pronounced as /notice/Khmer numerals ០ ១ ២ ៣ ៤ ៥ ៦ ៧ ៨ ៩ are the numerals used in the Khmer language. They have been in use since at least the early 7th century.[1] [2]
Having been derived from the Hindu numerals, modern Khmer numerals also represent a decimal positional notation system. It is the script with the first extant material evidence of zero as a numerical figure, dating its use back to the seventh century, two centuries before its certain use in India.[3] Old Khmer, or Angkorian Khmer, also possessed separate symbols for the numbers 10, 20, and 100.
Each multiple of 20 or 100 would require an additional stroke over the character, so the number 47 was constructed using the 20 symbol with an additional upper stroke, followed by the symbol for number 7.[4] This inconsistency with its decimal system suggests that spoken Angkorian Khmer used a vigesimal system.
As both Thai and Lao scripts are derived from Old Khmer,[5] their modern forms still bear many resemblances to the latter, demonstrated in the following table:
| Value | Khmer | Thai | Lao | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Central Khmer: ០ | Thai: ๐ | Lao: ໐ | |
| Central Khmer: ១ | Thai: ๑ | Lao: ໑ | ||
| Central Khmer: ២ | Thai: ๒ | Lao: ໒ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៣ | Thai: ๓ | Lao: ໓ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៤ | Thai: ๔ | Lao: ໔ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៥ | Thai: ๕ | Lao: ໕ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៦ | Thai: ๖ | Lao: ໖ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៧ | Thai: ๗ | Lao: ໗ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៨ | Thai: ๘ | Lao: ໘ | ||
| Central Khmer: ៩ | Thai: ๙ | Lao: ໙ |
The spoken names of modern Khmer numbers represent a biquinary system, with both base 5 and base 10 in use. For example, 6 (Central Khmer: ប្រាំមួយ) is formed from 5 (Central Khmer: ប្រាំ) plus 1 (Central Khmer: មួយ).
With the exception of the number 0, which stems from Sanskrit, the etymology of the Khmer numbers from 1 to 5 is of proto-Austroasiatic origin.
| Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Central Khmer: ០ | Central Khmer: សូន្យ | pronounced as /[soːn]/ | |||||
| 1 | Central Khmer: ១ | Central Khmer: មួយ | pronounced as /[muəj]/ | Before a classifier, pronounced as /[muəj]/ is reduced to pronounced as /[mə]/ in regular speech.[6] | ||||
| 2 | Central Khmer: ២ | Central Khmer: ពីរ | pronounced as /[piː]/, pronounced as /[pɨl]/ | |||||
| 3 | Central Khmer: ៣ | Central Khmer: បី | pronounced as /[ɓej]/ | |||||
| 4 | Central Khmer: ៤ | Central Khmer: បួន | pronounced as /[ɓuən]/ | |||||
| 5 | Central Khmer: ៥ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំ | pronounced as /[pram]/ |
Whilst Vietnamese vocabulary is very Sinicized, the numbers 1-5 retain proto-Austroasiatic origins.
| Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | Vietnamese | Muong language | Mon language | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Khmer: ១ | Central Khmer: មួយ | pronounced as /[muəj]/ | muŏy | một | mốch | mo̤a | mui | /mò:j/ | |
| 2 | Central Khmer: ២ | Central Khmer: ពីរ | pronounced as /[piː]/, pronounced as /[pɨl]/ | pir | hai | hal | ɓa | bar | /pà:r/ | |
| 3 | Central Khmer: ៣ | Central Khmer: បី | pronounced as /[ɓəj]/ | bei | ba | pa | pɔeʔ | pei | /péɂ/ | |
| 4 | Central Khmer: ៤ | Central Khmer: បួន | pronounced as /[ɓuən]/ | buŏn | bốn | pổn | pɔn | pon | /sí:/ | |
| 5 | Central Khmer: ៥ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំ | pronounced as /[pram]/ | brăm | năm | đằm | pəsɔn | shăng | /há:/ |
The numbers from 6 to 9 may be constructed by adding any number between 1 and 4 to the base number 5 (Central Khmer: ប្រាំ), so that 7 is literally constructed as 5 plus 2. Beyond that, Khmer uses a decimal base, so that 14 is constructed as 10 plus 4, rather than 2 times 5 plus 4; and 16 is constructed as 10+5+1.
