Editing Khmer language (section)

==Phonology==
{{Khmer language}}
The phonological system described here is the inventory of sounds of the standard spoken language,<ref name="HUFF">Huffman, Franklin. 1970. ''[http://www.pratyeka.org/csw/hlp-csw.pdf Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210301072724/http://www.pratyeka.org/csw/hlp-csw.pdf |date=2021-03-01 }}''. Yale University Press. {{ISBN|0-300-01314-0}}</ref> represented using the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA).

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}<br />ម, ម៉
| {{IPA link|n}}<br />ន, ណ
| {{IPA link|ɲ}}<br />ញ, ញ៉
| {{IPA link|ŋ}}<br />ង, ង៉
|
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Plosive]]
! {{small|voiceless}}
| {{IPA link|p}} ({{IPA link|pʰ}})<br />ផ, ភ, ព
| {{IPA link|t}} ({{IPA link|tʰ}})<br />ថ, ឋ, ឍ, ធ
| {{IPA link|c}} ({{IPA link|cʰ}})<br />ច, ជ, ឆ, ឈ 
| {{IPA link|k}} ({{IPA link|kʰ}})<br />ក, គ, ខ, ឃ
| rowspan="2"| {{IPA link|ʔ}}<br />អ, អ៊
|-
! {{small|voiced}}
| {{IPA link|ɓ}} ~ {{IPA link|b}}<br />ប, ប៊
| {{IPA link|ɗ}} ~ {{IPA link|d}}<br />ដ, ឌ
|
| 
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative]]
|
| {{IPA link|s}}<br />ស, ស៊
| ({{IPA link|ç}})<br />ស, ស៊
|
| {{IPA link|h}}<br />ហ, ហ៊
|-
! rowspan="2" | [[Liquid consonant|Liquid]]
! {{small|[[Rhotic consonant|rhotic]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|r}}<br />រ៉, រ
|
|
|
|-
! {{small|[[Lateral consonant|lateral]]}}
|
| {{IPA link|l}}<br />ឡ, ល
|
|
|
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant]]
| {{IPA link|ʋ}} ~ {{IPA link|w}}<br />វ៉, វ
|
| {{IPA link|j}}<br />យ៉, យ
|
|
|}

The voiceless plosives {{IPA|/p/, /t/, /c/, /k/}} may occur with or without [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspiration]] (as {{IPA|[p]}} vs. {{IPA|[pʰ]}}, etc.); this difference is contrastive before a vowel. However, the aspirated sounds in that position may be analyzed as sequences of two [[phoneme]]s: {{IPA|/ph/, /th/, /ch/, /kh/}}. This analysis is supported by the fact that [[infix]]es can be inserted between the stop and the aspiration; for example {{IPA|[tʰom]}} ('big') becomes {{IPA|[tumhum]}} ('size') with a nominalizing infix. When one of these plosives occurs initially before another consonant, aspiration is no longer contrastive and can be regarded as mere phonetic detail:<ref name="ELL">{{cite book|last=Minegishi|first=M|title=Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics|editor=Keith Brown|publisher=Elsevier|year=2006|edition=2|pages=4981–4984|chapter=Khmer}}</ref><ref name=SOAS>{{cite book|last=Jacob|first=JM|title=Classical Civilizations of South-East Asia: Key Papers from SOAS|editor=VI Braginskiĭ|publisher=Routledge|year=2002|chapter=The Structure of the Word in Old Khmer}}</ref> slight aspiration is expected when the following consonant is not one of {{IPA|/ʔ/, /b/, /d/, /r/, /s/, /h/}} (or {{IPA|/ŋ/}} if the initial plosive is {{IPA|/k/}}).

