាគមន៍
som svakom
The English phrase 'welcome' is expressed in Khmer as សូមស្វាគមន៍ (som svakom).
សូមស្វាគមន៍ is used as a greeting when someone arrives. The core phrase ស្វាគមន៍ is the most common and general way to say welcome in Cambodia. If you want to welcome someone specifically to a particular place, you use the structure សូមស្វាគមន៍មកកាន់… followed by the location.
Meaning: greeting given upon someone's arrival (intj)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of សូម, which means 'please' and ស្វាគមន៍, which means 'to welcome' or 'to receive'.
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
The inclusion of សូម makes សូមស្វាគមន៍ a polite and formal greeting, which is suitable for welcoming guests or making public announcements.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to the act of welcoming as a noun, you can add the prefix ការ to the verb ស្វាគមន៍ to form ការស្វាគមន៍.
How do you pronounce it?
som svakom
Did you know?
- While សូមស្វាគមន៍ is used for arrivals, Cambodians rarely use it to mean 'you are welcome' after someone says thank you. Instead, they might say មិនអីទេ, which literally means 'it is nothing'.
- The word ស្វាគមន៍ is closely related to the Pali word svāgata, which was used in ancient Buddhist texts to welcome guests.
- When saying សូមស្វាគមន៍ in a formal setting, it is often accompanied by the sampeah gesture, where the palms are pressed together like a lotus bud. The height of the hands indicates the social status of the person being welcomed.
Examples in context
- តាតូអេបា សូមស្វាគមន៍!Welcome to Tatoeba!This sentence shows how to use សូមស្វាគមន៍ in a welcoming greeting.Tatoeba #5021524 by angkorsovannnaga, translation #1205289 by bart
- សូមស្វាគមន៍មកកាន់ប្រទេសកម្ពុជា។som svakum mok kan prates kampuchea.Welcome to Cambodia.
- សូមស្វាគមន៍មកកាន់ផ្ទះរបស់យើង។som svakum mok kan pteah robos yeung.Welcome to our house.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Vibol welcomes Chinda to his new office.
- វិបុល Vibolសូមស្វាគមន៍មកកាន់ការិយាល័យថ្មីរបស់ខ្ញុំ។som svakum mok kan kariya lay thmey robos khnom.Welcome to my new office.
- ចិន្តា Chindaអរគុណច្រើន វិបុល។orkun chreun, Vibol.Thank you very much, Vibol.
- វិបុល Vibolតើអ្នកមានអារម្មណ៍យ៉ាងណាដែរនៅទីនេះ?tae nek mean aram yang na der nov ti nih?How do you feel here?
- ចិន្តា Chindaវាស្អាតខ្លាំងណាស់។vea s-at khlang nah.It is very beautiful.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
