ខ្ញុំ

See also: ខ្ញី

Khmer

Etymology

From Old Khmer ខ្ញុំ.

Pronunciation

Orthographic and Phonemic ខ្ញុំ k̥ʰñuṃ WT romanisation khñom (standard) IPA(key) /kɲom/

Noun

ខ្ញុំ • (khñom)

1. servant, slave

Pronoun

ខ្ញុំ • (khñom)

1. I, me (first-person singular)

   ខ្ញុំមានអាយុ...ឆ្នាំ

   khñom miən ʼaayuʼ … chnam

   I am ... years old

2. my

   ផ្ទះខ្ញុំ  ―  phtĕəh khñom  ―  my house

Synonyms

• អញ (aɲ)
• ឯង (aeŋ)
• ញ៉ុម (ɲom) (colloquial)
• អាចក្តី (aac kdəy) (archaic, clerical)

See also

Khmer personal pronouns

		singular	plural
1st person	m	ខ្ញុំបាទ (khñom baat)	យើង (yəəng)
	f	នាងខ្ញុំ (niəng khñom)
	neutral	ខ្ញុំ (khñom)
2nd person	m	លោក (look), អ្នក (nĕək)	លោកអ្នក (look nĕək), ពួកអ្នក (puək nĕək)
	f	លោកស្រី (look srəy), អ្នកស្រី (nĕək srəy)
3rd person	m and f	គាត់ (kŏət), គេ (kei)	គាត់ (kŏət), គេ (kei), ពួកគាត់ (puək kŏət), ពួកគេ (puək kei)
	n	វា (viə)	វា (viə), ពួកវា (puək viə)

Old Khmer

Alternative forms

• khñuṃ
• kñuṃ, ក្ញុំ
• kñuṃm, ក្ញុំម៑
• kñum, ក្ញុម៑
• kñumm, ក្ញុម្ម
• kñaṃ, ក្ញំ
• kñaum, ក្ញៅម៑
• kyuṃ, ក្យុំ

Etymology

Extended forms of ញំ (ñaṃ) or *ញុំ (*ñuṃ, “emancipated slave assigned to monastery service; servant, slave; inferior, subordinate; minor, young”). Also compare synonymous Middle Khmer ñom, corresponding to Modern Khmer ញោម (ñoom).

Noun

ខ្ញុំ (khñuṁ)

1. person assigned to or offering himself for the service of divinities or sanctuaries
   • 900-1100 AD; copied later, Arlo Griffiths, Kunthea Chhom, “A problematic inscription (K.1237)”, in Udaya: Journal of Khmer Studies‎^[1], volume 14 (PDF), Yosothor, published 2019, halshs-02168837, page 9:

     មន៑ធូលីវ្រះបាទធូលិជេង៑វ្រះកម្រតេ
     ង៑អញ៑តស្តាច៑ទៅបរមេឝ្វរឧន្មិលជ្វន៑ខ្ញុំវណ្ណ៌តំវោន៑មូល
     ម្វាយឝរាសមូលម្វាយ

     man· dhūlī vraḥ pāda dhūli jeṅ· vraḥ kamrate-
     ṅ· ʼañ· ta stāc· dau parameśvara ʼunmila jvan· khñuṁ varṇṇa taṁvon· mūla
     mvāya śarāsa mūla mvāya

     that His Majesty the King who was graciously pleased to go to Parameśvara for the dedication and present slaves: one foreman from the society of the Tampuon and one foreman from the archers)

2. bondsman, servant, slave

Descendants

• Khmer: ខ្ញុំ (khñom)
• → Thai: ขยม (kà-yǒm, “attendant, servant”, used as a first person pronoun)
• → Thai: โขยม (“attendant, servant”, used as a first person pronoun)
• → Thai: อัญขยม (an-kà-yǒm, first person pronoun)
• → Northern Thai: ขะโยม (“monastic attendant, devotee, or servant”)
• → Lao: ຂະຍົມ (kha nyom)