Colloquially, compound numbers from eleven to nineteen may be formed using the word Central Khmer: ដណ្ដប់ pronounced as /[dɔnɗɑp]/ preceded by any number from one to nine, so that 15 is constructed as Central Khmer: ប្រាំដណ្ដប់ pronounced as /[pram dɔnɗɑp]/, instead of the standard Central Khmer: ដប់ប្រាំ pronounced as /[ɗɑp pram]/.[10]
| Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Central Khmer: ៦ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំមួយ | pronounced as /[prammuəj]/ | brămmuŏy | brammuoy | prāṃmuay | ||
| 7 | Central Khmer: ៧ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំពីរ | pronounced as /[prampiː]/, pronounced as /[prampɨl]/ | brămpir | brampir | prāṃbīr | ||
| 8 | Central Khmer: ៨ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំបី | pronounced as /[pramɓəj]/ | brămbei | brambei | prāṃpī | ||
| 9 | Central Khmer: ៩ | Central Khmer: ប្រាំបួន | pronounced as /[pramɓuən]/ | brămbuŏn | brambuon | prāṃpuan | ||
| 10 | Central Khmer: ១០ | Central Khmer: ដប់ | pronounced as /[ɗɑp]/ | dáb | dab | ṭáp | Old Chinese *pronounced as /[di̯əp]/.[11] | |
| 11 | Central Khmer: ១១ | Central Khmer: ដប់មួយ | pronounced as /[ɗɑpmuəj]/ | dábmuŏy | dabmuoy | ṭápmuay | Colloquially Central Khmer: មួយដណ្ដប់ muŏydândáb pronounced as /[muəj dɔnɗɑp]/. | |
| 20 | Central Khmer: ២០ | Central Khmer: ម្ភៃ | pronounced as /[mpʰej]/, pronounced as /[məpʰɨj]/, pronounced as /[mpʰɨj]/ | mphey | mphey | mbhai | Contraction of pronounced as /[muəj]/ + pronounced as /[pʰəj]/ (i.e. one + twenty) |
The modern Khmer numbers from 30 to 90 are as follows:
| Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 | Central Khmer: ៣០ | Central Khmer: សាមសិប | pronounced as /[saːm.səp]/ | samsĕb | samseb | sāmsip | From Thai สามสิบ sam sip | |
| 40 | Central Khmer: ៤០ | Central Khmer: សែសិប | pronounced as /[sae.səp]/ | sêsĕb | saeseb | saesip | From Thai, Thai: สี่สิบ si sip | |
| 50 | Central Khmer: ៥០ | Central Khmer: ហាសិប | pronounced as /[haːsəp]/ | hasĕb | haseb | hāsip | From Thai, Thai: ห้าสิบ hasip | |
| 60 | Central Khmer: ៦០ | Central Khmer: ហុកសិប | pronounced as /[hok.səp]/ | hŏksĕb | hokseb | huksip | From Thai, Thai: หกสิบ hoksip | |
| 70 | Central Khmer: ៧០ | Central Khmer: ចិតសិប | pronounced as /[cət.səp]/ | chĕtsĕb | chetseb | citsip | From Thai, Thai: เจ็ดสิบ chetsip | |
| 80 | Central Khmer: ៨០ | Central Khmer: ប៉ែតសិប | pronounced as /[paet.səp]/ | pêtsĕb | paetseb | p″aetsip | From Thai, Thai: แปดสิบ paetsip | |
| 90 | Central Khmer: ៩០ | Central Khmer: កៅសិប | pronounced as /[kaw.səp]/ | kausĕb | kauseb | kausip | From Thai, Thai: เก้าสิบ kaosip |
Historically speaking, Khmer borrowed the numbers from 30 to 90 from a southern Middle Chinese variety by way of a neighboring Tai language, most likely Thai. This is evidenced by the fact that the numbers in Khmer most closely resemble those of Thai, as well as the fact that the numbers cannot be deconstructed in Khmer. For instance, Central Khmer: សែ pronounced as /[sae]/ is not used on its own to mean "four" in Khmer and Central Khmer: សិប pronounced as /[səp]/ is not used on its own to mean "ten", while they are in Thai (see Thai numerals). The table below shows how the words in Khmer compare to other nearby Tai and Sinitic languages.
