Jenner, Philip N.

English

The Australian National University

REV I EW ART I CLE : ROB ERT K .  H EADLEY J R ,  KYL I N  CHHO R ,  LAM KHENG L I M ,  L I M  HAK KHEANG , C H E N  CHUN : CAMBOD I A N - ENG L I S H  D I CTI ONA R Y  PHILIP N .  JENNER Robert K .  Headley Jr , Kylin Chhor , Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang , Chen Chun , Cambodian-Eng�h D�ctio�. Bureau of Special Re search in Modern Languages . Publications in the Languages of Asia , III (Washington,  D . C . : The Catholic University of America Pres s ,  1977 ) ,  Volume I :  K - BH, Volume I I :  M - ' .  Exclusive Di stributor : ISBS , Inc . ,  P . O .  Box 555 , Forest Grove , OR 97116 . U . S .  pric e :  $49 . 00 .  Phys ically , t hi s  is  a mas s ive unabridged work i n  t wo volume s measuring 21 . 5  b y  28 cm ( 8� by 1 1  inches ) . Vo lume I weighs about 2 . 2 5 kg ( 4 . 9  lb s . ) , Vo lume I I  about 2 . 7 5 kg ( 5 . 9  l b s . ) . The reproduct ion i s  b y  phot o-offset from c amera-ready type script , and i s  done o n  good stock  of unc ommon whit ene s s . It i s  bound with  no t unat trac t ive c asings in navy c lo t h  wit h gilt lett ering on t he spines and front s .  The main body o f  the dict ionary ( 1 -14 9 5 )  i s  prec eded by a Pre fac e ( v ) , Acknowledgement s ( vii ) , a t able o f  Contents ( ix ) , a l ist o f  Plat e s  ( x i ) , an Introdu c t ion ( xiii-xxii ),  a l i st o f  Abbreviat ions ( xx i ii -xxiv ) , and a Select Bibliography ( xxv-xxvii ) o f  fort y t it le s ,  "all o f  t he works systemat ically c onsulted for vocabulary items or other informat ion during t he preparat ion of t he dict ionary " .  The body of t he work is followed by thirt een plat e s , each c ontaining one or more l ine-drawings giving Khmer t erms for a considerab l e  number o f  cultural and o t her obj ect s - mostly hou sehold art ic l e s , house part s and t ype s ,  agr icultural and fi shing implement s ,  loom part s ,  game s ,  boat types and mus ical instrument s - and a few plant s .  4 31 Jenner, P.N. "Review Article: Robert K. Headley Jr., Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, Chen Chun: Cambodian-English Dictionary". In Nguyễn Đ.L. editor, Southeast Asian linguistic studies, Vol. 4. C-49:431-436. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1979.   DOI:10.15144/PL-C49.431 ©1979 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s).  Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL.  A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.4 3 2 PHILIP N .  JENNER The Introduc t ion compr i s e s  t wo paragraphs on t he b a. c kground o f  Khmer ( . < 1 i 1 ) , with which is to be inc luded a full -page c hart ( xiv ) showing t .1e clas sificat ion of selected Mon-Khmer l anguage s .  Thi s is fol lowed b �  s ec t ions on the Arrangement of t he Dict ionary ( xi ii-xv ) , Phonology ( Kv-xv i i ) ,  Khmer Syntax and Word Classes  ( xvii-xviii ) ,  and t he Khmer S � ript ( x ix-xxi i ) . In the dict ionary prop er page s are laid out in generous double c )lumns . All  Khmer forms have been done on the Vari -Typer , t he Khmer f )nt for which i s  wel l  designed and legible exc ept for some of t he snal ler conj unc t symbol s .  In a few combinat ions a magn i fying glass  i s  n eeded t o  make out the a n u s vara , the breve , and c ertain of t he conj unct v )wel s .  