Re: A Language in Crisis [or a Khmer language in crisis?]: By Theary Seng
Language is a collection of words used and put together by those who use it to produce the intended meanings which are understood very well by other users who share the custom, culture, location and the language itself. It is the mean of communication between and among people.
A rule of a language is an observation of how the language is used and spoken. It is not someone's creation to be imposed upon the majority to follow.
New words can be agreed upon and thus created to fill in the gaps in the thought process which is sometimes not common in Cambodian, but again there are a lot of thought processes in Cambodian which the English speakers would have problems trying to express in English.
English is just one of the many languages in the world. It is not any better or worse than Cambodian. Don't be fooled to think that English is the best language that can be used to express human thoughts.
You can express your thoughts better with English because you were raised speaking English. A Cambodian can also express his thoughts better with Cambodian because he was raised speaking Cambodian.
Just look at the book of Tum Teav written in poetry and you can see how beautifully the poet expresses his thoughts.
To say that Cambodian language is dying is ridiculous. You cannot just use a few examples and some of them don't even make sense to prove your point that a language will die.
Cambodian language only dies if Cambodians stop using it. It has survived worse periods in the Cambodian history so it won't die easily and will never die.
Any language has bad words which are used to express anger, frustration, hopelessness, rudeness, uncivilized behaviours, etc.
English has the same bad words such as motherf..ker, f..king idiot, moron, asshole, piece of shit, etc.
There is nothing wrong in using the word "Phoeum" to mean "pregnant". This word has been used to refer to both pregnant woman and pregnant animal. All of my life I have used and heard such a word used without any bad connotaton to refer to pregnancy.
You can't change a language to prevent people from using impolite, rude, crude and dehumanising words; they exist in every language under the sky. Those are words created to express anger, insult and belittlement.
English has all of the bad words too; it even has word such as "negro" which is a really horrible word used with only one intention of showing racism and hatred.
Translation from one language to another is not easy because people think and express the same thoughts in different ways. If Theary tries to read and understand the Khmer translation with her English mind then, of course, she will be very confused!
And if she tries to find or even create words, phrases, sentences or paragraph in Khmer to represent their counterparts in English with her English or American thinking, she will confuse the Khmers who think in Khmers even more.
It is not an easy solution and it will take time to resolve this matter as Theary or anyone like her can learn to think in Khmer by de-learning (if there is such a word in English - or is it possible that the English language also lacks words I can use to express my Khmer thought!) her American way of thinking, which is not superior anyway, and begins to think more like a Cambodian since she is more Cambodian in her look than American after all.
That is how you try to bridge the gap.
You are bringing into Cambodia lots of technical and foreign legal thoughts and you expect the language to evolve fast enough to meet your need and demand. It cannot do that until the people of the country begin to understand those thoughts very well the way you intend them to mean before they could come up with words or phrases in Khmer with similar meaning.
I find the article insulting and lacking the true understanding of how language works.
"I see a lot of Cambodians who are unable to communicate clearly and precisely..."
Wow! Theary, you are certainly insulting me since I am also Cambodians and could be one of those many Cambodians you mentioned in your article. Again, you are thinking in American and not in Cambodian way in your head and no wonder you can't understand us.
Anet Khmer
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Anonymous said...
Anet Khmer
Theary Seng has her valid points to be raised. Some of her arguments are not very strong and can be rebutted but overall, she has done a good job by pointing out the defects for improvement. She doesn't mean to put Khmer down or insulting anyone.
I admire her for her courage.
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Anonymous said...
'Anekachun' was used for political reason to put down Khmer overseas during the 1980-90s whern Hun Sen was under the yuon feet. Thus word has stuck, and now become normal word although Khmer people don't realise that the real meaning of the word should not be applicable to Khmer overseas, but yuon who live in srok khmer.
Lots of Khmer people in srok khmer these days are not proficient in their own language. Sign boards in Phnom Penh contain all sorts of errors - from grammar to spelling.
Just read Koh Santeapheap, their Khmer language has no proper structure - no grammar and vocabulary, most are written by young journalists who unemployed and want to earn a quick living out of so-called journalism.
The outcomes show when there are too many Ph.Ds without having to study for them.
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Anonymous said...
I agree with all of Theary's points here. Khmer language lacks clarity, but I tend to blame the ambiguity on the writers who can't express themselves properly. In the old days, before 1970, many writers wrote pretty good books and articles. These days, many writers can't even write like junior high school students in America. The articles they wrote are often very confusing, upside down, the sequent of event have been put upside down, all over the places and the language is terrible.