The voiced plosives are pronounced as [[implosive consonant|implosives]] {{IPA|[ɓ, ɗ]}} by most speakers, but this feature is weak in educated speech, where they become {{IPA|[b, d]}}.<ref>''International Encyclopedia of Linguistics'', OUP 2003, p. 356.</ref>

In syllable-final position, {{IPA|/h/}} and {{IPA|/ʋ/}} approach {{IPA|[ç]}} and {{IPA|[w]}} respectively. The stops {{IPA|/p/, /t/, /c/, /k/}} are unaspirated and have [[no audible release]] when occurring as syllable finals.<ref name="HUFF" />

In addition, the consonants {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, {{IPA|/f/}}, {{IPA|/ʃ/}} and {{IPA|/z/}} occur occasionally in recent [[loan word]]s in the speech of Cambodians familiar with French and other languages.

===Vowels===
Various authors have proposed slightly different analyses of the Khmer vowel system. This may be in part because of the wide degree of variation in pronunciation between individual speakers, even within a dialectal region.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/21736/1/jaas031010.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://repository.tufs.ac.jp/bitstream/10108/21736/1/jaas031010.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live| title= On Takeo Dialects of Khmer: Phonology and World List| first=Makoto| last=Minegishi| year=1986| access-date=2008-12-04}}</ref> The description below follows Huffman (1970).<ref name="HUFF" /> The number of vowel nuclei and their values vary between dialects; differences exist even between the Standard Khmer system and that of the Battambang dialect on which the standard is based.<ref name=Accoustic>Wayland, Ratree. [http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/wayland1998acoustic.pdf "An Acoustic Study of Battambang Khmer Vowels."] ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'' 28. (1998): 43–62.</ref>
[[File:Khmer vowel chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Vowel Diagram (Monophthongs)]]
{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Monophthongs of Khmer<ref name="HUFF" />
! rowspan=2 | 
! colspan=2 | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan=2 | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan=2 | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|- class=small
! [[Short vowel|short]]
! [[Long vowel|long]]
! short
! long
! short
! long
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i}}<br />អ៊ិ
| {{IPA link|iː}}<br />អ៊ី
| {{IPA link|ɨ}}<br />អ៊ឹ
| {{IPA link|ɨː}}<br />អ៊ឺ
| {{IPA link|u}}<br />អ៊ុ
| {{IPA link|uː}}<br />អ៊ូ
|-
! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]]
| {{IPA link|e}}<br />អិ
| {{IPA link|eː}}<br />អេ, អ៊ែ
| {{IPA link|ə}}<br />អ៊់
| {{IPA link|əː}}<br />អ៊, អឺ
| {{IPA link|o}}<br />អុ
| {{IPA link|oː}}<br />អូ, អ៊ោ
|-
! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]]
| {{IPA link|ɛ}}<br />អឹ
| {{IPA link|ɛː}}<br />អ៊ែ
| {{IPA link|ɛː}}<br />អី
| 
|
| {{IPA link|ɔː}}<br />អ៊
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan=2 |
| {{IPA link|a}}<br />អា់
| {{IPA link|aː}}<br />អា
| {{IPA link|ɑ}}<br />អ់
| {{IPA link|ɑː}}<br />អ
|}

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ [[Diphthongs]] of Khmer<ref name="HUFF" />
! colspan="2" |
! [[Front vowel|Front]]
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! Short
!centering
| {{IPA|ĕə}}<br />អ៊ា
| 
| {{IPA|ŏə, ŭə}}<br />អ៊ួ
|-
! rowspan="5" | Long 
!centering
| {{IPA|iə}}<br />អៀ, អ៊ា់
| {{IPA|ɨə}}<br />អឿ
| {{IPA|ɔə}}, {{IPA|uə}}<br />អួ
|-
!mid closing
| {{IPA|ei}}<br />អ៊ៃ
| {{IPA|ɛi}}<br />អី
| {{IPA|om}}<br />អុំ
|-
!open closing
| {{IPA|ae}}<br />អែ
| {{IPA|aə}}<br />អើ
| {{IPA|ao}}<br />អុ
|-
!mid opening
| {{IPA|um}}<br />អ៊ុំ, អ៊ំ
| {{IPA|eh}}<br />អេះ, អែះ
| {{IPA|eh}}<br />អិះ, អែះ
|-
!close opening
| {{IPA|aw}}<br />អៅ
| {{IPA|am}}<br />អំ, អាំ
| {{IPA|ah}}<br />អោះ, អះ
|}