Mat t er in roman t ype looks as i f  i t  had also b een done on the V�ri-Typer , t hough j ust ified r ight margins are few .  Main entrie s ,  in t he Khmer c haracter , are fol lowed b y  phonemic t r>an scriptions . The pronunc iat ion repre sented i s  " t hat o f  Standard Khmer as spoken by educ at ed persons t hroughout t he Khmer- speaking area"  ( xv ) . Engl ish meanings are prec eded b y  an ital i c is ed abbreviat ion indicat ing the wordclass  t o  which the it em belongs . The s e  headword s may also  c ontain "alt ernate pronunc iati on ( s ) , synonyms . . .  , u sage i nd ic ators  . . .  , example s ,  etymological informat ion , alt ernate spell ings . . .  , feminine forms [of Indic  loans ] ,  antonyms . . .  , or cross  re ferenc e s  t o  related or der ived forms o r  to entries which might provide addit ional i n format ion " ( xv ) . Main entri e s  so de scribed are fo llowed wherever appropriate b y  a c ons iderab le select ion of sub entrie s consi sting for the most part of construct s in which the headword is t he second as well as the first memb er . Phonemic transcript ions are not given after t he se subentri e s , a c ircumstance which will inc onvenienc e  t ho s e  who do not yet read we l l  but which repre s ent s a maj or saving of spac e . The t o tal numb er o f  e nt r i e s  and subentries  is  not stat ed ,  but would appear t o  be c lo s e  t o  90 , 00 0 . Whi l e  the Preface ( v )  note s t hat Dr Headley and his  t eam o f  nat ive ­speaking a s s i stant s " have tried t o  ut ilize  all previous Khmer lexical mat erial " ,  the dict ionary is  based on t he fifth edition of the s emi­offic ial , t wo-volume Va.c.a.nanuk.Jta.ma. khmeJta. / Vic..U.o nna.iJte. c.a.m b o dg i e. n  ( Phnom-Penh : Inst itut Bouddhique , 1967 , 1 9 68 ) .  " Great numbers o f  addit ional word s , e xpre s s ions , and e xamples  were extrar. t ed from many secondary sour c e s  . . .  " ,  c hiefly from Sam Thang , Vak.ya.pa.Jtiva.��a.na. k. hm eJta.­paJtaf!1n.a. / L e.xiq ue. k.hm e.Jt - 6 Jta.nG-a.i<> ( Phnom-Penh , 1 9 6 2 ) and S .  Tandart , Vic.�io nna.iJte. c.a.m b o dgie.n- 6 Jta.nG-a.i<> ( Phnom-Penh : Alb ert Portail , 1 9 3 5 ) . I t  i s  a c au s e  for regret t hat a few i t ems regi s t ered in t he VK are not l i st ed her e . Two examples  are k e s T  / k e e s aaj  'V k a a E s a aj / ' ( r aj a s a bd a ) head ' ( c f .  Sanskrit k e s i n ) and k uv a  / ko ow/ , heret o fore one of t he mo st REVIEW ARTICLE:  HEADLEY ET AL . CAMBOVIAN-ENGLISH VICTIONARY 4 3 3  enigmat ic word s i n  the older language , whic h Khin Sok ( 1 9 7 9 ) has recent l y  narrowed down t o  ' prec i sement ' ( e . g .  t h n a i neQ k uva / t D a j  n e h  koow/ ' this  v e ry day ' ) .  One suspe c t s  t hat t he ba s i s  for t he exc lusion of these and a good many ot her it ems was t he c ircumstanc e t hat t hey are archaic . Thi s  b eing t he first unabridged Khmer-Engl i sh dict ionary by a trained lingui st , no one s hould be surpri s ed that it fall s  short o f  perfe c t io n .  