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Anonymous said...
She is so right. Khmer in the country can't read, write proper Khmer these days. They use nouns as verbs, verbs as nouns. They use big words to show off their big heads. Oh, well, don't ever think Khmer people in Cambodia know their own language better than Khmer overseas. I ended up correcting many of them, and they were embarrassed.
Theary is not an expert of the language as she said, but her observation is so accurate and set to stir up debate among the so-called scholars of the language.
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Anonymous said...
Theary was right, she's absolutely right. Today teacher is terrible, the teacher couldn't speak Khmer correctly and spell Khmer correctly. Please do ask the first generation educator they all agree.
22 comments:
She's not insulting you. You're insulting yourself and the new generation. You need to go back to re-educate yourself. I've seen on CTN teaching Khmer. Almost every words she spoke and spell are incorrect, this show on national TV what a shame. Make some correction before you stating Theary insulting you. You need to be insulted. Call yourself an educator!!!! go back to school doggy!!!
i also agree with theary seng those dumm khmer youn and khmer chinese they didn't speak khmer properly they all speak khmer street language start from the Hun sen family they all speak street khmer language, miss spelling every where in khmer yi hor name for their restaurant. they say grass is blue instead of green and all of those khmer people in srok khmer are dis functional they can't distinguising between color green and blue, light red, dark red, what so ever they call it red and dark blur they call it black these khmer people are stupid. i think they all are viet name and chinese don't how to speaking khmer.
She thinks she's better than other Cambodians, yet she's now not only insulting herself but the rest of Cambodian people and its land.
How many advanced Khmer courses had she taken when she studied Khmer (if she went to school)to appreciate the complexity of the Khmer language?
Has she spent time speaking with Khmer monks? Perhaps these monks can tell her a lot about the language.
I think she's just being foolish and stupid, and she should be ashamed of herself for insulting herself and her country's language. Also, perhaps it's time for her to get to know her people, and it's time to get away from those foreigners.
I think. Theary doesn't know how to express her thoughts and her good feelings. She need to tell us her positions.
In fact, it is not about language. She should worry about Cambodians nowadays who use language improperly, not the language (improvement) itself.
I think Theary should leave the literature professional to work of the minister of education. She is in no position correct anyone on Khmer literature while herself can't speak proper Khmer. Language evolves over time; Cambodian languages need to evolve and adapt to new generation and yes spelling should be use properly and uniformity in the nation but we cannot say that the new ways is wrong. Whatever the standard and recognize by the nation and used by Cambodian then it should be the standard. For example, in the US; the word "dog" used regularly now among young generation if they are close friend to some body. They would call their friend "that is my dog" Cambodian would look at it as offensive language. Some say "that my niger" this sound bad but it is not with the new generations. My point is language evolve from generation after generation. If you read the ancient scripture on the wall of Ankor Wat; it is much different from current Cambodian writing because it evolves. I totally agree with "Anet Khmer". Theary should do more research before putting out the article bashing Cambodian language usage or scaring people that the language will be exsting etc.
"The Cambodian language is dying: the spoken language is either crude and earthy (to the point of offensiveness) or highly stylized (to the point of incomprehension); the written language is in crisis from carelessness and undevelopment, mummified from antiquity, rattled by modernity. And no one is doing anything about it."!!!
It is shocking to say the least to hear someone among the Cambodian elite stating something like this. Theary doesn’t talk about any particular person, any particular milieu, or any particular social class in Khmer society. She is talking a bout Khmer language in general which is the result of the work of more than two thousands years of people of our great nation, Cambodia. In every language in used everywhere in the world there are always levels or registries. The registry is a familiar spontaneous speech, oral model which also depends on the knowledge of the interlocutors, the socio-cultural level, the respect or the politeness of the speakers.
If Theary were pointing to a particular group of people in society, such as people in the media, news announcers for example, where oftentimes they are showing lack of general culture, that we can understand. Otherwise, she may just want to make a point to insult the current regime for not doing enough to treasure our language.
I would suggest that Theary should be more precise in her critics, mainly in a topic as much important as our culture. SOMDEY SOR JATI, MEARYEAT SOR POUCH. You touch our language is tantamount to touching our nation as a whole.
Anet Khmer,
Please express your thought in Khmer if what you say is right. Why use English to express your opinion? Show us your love of Khmer language by writing in Khmer. That's the dilemma, if you see what I mean!