In addition, some diphthongs and triphthongs are analyzed as a vowel nucleus plus a [[semivowel]] ({{IPA|/j/}} or {{IPA|/w/}}) coda because they cannot be followed by a final consonant. These include: (with short monophthongs) {{IPA|/ɨw/}}, {{IPA|/əw/}}, {{IPA|/aj/}}, {{IPA|/aw/}}, {{IPA|/uj/}}; (with long monophthongs) {{IPA|/əːj/}}, {{IPA|/aːj/}}; (with long diphthongs) {{IPA|/iəj/}}, {{IPA|/iəw/}}, {{IPA|/ɨəj/}}, {{IPA|/aoj/}}, {{IPA|/aəj/}} and {{IPA|/uəj/}}.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Jacob|first1=Judith M|title=An Examination of the Vowels and final Consonants in Correspondences between pre-Angkor and modern Khmer|journal=Pacific Linguistics|date=1976|volume=42|issue=19|pages=27–34|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/jacob1976examination.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/jacob1976examination.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=27 January 2016}}</ref>

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Independent vowels of Khmer<ref name="HUFF" />
|-
!Khmer Vowels
!IPA
|-
| ឥ
| {{IPA|ʔe}}
|-
| ឦ
| {{IPA|ʔej}}
|-
| ឧ
| {{IPA|ʔu}}
|-
| ឩ
| {{IPA|ʔuː}}
|-
| ឪ
| {{IPA|ʔɜw, ʔɨw}}
|-
| ឫ
| {{IPA|rɨ}}
|-
| ឬ
| {{IPA|rɨː}}
|-
| ឭ
| {{IPA|lɨ}}
|-
| ឮ
| {{IPA|lɨː}}
|-
| ឯ
| {{IPA|ʔae}}
|-
| ឰ
| {{IPA|ʔaj}}
|-
| ឱ, ឲ
| {{IPA|ʔao}}
|-
| ឳ
| {{IPA|ʔaw}}
|}

The independent vowels are the vowels that can exist without a preceding or trailing consonant. The independent vowels may be used as monosyllabic words, or as the initial syllables in longer words. Khmer words never begin with regular vowels; they can, however, begin with independent vowels. Example: ឰដ៏, ឧទាហរណ៍, ឧត្តម, ឱកាស...។

===Syllable structure===
A Khmer [[syllable]] begins with a single consonant, or else with a [[consonant cluster|cluster]] of two, or rarely three, consonants. The only possible clusters of three consonants at the start of a syllable are {{IPA|/str/, /skr/}},<ref name=ppak>{{Cite web |url=http://www.panl10n.net/english/Outputs%20Phase%202/CCs/Cambodia/ITC/Papers/2007/0701/phonetic-and-phonological-analysis.pdf |title=Phonetic and Phonological Analysis of Khmer |access-date=2012-02-21 |archive-date=2012-06-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120619070329/http://www.panl10n.net/english/Outputs%20Phase%202/CCs/Cambodia/ITC/Papers/2007/0701/phonetic-and-phonological-analysis.pdf |url-status=usurped }}</ref> and (with aspirated consonants analyzed as two-consonant sequences) {{IPA|/sth/, /lkh/}}. There are 85 possible two-consonant clusters (including [pʰ] etc. analyzed as {{IPA|/ph/}} etc.). All the clusters are shown in the following table, phonetically, i.e. superscript {{IPA|ʰ}} can mark either contrastive or non-contrastive aspiration (see [[#Consonants|above]]).

