Cambodian name

Cambodian names almost always consist of two elements: a surname and a given name.[1][2] (In the Western press, however, some Cambodians indicate their names with their given name before their surname.[3]) There are no middle names.[4] Generally, women are given names of things of beauty, while men are given names of virtues.[4][5] Surnames are usually taken from the surname or the given name of the father[1] and are generally monosyllabic.[6] Cambodian surnames are sometimes identical to Chinese or Vietnamese surnames.[6] Women keep their maiden names after marriage.[4]

Cambodian people are called by their given names without a title (informal) or by their given names with a title (formal); surnames are not a usual form of address.[2][4] (Surnames are used as a form of address, however, in the case of names that originated as revolutionary aliases.)

Different naming traditions exist among ethnic groups other than the Khmer majority. Among the Muslim minority, Arabic names are often used as family names.[1]

Contents

Pronounciation

Khmer uses a glottal stop which is made in the voice box and other stops p, t and k which are made in the mouth. these stops are often unaspirated so the p sounds like a "b", The t sounds like a "d" and the k sounds like a "g. Final r, d, g, s, b, z sounds are not heard, e.g., Ngor is said as "Ngow." Some final consonants are marked for silence and are therefore written but not pronounced.[7]

Family names

Cambodian names come from many different origins and have identical pronunciation to Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, and Hmong names.

Given names

Unlike Cambodian family names, given names may have multiple syllables and differ greatly. Given names were influenced greatly by Sanskrit.

Compound names

At times, many families combine shorter names to create a longer name. This happens often among the wealthier class of Cambodians.

References

  1. ^ a b c "Naming systems of the world" (self-published). Citing Huffman, Franklin Eugene. Cambodian names and titles. Institute of Far Eastern Languages, Yale University (1968). OCLC 20035170.
  2. ^ a b Short, Philip. Pol Pot: Anatomy of a Nightmare. Macmillan (2006), p xv. ISBN 0805080066.
  3. ^ Kershaw, Roger. Monarchy in South-East Asia: The Faces of Tradition in Transition. Routledge (2001), p xiv. ISBN 0415185319.
  4. ^ a b c d Valerie Ooka Pang & Li-Rong Lilly Cheng. Struggling to Be Heard: The Unmet Needs of Asian Pacific American Children. SUNY Press (1998), p51. ISBN 0791438392.
  5. ^ Asian American Community Mental Health Training Center. Bridging Cultures: Southeast Asian Refugees in America. University of Michigan (1983), p98. OCLC 10431338.
  6. ^ a b Mary Fong & Rueyling Chuang. Communicating Ethnic and Cultural Identity. Rowman & Littlefield (2003), p40. ISBN 074251739X.
  7. ^ http://www.csupomona.edu/~pronunciation/cambodian.html

1. http://www.chacha.com/question/what-are-some-common-cambodian-last-names 2. http://www.csupomona.edu/~pronunciation/cambodian.html 3. https://files.pbworks.com/download/UvRGDr1wV3/florin/13015381/what.language.does.he.speak.pdf

Personal names in world cultures

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