However , it s strength s  are as many as it s weakne s s e s , t ho ugh a work o f  such ambi t ious scope may b e  part icularly l iable t o  fault find ing . I t s mo s t  c onspicuous strengths are it s fullnes s  and t he evident pains t o  whi c h  D r  Headley and h i s  t eam have gone t o  ensure ac c uracy o f  detail . It s chief weakne s s e s , aside from a p ervad ing unevenne ss o f  qual it y ,  are four : ( 1 )  an unj ustified dependenc e on t he V K ,  ( 2 )  insuffic i ent att en­t ion t o  the older l it erature a s  a source  of lexical dat a ,  ( 3 )  s everal inconvenienc e s  in t he phonemic transcript ion , and ( 4 )  several incon­venienc e s  in the alphabet i sat ion .  The first of t he s e  is only t o  be expe c t ed in the present state of Khmer stud ie s ;  a full translat ion o f  t h e  VK alone would have b e e n  a welc ome undert aking . The second weakne s s ,  again b ecause o f  the state o f  our knowl edge , i s  ent irely pred ictab l e  and would have required a formidable effort to overcome . The o ther t wo weakness e s ,  l e s s  basic , are of mor e  immediate interest . Headley follows Huffman ( 1 9 7 0 : 24 -8 ) in exc lud ing regi st er from his anal y s i s  o f  the vowel invent ory . This is a perfe c t l y  valid approac h ,  t hough i t  seems t o  this  reviewer one which should b e  carefully explained if it is not to entail featur e s  which are l iab l e , in a work of t hi s  importanc e ,  t o  lead t he reader a stray and , worst o f  all ,  to b e  mi sund er ­s tood by persons who may have t o  c i t e  forms from t he dict ionary wit hout any knowledge of Khmer . In Headley ' s  analysis  t he vowel p honeme s are neat ly divided into s impl e  and complex ( falling diphthongs ) .  In t he simple nuc l e i  nine short phoneme s are recogni sed . The se are wri t t en as unmarked unit s ,  and inc lude , as in my own analy s i s , a sub­phonemic I�I found in High Register presyllab l e s . The eleven long nuc lei , marked b y  geminat ion , include an leel and an leel  represent ing re spec t ively the High and Low Register reali sations of ort hographic e .  Thu s j e r a [ c e A : � c e : ]  ' to i n su Z t ' i s  Mr s Jacob ' s  ( 19 6 8 : 3 -24 ; 1 9 7 4 ) phonological e e : ( r ) , Huffman ' s  and Headley ' s  simple  l e e e/ , and my leee r/ ; while e e r a [ c e v : � ce : ]  'of Zong dura t i o n ' is Jacob ' s  e e : ( r ) , Huffman ' s  lee i / ,  Headley ' s  lee e / ,  and my leee r/ . This muc h  i s  well and good , e sp ec ially if it i s  explained t o  the reader t hat t he le i l  and l e e l  are phonemic devi c e s  marking a relat ionship with t he regi stral PHILIP N .  JENNER system or the writ ing system .  In t he back rounded mid vowe l s ,  however , t h i s  graphic d iphthongi sat ion ha s no count erpart . Thu s j o r a [ c o ' : � CCI : J  ' to rise,  moun t ' i s  Jacob ' s  co : ( r ) ,  Huffman ' s  and Headley ' s  /coo/ , and my /coo r/ , while c ur a  [ co · : � co : J  'm1: ld imp era tive marker ' i s  Jacob ' s  c o : !  [ s i c ] , Huffman ' s  /co u / ,  my /coo r/ , but Headley ' s  /coo/ again . Thus the symmetry which Huffman achieve s i s  lost . The t en complex nuc le i ,  inexplicably , are not d i scriminat ed ac cord ing to t he ir lengt h .  The seven long nuclei  include an l i ef defined a s  [ i  : e J  ( J:vi ) ,  represent ing the High Register real i sat ion o f  orthographic a ,  and an / i a/ ,  undef ined as  t o  lengt h ,  repre sent ing both reg i s t er s  o f  ort hographic i a .  