{| class="wikitable"
! | || {{IPA|p}} || {{IPA|ɓ}} || {{IPA|t}} || {{IPA|ɗ}} || {{IPA|c}} || {{IPA|k}} || {{IPA|ʔ}} || {{IPA|m}} || {{IPA|n}} || {{IPA|ɲ}} || {{IPA|ŋ}} || {{IPA|j}} || {{IPA|l}} || {{IPA|r}} || {{IPA|s}} || {{IPA|h}} || {{IPA|ʋ}} || t+h || k+h || t+r || k+r
|-
! {{IPA|p}}
| || || {{IPA|pʰt}}- || {{IPA|pɗ}}- || {{IPA|pʰc}}- || {{IPA|pʰk}}- || {{IPA|pʔ}}- || || {{IPA|pʰn}}- || {{IPA|pʰɲ}}- || {{IPA|pʰŋ}}- || {{IPA|pʰj}}- || {{IPA|pʰl}}- || {{IPA|pr}}- || {{IPA|ps}}- || {{IPA|pʰ}}- || || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|t}}
| {{IPA|tʰp}}- || {{IPA|tɓ}}- || || || || {{IPA|tʰk}}- || {{IPA|tʔ}}- || {{IPA|tʰm}}- || {{IPA|tʰn}}- || || {{IPA|tʰŋ}}- || {{IPA|tʰj}}- || {{IPA|tʰl}}- || {{IPA|tr}}- || || {{IPA|tʰ}}- || {{IPA|tʰʋ}}- || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|c}}
| {{IPA|cʰp}}- || {{IPA|cɓ}}- || || {{IPA|cɗ}}- || || {{IPA|cʰk}}- || {{IPA|cʔ}}- || {{IPA|cʰm}}- || {{IPA|cʰn}}- || || {{IPA|cʰŋ}}- || || {{IPA|cʰl}}- || {{IPA|cr}}- || || {{IPA|cʰ}}- || {{IPA|cʰʋ}}- || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|k}}
| {{IPA|kʰp}}- || {{IPA|kɓ}}- || {{IPA|kʰt}}- || {{IPA|kɗ}}- || {{IPA|kʰc}}- || || {{IPA|kʔ}}- || {{IPA|kʰm}}- || {{IPA|kʰn}}- || {{IPA|kʰɲ}}- || {{IPA|kŋ}}- || {{IPA|kʰj}}- || {{IPA|kʰl}}- || {{IPA|kr}}- || {{IPA|ks}}- || {{IPA|kʰ}}- || {{IPA|kʰʋ}}- || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|s}}
| {{IPA|sp}}- || {{IPA|sɓ}}- || {{IPA|st}}- || {{IPA|sɗ}}- || || {{IPA|sk}}- || {{IPA|sʔ}}- || {{IPA|sm}}- || {{IPA|sn}}- || {{IPA|sɲ}}- || {{IPA|sŋ}}- || || {{IPA|sl}}- || {{IPA|sr}}- || || || {{IPA|sʋ}}- || {{IPA|stʰ}}- || || str- || skr-
|-
! {{IPA|ʔ}}
| || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || || {{IPA|ʔʋ}}- || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|m}}
| || || {{IPA|mt}}- || {{IPA|mɗ}}- || {{IPA|mc}}- || || {{IPA|mʔ}}- || || {{IPA|mn}}- || {{IPA|mɲ}}- || || || {{IPA|ml}}- || {{IPA|mr}}- || {{IPA|ms}}- || {{IPA|mh}}- || || || || ||
|-
! {{IPA|l}}
| {{IPA|lp}}- || {{IPA|lɓ}}- || || || || {{IPA|lk}}- || {{IPA|lʔ}}- || {{IPA|lm}}- || || || {{IPA|lŋ}}- || || || || || {{IPA|lh}}- || {{IPA|lʋ}}- || || {{IPA|lkʰ}}- || ||
|}