Best regards
For some of those commented above, please watch your language. You were making a generalization about Khmer new generations, which I don't think is necessary right. There are of course present Khmers, who know Khmer better than those Khmer in the past too. And the use of the language is not the result from the ruling of some people; think also about how the crazy Khmer Rouge time influence the education in Cambodia. I don't know if you still live in Cambodia, but making such a generalized criticism, which doesn't sound so reasonable, really hurts me as one of the present Khmer scholars.
Guys, be nice to Theary. She just want to put in another grant for literacy research to pay for high profile salary so that she can remain in Cambodia otherwise she will have to fly to DC. She doesn't have any man to support her. Cambodian guy is not man enough to handle her needs.
You kidding me! she is available? I don't think so because I saw her hopping in the clubs like American girls. She drank alcohol like water. This is the culture she adores and showing off to us Khmer people that we are not good enough like her friends from Western country.
Theary needs to spend more time with her people--not foreigners.
If she's smart, return to the US and try to find other, trial lawyer, for instance, other than NGO jobs. Also, I think this is the only position she qualifies to do. She won't last two second as a trial lawyer. Besides, I don't think the US law firm would hire her. She's only smart only among her peers and her low-level educated persons around her.
I condemn her for insulting her native language.
I tip my cap to Anet Khmer for his view. Again, you've done a great job.
For Theary, you need to find a new job.
18 August 2011 5:25 AM
That explains why she likes to hang with foreigners.
She needs to become Cambodian first before she can help or criticize Cambodia. I say to her: what a shame. And this is a great shame on her.
Yes, I concur that she should stick with her foreign friends. No, she never thinks Cambodian men are good for her.
This woman is not a good example for Cambodia. Cambodia deserves better. Not this trash.
18 August 2011 4:27 AM,
I am not quite sure what you intend to imply here with your comment concerning my writing in English. After all, your response to my opinion was also written in English and not in Khmer and your comment is very short which can be written in Khmer very fast.
Writing in English is by no means represents a lack of love for the Khmer language. Loving a country or her language is a subjective matter so you can choose to judge me by whatever way you want as I feel no need to prove my love for Cambodia and her language to anyone since I never aspire to seek any fame, position or support to run for an office in Cambodia or anywhere else.
The article is written in English so it is appropriate for the response to be in English also considering the time constraint and the fact that Ms. Theary Seng is much more fluent and well versed in English.
If the public debate one day is started in Cambodia on the health of the Khmer language, Anet Khmer will surely be there to debate it, if allowed, either in English or Cambodian or both.
Anet Khmer was born in Cambodia, has lived and been educated long enough in the country to be fluent in Cambodian language to challege any debate in Khmer on the majority issues facing Cambodia.
You can rest assured that the Khmer pronunciation of Anet Khmer in the debate is really Khmer that no Cambodian who was born and raised in Cambodia will have any problem understanding it.
Anet Khmer
Dear Theary,
Stop being the know-it-all all the time. There are the formal and informal usage of every language. For professional work, you use formal version of the language. For speaking purpose, people often use the same language with different slangs and such according to the geographical areas they are from. Look at the English language, the English people speak differently from the American. The Australian speak English differently from other native English speakers. It's called culture.
Just because you are privileged enough to have gone through higher education classrooms, don't be such a self-important know-it-all that you portray yourself to be.
Isn't it ironic how she is always preaching about freedom but now she is telling people how something should be done? Hypocrisy much?
Lastly, language does evolve. Khmer language today isn't what it was a thousand years ago. Look at the base reliefs on the walls of Angkor or other ancient temples. Can you read what that ancient Khmer writing? If you can't, what does that mean? It means the language has evolved. It's not declining. It is evolving. It has, is, and will be.
Preach about change all you want but when the change isn't something you are accustomed to, you got a problem with it. What's the word for that kind of mentality again? You who read my comment here know it well.
Thanks
7:09 AM,
Very well said, indeed!
Son Chhay is a liar and corrupt. He accepted money ($10,000)from Hun Sen in 1997 and Hun Sen's business crony Kith Meng in 2008 - before the National Assumbly Swearing-In-Ceremony! This is a fact!
have you seen how Theary dance in the bar? I bet she is wild in bed. Sweetheart come back home to cambodia man. You can listen to our song in native language and you can curse your husband in the native tongue. You can use improper Khmer language. The matter of fact you don't have to spend $18 for a peice of salad and so much money on beers. You can come home eat Cambodian foods. What you say? Cambodian guy or foreigner? I hope you dont take this as insult; we love you and we want you to treat Khmer the same way as you treat your western friends or better. Don't forget your root my lady. If you are in America, you got to take the bar exam in order to practice your law degree any way. You should continue to fight for Cambodian but dont hang around too much at the bar or show off your video at the bar dancing like some horney ass girl. I totally agree with Anet Khmer; he got more sense than you.