| Value | Khmer | Southwestern Tai | Northern Tai | Sinitic | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thai | Archaic Thai | Lao | S. Zhuang[12] | Nanning[13] | Cantonese | Teochew | Hokkien | Mandarin | |||
| 3 ‒ | pronounced as /
| sam | sǎam | sãam | ɬaːm1 | ɬam41 | saam1 | sã1 | sa1 (sam1) | sān | |
| 4 ‒ | pronounced as /
| si | sài | sii | ɬi5 | ɬi55 | sei3 | si3 | si3 (su3) | sì | |
| 5 ‒ | pronounced as /
| ha | ngùa | hàa | ha3 | ŋ̩13 | ng5 | ŋou6 | go2 (ngo2) | wǔ | |
| 6 ‒ | pronounced as /
| hok | lòk | hók | huk7 | løk24 | luk6 | lak8 | lak2 (liok8) | liù | |
| 7 ‒ | pronounced as /
| chet | jèd | jét | tɕit7 | tsʰɐt33 | cat1 | tsʰik4 | chit2 | qī | |
| 8 ‒ | pronounced as /
| paet | pàed | pàet | pet7 | pat33 | baat3 | poiʔ4 | pueh4 (pat4) | bā | |
| 9 ‒ | pronounced as /
| kao | jao | kâo | kau3 | kou33 | gau2 | kao2 | kau4 (kiu2) | jiǔ | |
| 10 ‒ | pronounced as /
| sip | jǒng | síp | ɬip7 | ɕɐp22 | sap6 | tsap8 | tzhap2 (sip8) | shí | |
Prior to using a decimal system and adopting these words, Khmer used a base 20 system, so that numbers greater than 20 were formed by multiplying or adding on to the cardinal number for twenty. Under this system, 30 would've been constructed as (20 × 1) + 10 "twenty-one ten" and 80 was constructed as 4 × 20 "four twenties / four scores". See the section Angkorian numbers for details.
The standard Khmer numbers starting from one hundred are as follows:
| Value | Khmer | Word Form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes[14] | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 | Central Khmer: ១០០ | Central Khmer: មួយរយ | pronounced as /[muəj.rɔːj]/ (pronounced as /[rɔːj]/, pronounced as /[mə.rɔːj]/) | muŏy rôy | muoy roy | muay raya | From Thai, Thai: ร้อย roi. | |
| 1,000 | Central Khmer: ១,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយពាន់ | pronounced as /[muəj.pŏən]/ | muŏy poăn | muoy poan | muaya bân | From Thai, Thai: พัน phan. | |
| 10,000 | Central Khmer: ១០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយម៉ឺន | pronounced as /[muəj.məɨn]/ | muŏy mœn | muoy mueun | muaya mȳna | From Thai, Thai: หมื่น muen. | |
| 100,000 | Central Khmer: ១០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយសែន | pronounced as /[muəj.saen]/ | muŏy sên | muoy saen | muaya saena | From Thai, Thai: แสน saen. | |
| 1,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយលាន | pronounced as /[muəj.lien]/ | muŏy léan | muoy lean | muaya lâna | From Thai, Thai: ล้าน lan. | |
| 10,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១០,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយកោដិ | pronounced as /[muəj.kaot]/ | muŏy kaôdĕ | muoy kaot | muaya koṭi | From Sanskrit and Pali koṭi. |
Although Central Khmer: មួយកោដិ pronounced as /[muəj kaot]/ is most commonly used to mean ten million, in some areas this is also colloquially used to refer to one billion (which is more properly Central Khmer: មួយរយកោដិ pronounced as /[muəj rɔj kaot]/). In order to avoid confusion, sometimes Central Khmer: ដប់លាន pronounced as /[ɗɑp.liən]/ is used to mean ten million, along with Central Khmer: មួយរយលាន pronounced as /[muəj.rɔj.liən]/ for one hundred million, and Central Khmer: មួយពាន់លាន pronounced as /[muəj.pŏən.liən]/ ("one thousand million") to mean one billion.[15]
Different Cambodian dialects may also employ different base number constructions to form greater numbers above one thousand. A few of the such can be observed in the following table:
| Value | Khmer | Word Form[16] | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 | Central Khmer: ១០,០០០ | Central Khmer: ដប់ពាន់ | pronounced as /[ɗɑp pŏən]/ | dáb poăn | dab poan | ṭáp bân | lit. "ten thousand" | |
