Problem:IOL/2006/i3/en

IOL 2006 Problem #3 Khmer

Here are several Khmer words written in a special variety of the traditional Khmer alphabet (the so-called 'Round Script'), their English translations, as well as Roman transcriptions of these words in arbitrary order:

កាម passion អាំ suck (a breast) ពាម delta នាំ lead, guide ងាំ inarticulately ងា​ក turn around ចាំង trim, rough-hew

អាច be able ចាំ wait ពាំ hold in one's teeth អាំង roast on a spit ពាំង bar the way មា​ន have

poьm, a:c, noьm, ŋoьm, cam, peьŋ, aŋ, caŋ, am, piъm, ŋiъk, ka:m, miъn

(a) Determine the correct correspondences.

(b) Write in the Roman script:

គាំ spoke (in a wheel) គាគ crow ងាំង bright red ចាម Cham នាម name មាំ robust

⚠ a, eь, oь are short vowels, a:, iъ are long vowels, ŋ, c are consonants; Chan is an ethnic group in Southeast Asia. Khmer is the official language of the Kingdom of Cambodia. It is spoken by approx. 9 mln people.

—Sergey Dmitrenko