Slight vowel [[epenthesis]] occurs in the clusters consisting of a plosive followed by {{IPA|/ʔ/, /b/, /d/}}, in those beginning {{IPA|/ʔ/, /m/, /l/}}, and in the cluster {{IPA|/kŋ-/}}.<ref name=ModSpok />{{rp|8–9}}

After the initial consonant or consonant cluster comes the syllabic [[nucleus (syllable)|nucleus]], which is one of the [[#Vowels|vowels]] listed above. This vowel may end the syllable or may be followed by a [[syllable coda|coda]], which is a single consonant. If the syllable is stressed and the vowel is short, there must be a final consonant. All consonant sounds except {{IPA|/b/, /d/, /r/, /s/}} and the aspirates can appear as the coda (although final {{IPA|/r/}} is heard in some dialects, most notably in [[Northern Khmer dialect|Northern Khmer]]).<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Nacaskul|first1=Karnchana|title=The syllabic and morphological structure of Cambodian words|journal=[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]|date=1978|volume=7|page=187|url=https://sealang.net/archives/mks/pdf/7:183-200.pdf|access-date=24 January 2016|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171011131733/https://sealang.net/archives/mks/pdf/7:183-200.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2017}}</ref>

A [[minor syllable]] (unstressed syllable preceding the main syllable of a word) has a structure of CV-, CrV-, CVN- or CrVN- (where C is a consonant, V a vowel, and N a nasal consonant). The vowels in such syllables are usually short; in conversation they may be [[vowel reduction|reduced]] to {{IPA|[ə]}}, although in careful or formal speech, including on television and radio, they are clearly articulated. An example of such a word is {{lang|km|មនុស្ស}} ''mɔnuh, mɔnɨh, mĕəʾnuh'' ('person'), pronounced {{IPA|[mɔˈnuh]}}, or more casually {{IPA|[məˈnuh]}}.<ref name=ModSpok>{{cite book|last1=Huffman|first1=Franklin|title=Modern Spoken Cambodian|date=1970|publisher=Cornell Southeast Asia Program Publications|location=Ithaca, NY|isbn=978-0877275213|edition=1998}}</ref>{{rp|10}}

===Stress===
[[Stress (linguistics)|Stress]] in Khmer falls on the final syllable of a word.<ref name="Schiller">{{cite web| url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/schiller1994khmer.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/schiller1994khmer.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live | title= Khmer Nominalizing and Causitivizing Infixes| year=1994 | first=Eric| last= Schiller | publisher=University of Chicago| access-date =2008-12-04}}</ref> Because of this predictable pattern, stress is non-[[phoneme|phonemic]] in Khmer (it does not distinguish different meanings).
Primary stress falls on the final syllable, with [[secondary stress]] on every second syllable from the end. Thus in a three-syllable word, the first syllable has secondary stress; in a four-syllable word, the second syllable has secondary stress; in a five-syllable word, the first and third syllables have secondary stress, and so on.<ref name=ModSpok />{{rp|10–11}} Long polysyllables are not often used in conversation.<ref name="HUFF" />{{rp|12}}

Most Khmer words consist of either one or two syllables. In most native disyllabic words, the first syllable is a [[minor syllable|minor]] (fully unstressed) syllable. Such words have been described as ''sesquisyllabic'' (i.e. as having one-and-a-half syllables). There are also some disyllabic words in which the first syllable does not behave as a minor syllable, but takes [[secondary stress]]. Most such words are [[Compound (linguistics)|compounds]], but some are single [[morpheme]]s (generally loanwords). An example is {{lang|km|ភាសា}} ('language'), pronounced {{IPA|[ˌpʰiəˈsaː]}}.<ref name=ModSpok />{{rp|10}}
Words with three or more syllables, if they are not compounds, are mostly loanwords, usually derived from Pali, Sanskrit, or more recently, French. They are nonetheless adapted to Khmer stress patterns.<ref name=KhDict>Headley, Robert K.; Chhor, Kylin; Lim, Lam Kheng; Kheang, Lim Hak; Chun, Chen. 1977. ''Cambodian-English Dictionary''. Bureau of Special Research in Modern Languages. The Catholic University of America Press. Washington, D.C. {{ISBN|0-8132-0509-3}}</ref>