| 100,000 | Central Khmer: ១០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: ដប់ម៉ឺន | pronounced as /[ɗɑp məɨn]/ | dáb mœŭn | dab mueun | ṭáp mȳna | lit. "ten ten-thousand" | |
| 100,000 | Central Khmer: ១០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយរយពាន់ | pronounced as /[muəj rɔj pŏən]/ | muŏy rôy poăn | muoy roy poan | muaya raya bân | lit. "one hundred thousand" | |
| 1,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយរយម៉ឺន | pronounced as /[muəj rɔj məɨn]/ | muŏy rôy mœn | muoy roy mueun | muaya raya mȳna | lit. "one hundred ten-thousand" | |
| 10,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១០,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: ដប់លាន | pronounced as /[ɗɑp liən]/ | dáb léan | dab lean | ṭáp lāna | lit. "ten million" | |
| 100,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១០០,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយរយលាន | pronounced as /[muəj rɔj liən]/ | muŏy rôy léan | muoy roy lean | muaya raya lāna | lit. "one hundred million" | |
| 1,000,000,000 | Central Khmer: ១,០០០,០០០,០០០ | Central Khmer: មួយពាន់លាន | pronounced as /[muəj pŏən liən]/ | muŏy poăn léan | muoy poan lean | muaya bân lāna | lit. "one thousand million" |
Reminiscent of the standard base 20 Angkorian Khmer numbers, the modern Khmer language also possesses separate words used to count fruits, not unlike how English uses words such as a "dozen" for counting items such as eggs.[17]
| Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Central Khmer: ៤ | Central Khmer: ដំប, Central Khmer: ដំបរ | pronounced as /[dɑmbɑː]/ | dâmbâ, dâmbâr | damba | ṭaṃpa | ||
| 40 | Central Khmer: ៤០ | Central Khmer: ផ្លូន | pronounced as /[pʰloun]/ | phlon | phloun | phlūna | From (pre-)Angkorian *plon "40" | |
| 80 | Central Khmer: ៨០ | Central Khmer: ពីរផ្លូន | pronounced as /[piː ploun]/, pronounced as /[pɨl ploun]/ | pir phlon | pi phloun | bīra phlūna | Lit. "two forty" | |
| 400 | Central Khmer: ៤០០ | Central Khmer: ស្លឹក | pronounced as /slək/ | slœ̆k | sloek | slẏka | From (pre-)Angkorian *slik "400" |
As a result of prolonged literary influence from both the Sanskrit and Pali languages, Khmer may occasionally use borrowed words for counting. Generally speaking, asides a few exceptions such as the numbers for 0 and 100 for which the Khmer language has no equivalent, they are more often restricted to literary, religious, and historical texts than they are used in day to day conversations. One reason for the decline of these numbers is that a Khmer nationalism movement, which emerged in the 1960s, attempted to remove all words of Sanskrit and Pali origin. The Khmer Rouge also attempted to cleanse the language by removing all words which were considered politically incorrect.[18]
| Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | Central Khmer: ១០ | Central Khmer: ទស | pronounced as /[tŭəh]/ | tôs | tos | dasa | From Sanskrit and Pali, dasa | |
| 12 | Central Khmer: ១២ | Central Khmer: ទ្វាទស | pronounced as /[tviətŭəh]/, pronounced as /[tviətĕəsaʔ]/ | tvéatôs | tveatos, tveateaksak | dvādasa | From Sanskrit and Pali dvādasa | |
| 13 or 30 | Central Khmer: ១៣ or Central Khmer: ៣០ | Central Khmer: ត្រីទស | pronounced as /[trəjtŭəh]/ | treitôs | treitos | trīdasa | From Sanskrit and Pali, trayodasa | |
| 28 | Central Khmer: ២៨ | Central Khmer: អស្តាពីស | pronounced as /[ʔahsɗaːpiːsɑː]/ | âsdapisâ | asdapisa | ‛astābīsa | From Sanskrit (8, aṣṭá-) (20, vimsati) | |
| 100 | Central Khmer: ១០០ | Central Khmer: សត | pronounced as /[sataʔ]/ | sâtâ | saktak | sata | From Sanskrit, sata |
Khmer ordinal numbers are formed by placing the word Central Khmer: ទី pronounced as /[tiː]/ in front of a cardinal number.[19] This is similar to the use of ที่ thi in Thai, and thứ (次) in Vietnamese.