Thu s d a r a  [ t i : e J  ' to dun ' i s  Jac ob ' s  t l : a ( r ) , Huf fman ' s  / t i a/ ,  Headley ' s  / t i � , and my / d i a r / ,  while d i a t a  [ t i : a t J  ' r70re ,  s t i l l ' i s  Jacob ' s  t l a t ,  Huffman ' s  and Headley ' s  / t i a t / ,  and my / : f i a t/ ( c f .  t i ama  [ t i  : am J  ' s hop ' = Jacob ' s  t i am ,  Huffman ' s  and HI�adley ' s / t i am/ , my / t 1 i am/ ) . The ot her long dipht hongs are / + a/ , / u a/ ,  /ae/  ( c orrectly defined as "Front Low t o  Mid-Low " ) , / a a / ,  and / ao / .  The three s hort d ipht hongs are lea l ,  defined a s  [ Ea J  t hough wri t t en [ e a J ;  /n a / ,  which has two allophone s :  [ o a. J  ( " short mid-high back to low back" ) before z ero , and [ �� J , written [ � a J ( " short mid-low back t o  low front " )  b ,�fore finals  other t han /k , ? ,  I) ,  h i .  Thu s b a ' ka  [ p E a k J  ' to hang ' i s  Jacob ' s  phonological pta k ,  Huffman ' s  /peWaq/ , my / p e a k/ , Headley ' s  / p e a k/ ; d ,j" ' t a  [ t � ' a t J  ' to kick ' i s  Jac ob ' s  d a t ,  Huffman ' s  / t oWa t / ,  my / t o a t / ,  Headley ' s  / t o a t / ;  d a �bi r a  [ tum ' po : a J 'page ( o f  book ) ' i s  Jacob ' s  t J m p 6 a ( r ) , Hu ffman ' s  / t um p� a /  ( note the absence o f  t he breve ) ,  my / t um po a r / ,  Headl ey ' s  / t um poa/ . There i s  not hing at fault here except t 1e fuz z ine s s  of t he phonetic  de finit ion s .  The t h ird and last of t he S10rt d iphthong s , however , i s  correct l y  de fined as [ u a J  but for some �1ac countable reason is phonemi c i sed / � a/ . In real it y t hi s  i s  an en­v ironmentally condit ioned allophone o f  /u/  and henc e ano t her subphonemic f �ature . Thus g a ' t a [ ku a t J  'preci s e l y ' is Jacob ' s  p hono logical k u a t ,  H lf fman ' s  /kuWa t / , Headley ' s  / b a t / ,  my /k u t/ ;  l a ' ka [ l u a k J  ' to s e l l ' :l. 5  Jacob ' s  ! u a k ,  Huffman ' s  / l uWaq / ,  Headley ' s  / b a k/ ,  my / l u k/ .  S inc e H �adley has stat ed exac tly  what he mean s ,  t he mo st t hat can b e  said i s  t �at such an unfortunat e c ho i c e  o f  symbols  can only add t o  t he reader ' s  c )nfus ion . In general , the alphabeti sat i on o f  entr i e s  in t he dict ionary follows t �e tradit ional Khmer order a s  perfec t ed in the V K .  However ,  two inno ­v �t ions have been introduced , no doub t s  on ground s o f  logic , neither o f  which  i s  e spec ially welcome . In t he first plac e , vowel s before v i s a rga are grouped toget her after t �o se with a n u s vara , so that k i � ,  k u � , ke�  and ko� follow ka � .  In the REVIEW ARTICLE :  HEADLEY ET AL .  CAMBOVIAN-ENGLISH VICrIONARY 4 3 5  V K  k a Q  c ome s a t  the very end o f  t h e  s erie s ,  t he o ther comb inat ions b eing int ersper sed with t he vowe l s  in que st ion ; for example , kU Q c ome s aft er k u h a ka and b efore kuka . In the second plac e ,  forms with init ial a -kara ( the vok a l trager ) , wit h and without conjunct vowel symbol s ,  are grouped int o  one sect ion all t he way through a� and aQ to ' h o Q . Thi s  sect ion i s  then followed by separat e sect ions for the ot her Indic syllab i c  vowels such as i -kara and I-k ara . In the V K ,  a -k ara with t he c onj unct vowels i s  mixed in wit h  t h e  other syllabic vowe l s  s o  t hat ' un a , for example , i s  followed immediately by un a ,  whi c h  in t urn i s  followed immediat ely by ' rrpa d r u .  