Compounds, however, preserve the stress patterns of the constituent words. Thus {{lang|km|សំបុកចាប}}, the name of a kind of cookie (literally 'bird's nest'), is pronounced {{IPA|[sɑmˌbok ˈcaːp]}}, with secondary stress on the second rather than the first syllable, because it is composed of the words {{IPA|[sɑmˈbok]}} ('nest') and {{IPA|[caːp]}} ('bird').<ref name=KhDict />

===Phonation and tone===
{{See also|Tonogenesis}}
Khmer once had a [[phonation]] distinction in its vowels, but this now survives only in the most archaic dialect ([[Western Khmer dialect|Western Khmer]]).<ref name=DiffZide /> The distinction arose historically when vowels after Old Khmer voiced consonants became [[breathy voice]]d and diphthongized; for example {{IPA|*kaa, *ɡaa}} became {{IPA|*kaa, *ɡe̤a}}. When consonant voicing was lost, the distinction was maintained by the vowel ({{IPA|*kaa, *ke̤a}}); later the phonation disappeared as well ({{IPA|[kaː], [kiə]}}).<ref name=ELL /> These processes explain the origin of what are now called a-series and o-series consonants in the [[Khmer script]].

Although most Cambodian dialects are not [[tonal language|tonal]], the colloquial Phnom Penh dialect has developed a tonal contrast (level versus peaking tone) as a by-product of the [[elision]] of {{IPA|/r/}}.<ref name=ELL />

===Intonation===
[[Intonation (linguistics)|Intonation]] often conveys [[semantic]] context in Khmer, as in distinguishing [[declarative sentence|declarative statements]], questions and exclamations. The available grammatical means of making such distinctions are not always used, or may be ambiguous; for example, the final [[interrogative particle]] {{lang|km|ទេ}} {{IPA|/teː/}} can also serve as an emphasizing (or in some cases negating) particle.<ref name=CamParts>{{cite journal|last1=Jacob|first1=Judith M|title=A Diachronic Survey of some Khmer particles (7th to 17th centuries)|journal=Essays in Honour of HL Shorto|date=1991|volume=1991|page=193|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/jacob1991diachronic.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf4/jacob1991diachronic.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=24 January 2016}}</ref>

The intonation pattern of a typical Khmer declarative phrase is a steady rise throughout followed by an abrupt drop on the last syllable.<ref name=ppak />
:{{lang|km|ខ្ញុំមិនចង់បានទេ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|[↗kʰɲom mɨn cɑŋ baːn <nowiki>|</nowiki> ↘teː]}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ('I don't want it')<ref name=ppak />

Other intonation contours signify a different type of phrase such as the "full doubt" interrogative, similar to [[yes–no question]]s in English. Full doubt interrogatives remain fairly even in tone throughout, but rise sharply towards the end.
:{{lang|km|អ្នកចង់ទៅលេងសៀមរាបទេ}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|[↗neaʔ cɑŋ <nowiki>|</nowiki> ↗tɨw leːŋ siəm riəp <nowiki>|</nowiki> ꜛteː]}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ('do you want to go to Siem Reap?')<ref name=ppak />

Exclamatory phrases follow the typical steadily rising pattern, but rise sharply on the last syllable instead of falling.<ref name=ppak />
:{{lang|km|សៀវភៅនេះថ្លៃណាស់}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|[↗siəw pʰɨw nih <nowiki>|</nowiki> ↗tʰlaj <nowiki>|</nowiki> ꜛnah]}}&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; ('this book is expensive!')<ref name=ppak />