| Meaning | Khmer | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First | Central Khmer: ទីមួយ | pronounced as /[tiː muəj]/ | ti muŏy | ti muoy | dī muaya | ||
| Second | Central Khmer: ទីពីរ | pronounced as /[tiː piː]/, pronounced as /[tiː pɨl]/ | ti pir | ti pi | dī bīra | ||
| Third | Central Khmer: ទីបី | pronounced as /[tiː ɓəj]/ | ti bĕi | ti bei | dī pī |
It is generally assumed that the Angkorian and pre-Angkorian numbers also represented a dual base (quinquavigesimal) system, with both base 5 and base 20 in use. Unlike modern Khmer, the decimal system was highly limited, with both the numbers for ten and one hundred being borrowed from the Chinese and Sanskrit languages respectively. Angkorian Khmer also used Sanskrit numbers for recording dates, sometimes mixing them with Khmer originals, a practice which has persisted until the last century.[20]
The numbers for twenty, forty, and four hundred may be followed by multiplying numbers, with additional digits added on at the end, so that 27 is constructed as twenty-one-seven, or 20×1+7.
| Value | Khmer | Orthography | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Central Khmer: ១ | mvay | ||
| 2 | Central Khmer: ២ | vyar | ||
| 3 | Central Khmer: ៣ | pi | ||
| 4 | Central Khmer: ៤ | pvan | ||
| 5 | Central Khmer: ៥ | pram | (7 : pramvyar or pramvyal) | |
| 10 | Central Khmer: ១០ | tap | Old Chinese *pronounced as /di̯əp/. | |
| 20 | Central Khmer: ២០ | bhai | ||
| 40 | Central Khmer: ៤០ | plon | ||
| 80 | Central Khmer: ៨០ | bhai pvan | Literally "four twenty" | |
| 100 | Central Khmer: ១០០ | çata | Sanskrit (100, sata). | |
| 400 | Central Khmer: ៤០០ | slik |
Proto-Khmer is the hypothetical ancestor of the modern Khmer language bearing various reflexes of the proposed proto-Mon–Khmer language. By comparing both modern Khmer and Angkorian Khmer numbers to those of other Eastern Mon–Khmer (or Khmero-Vietic) languages such as Pearic, Proto-Viet–Muong, Katuic, and Bahnaric; it is possible to establish the following reconstructions for Proto-Khmer.[21]
Contrary to later forms of the Khmer numbers, Proto-Khmer possessed a single decimal number system. The numbers from one to five correspond to both the modern Khmer language and the proposed Mon–Khmer language, while the numbers from six to nine do not possess any modern remnants, with the number ten *kraaj (or *kraay) corresponding to the modern number for one hundred. It is likely that the initial *k, found in the numbers from six to ten, is a prefix.
| Value | Khmer | Reconstruction[22] [23] | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Central Khmer: ៥ |
| ||
| 6 | Central Khmer: ៦ |
| ||
| 7 | Central Khmer: ៧ |
| ||
| 8 | Central Khmer: ៨ |
| Same root as the word hand, *tii. | |
| 9 | Central Khmer: ៩ |
| ||
| 10 | Central Khmer: ១០ |
| Corresponds to present-day pronounced as //rɔj// (one hundred). |