I n  both o f  these feature s Headley ' s  way i s  obviously better , but i s  a nuisanc e .  One dec ided improvement over the V K  i s  the inc lu sion o f  t he Indi c  vowels � .  f.  1 and I among t he vowe l s . In t he VK they are grouped , contrary to tradit ion , at the end o f  r a - kara and l a -kara . In a work of t h i s  qual i t y ,  finall y ,  we are ent i t led t o  e xpect t hat Dr Headley would Lave taken the bull by the horns and dec ided upon a pol i cy for t he treatment of t he reph a ,  the allograph of ra -kara for syllable-final / - r / in t he devanagarI and other Indic wri t ing systems . The Khmer have u suall y  treated t h i s  as a diacrit i c , and a s  a c on sequence it has never had any fixed alphabetic  order . Both t he VK and Headley t herefore vac illat e in t heir order ing o f  forms with whi ch it o c c ur s .  I n  the V K  v a r - Q a q  c omes ( correc t ly ) between v a - r u Q a q  and v a - r ma n ,  but s a r - b e j n a  c ome s ( incorrec t ly ) before s a - r a b r a Q . In Headley d ha r - ma  come s ( c orrec tly ) between d h a - r a man a and d ha ' ka ,  but ' ar - t h a  c ome s ( incorrect l y )  between ' at m o pa j Tv i n  and ' ad a r a . For all of these  negat ive j udgement s ,  Dr Headley , his  team o f  a s s i stant s ,  and t h e  Catho l i c  University o f  Ameri c a  are t o  b e  c ongratu ­lated for t h e i r  imaginat ion and perseveranc e in produc ing a work o f  t h i s  magnitude and t h i s  excellenc e . PHILIP N .  JENNER B I B L I OGRAPHY HUFFMAN , Franklin E . , with Chhom-Rak Thong Lambert and 1m Proum 1 9 7 0  Cam b o d�a� Sy6�em 0 6  W�����g a � d  B eg�����g R eade� w��h V��ll6 a�d Gl06 6 a�y . Yale Lingui stic Series . New Haven : Yal e Univer sity Pre s s . JACOB , M .  19 6 8  I ���o due��o�  �o Cam b o d�a� .  London : Oxford Univer sity Pre ss . 1 9 7 4  A C o �e�6 e Cam b o d�a�- E�gl�6 h  V�e��o �a�y . London :  Oxford Universit y Pre s s .  KHIN SOK 1 9 7 9  ' L ' inscr ipt ion moderne d e  T a  Prom ( Bat i ) , K . 3 9 ' .  M o � ­Khme� S�ud�e6 8 .  Forthcoming . SAM THANG 1 9 6 2  'I ANDART , S .  1 9 3 5  li K  1 9 6 7  1 9 6 8  V�Ryapa��va��a�a Rhme�a - p���� ha / L ex�que  Rhme� - 6�a��a�6 . Phnom-Penh . V�e�� o��a��e eam b o dg�e�- 6�a��a�6 . Phnom-Penh : Albert Portail . Vaea���u R�ama Rhme�a / V�e��o ��a��e eamb odg�e�.  Phnom-Penh : Inst itut Bouddhique . 2 vol s .  Jenner, P.N. "Review Article: Robert K. Headley Jr., Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, Chen Chun: Cambodian-English Dictionary". In Nguyễn Đ.L. editor, Southeast Asian linguistic studies, Vol. 4. C-49:431-436. Pacific Linguistics, The Australian National University, 1979.   DOI:10.15144/PL-C49.431 ©1979 Pacific Linguistics and/or the author(s).  Online edition licensed 2015 CC BY-SA 4.0, with permission of PL.  A sealang.net/CRCL initiative.

Review Article: Robert K. Headley Jr., Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, Chen Chun: Cambodian-English Dictionary

https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/253173/1/PL-C49.431.pdf

Review Article: Robert K. Headley Jr., Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, Chen Chun: Cambodian-English Dictionary

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

The Australian National University