Dear Theary:
Don't let all he commentors take you down. You should be stronged and continue to do what you do. Although, I would leave the literacy to the educated Cambodian in the country who specialize in language deal with it. There are many educated Cambodian out there. I agree with some of the comments; especially about language evolves. It is true, language does evolves generation after generation. Shall I say, language has grown more and more as human evolves. You can't expect everyone to speak the same dialect because we come from different area. For example some khmer in Siem Reap said ដាក់ត្រពូកអង្គុយ it sounds nasty but it has simple meaning for sit down. As you can see it is depend where you are at and you can't expect people to speak like a business person if you they are from the farm. You get what I am saying? Our language is not dying it is growing. However, I do agree that we need to ensure the correct spellings etc. We can also continue to invent our language as we became more sophisticated. I admire you and love you. Keep up the good work on the Khmer Rouge trial and continue to advocate for Khmer people. Many comments speak about your behaviors; dont be mad at them because they might saw your flaw and it is good to know and learned from your mistake. I too saw the video you are dancing in the bar but it is normal for another human being to have a good time; I realized that ordinary Khmer girl probably not outgoing such as clubing like American girl. However, you grown up different from them but you alway love your birth country that is why you return. I admire your work and proud of you. I would enouraged all Cambodian commentors to give her a break and praise her for what she has done with the Khmer Rouge trial.
Warrior Blood.
Theary, although not a language expert, has raised very valid points. She left Cambodia when she was very young but she can still speak Cambodian very good and fluently.
The Khmer language, become very crude. Local people can't find the right word or phrase to express something correctly, often resorting to use crude and descriptive long phrases to describe some simple things. Journalists for magazines, newspapers, TVs and Radio are not well educated, they can't write and speak properly. The newspaper reports are terrible, they write everything all over the place, no sequent, no structure, just write like a child talking. Even the system of writing are all over the place, there is no uniformity in the spelling, the term and forms. Writers just spell whatever way they wanted.
Let’s imagine Seng Theary minister of culture trying to tell foreigners that .Khmer language is dying. So far she were always selling herself so well, since each time she has spoken out, her big picture popped up to impose to the views of readers. Everyone knows the Khmer saying .PHEASAR ROS JATI ROS, PHEASAR SLAP JATI SLAP!.. And Seng Theary affirms that .Khmer language is dying. This American lady takes the liberty of insulting more than two thousands years of Khmer history inscribed on thousands Angkor steles, on palm leaves, and the many authors of Khmer monumental literature, the like Phikho Saom, Somdech Choun Nath, Pang Khat, Hout Tat, poet and linguists like Keng Van Sak, Khoun Sokham Phou, Khin Sok et al. It looks like the last nail is down on her reputation coffin. Stupid girl!
Please have an open mind about what Theary Seng has said. Khmer language scholars had never fully finished their job before Cambodia met its catastrophe in the 1970s-1990s. Samdech Chuon Nath,Keng Vansak, among others, were still arguing about how to spell words wqhen srok khmer was dragged into the wars. If one read Khmer scripts Pre-French, the spelling of most words were diffrent from today. The Khmerakyean Kam period was very short-lived. During the PRK period, Hun Sen ordered Khmer spelling be changed - simplified, to th horror of some intellectuals like Chan Ven, Vandy Kao-on; thus we are seeing anarchic ways of spelling khmer vocabulary right now. Everyone is their own master. Just read those margarzines and newspapers in Cambodia right now, the grammar and spelling are so unorthordox, hapharzard, repetitive in sentences.
Goodthat recently the govt has established a Khmer Language institute to look into this. I commend them.
What Theary has pointed out has very much relevance and truth and I never cease to admire her bravery amidst her critics who at times seem to be bent on jealousy of her intellectual creativity than debating the real issues.
It is amazing; this article stir up many comments. It shows that Khmer pays attention to their language; for those that claimed the language is dying; well here is your answer. Theary, you should reexamine your behavior because many comments brought up were the same thing regarding your treatment of other Khmer vs foriegner and your bar hopping behavior. I guess, it is your rights to have fun the way you wanted if you don't care what others think. Remember, you are a public figure now whether you like it or not so it is your choice if you wanted to limit some criticism.
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