Tokenization and Part-of-Speech Annotation
Guidelines for Khmer (Cambodian)(Version 0.2, December 2016)
Chenchen Ding1, Hour Kaing1,2, Masao Utiyama1,
Vichet Chea2, Eiichiro Sumita1
1
Advanced Translation Technology Laboratory, ASTREC, NICT, Japan
2
National Institute of Posts, Telecommunications and ICT, Cambodia
chenchen.ding@nict.go.jp
1.

Introduction
The Khmer (Cambodian) language is the official language of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The language is a member of the Austroasiatic language family. Morphologically, Khmer isan analytic, isolating language. Morphemes can be combined freely with no changes, andparticles and auxiliary words are used to indicate grammatical relationships. Syntactically,
Khmer is typically head-initial where modifiers follow the word they modify. General word
order is subject–verb–object and topic-comment structure is common in Khmer.
This manual provides detailed guidelines for the surface annotation of the Khmer texts
in Asian language treebank (ALT). The tokenization and part-of-speech (POS) annotation is
included in this manual and handled uniformly under an annotation system called NOVA.
The manual is organized as follows. Section 2 is the introduction of the NOVA system used
for annotation. Section 3 describes the principles of tokenization. Section 4 describes thedetails in annotating single tokens and Section 5 describes the annotation for compounds.
Section 6 provides descriptions on confusing and difficult cases in annotation.

2.

NOVA Annotation
NOVA provides four basic tags: “n”, “v”, “a”, and “o” to represent fundamental wordclasses, with further three auxiliary tags to represent numbers, punctuations marks, and tokens with weak syntactic roles. Specific descriptions of the basic and auxiliary tags arelisted in Table 1. Besides the simple tags, a pair of brackets “[” and “]” are further applied
to show multiple tags “working (together) as”. The brackets are used widely in the annotation to represent various linguistic phenomena, mainly for compounds in the case of
Khmer.

1

Table 1. Basic and auxiliary tags in NOVA
tag descriptionn general nouns, can be subjects or objects of tokens tagged by v
v general verbs, can take tokens tagged by n as arguments
a general adjectives, can directly describe or modify tokens tagged by no other modifications or complements for tokens or larger syntactic parts
1 general numbers. general punctuation marks+ a catch-all category, for tokens with weak syntactic roles

3.

Tokenization
No word-separators are used in Khmer texts to show the word boundary. This section describes the principles used to segment Khmer texts into tokens.
Tokens are classified into two types, (1) word and (2) compound in annotation. A word
is a token which cannot be further segmented without losing the meaning of its own. As
Khmer is highly analytic, the words are equal to morphemes in most cases. A compound isthen a unit with integrated meaning composed by two or more words. In tokenization,
words, and components with in compounds are separated by spaces, i.e., Khmer texts are
generally tokenized into morpheme-level. In practice, the Chuon Nath Khmer dictionary isreferred to in tokenizing compounds. For example, “តេជគុណ”, which means “Your Excellency”, is considered as a compound and segmented into “តេជ” and “គុណ”, whichmeans “power” and “kindness”, respectively, because both “តេជ”and “គុណ” are meaningful entries listed in Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary. A further tokenization example is illustrated in the following Example 1, where “សាលាត ៀន” is a compound composed by twowords “សាលា” and “ត ៀន”.

-Example 1
Tokenized Khmer: តនេះ ជា
English gloss: this

សាលា

ត ៀន

ខ្ញុំ

។

to-be school to-study my .

English translation: This is my school.
The compounds are segmented into tokens and will be finally annotated by the brackets in NOVA. Generally, the annotation with brackets is in a form of “x[x1 x2 … xn]x”,
where xk are the tags for each component morpheme and x is the tag for the integrated expression. Here the “x[x1” and “xn]x” are single tags for the initial and final morphemes2

in the expression. The usage of brackets are restricted to be shallow, that crossed or nested
brackets are avoided. The details on identification and annotation of compounds will be introduced in Section 5.

4.

Part-of-Speech Annotation for Single Tokens

4.1.

Usage of “n” Tag
The “n” tag is applied for all the nominal tokens, including common nouns and proper
nouns. Various pronouns are also taken as nominal tokens and annotated by “n”. Specificexamples are illustrated in the following. For all the examples in this manual, the tags areattached to correspondent tokens by an underline (“_”).
-

Example 2
Annotated Khmer: កម្ពញជា_n

សម្ប
ូ _v

ប្រាសាទ_n ណាស់_o ។_.

English gloss: Cambodia to-have-plenty-of temple

very

.

English translation: Cambodia has many temples.
note: “កម្ពញជា” is a proper noun; “ប្រាសាទ” is a common noun.
-

Example 3
តេើ
_o

ឯង
_n

ចូ ល
_v[v

ចិេត
_n]v

ម្ុខ
_n[n

វិ ជ្ជាា
_n]n

អ្វ ី
_a

?
_.

English gloss: n/ayou

to-enter

heart

head

subjectwhat?

Annotated Khmer:

English translation: What subject do you like?
note: “ឯង” is a personal pronoun. Common personal pronouns are:“ខ្ញុំ”, “ឯង”, “វា”, “គាេ់”, and “តគ”.

-Example 4
Annotated Khmer: តនេះ_n

ជា_vចុំណណក_n

ឯង_a

។_.

English gloss: this

to-be

part

your

.

English translation: This is yours.
note: “តនេះ” is a demonstrative pronoun. Common demonstrative
pronouns are: តនេះ”, “តេះ”, “ទ ុំងតនេះ”, and “ទ ុំងត

េះ”.

3

-

Example 5
Annotated Khmer:តេើ_oEnglish gloss: n/a

អ្វ ី
_n

មាន
_v

េុំលល
_n

លលៃ
_a

ជាង
_o

តគ
_n

?
_.

what

to-have

cost

dear

more-than

other

?

English translation: What is the most expensive one?
note: “អ្វ ី” is an interrogative pronoun. Common interrogative
pronouns are: “អ្ន កណា”, “ន ណា”, “អ្វ ី”, “ណា”, and “ណាខៃ េះ”.

-Example 6
កលាណ
_n[n

ម្ិេត
_n]n

ណែល
_n

ខ្ញុំ
_n

ប្រសលាញ់
_v

ជាង
_o

តគ
_n

English gloss: virtuous

friendwhoIto-likemore-thanotherAnnotated Khmer:

English translation: intimate friend who I like the mostnote: “ណែល” is a relative pronoun standing for the antecedent noun.
4.2.

Usage of “v” Tag
The “v” tag is applied for all the verbal tokens, including general verbs and copula. Specific examples are illustrated in the following.

-

Example 7
Annotated Khmer: ខ្ញុំ_n ត ៀន_v
English gloss: I

ភាសា_n[n ណខែ _n]n ។_.

to-learn language

Khmer

.

English translation: I learn the Khmer language.
note: “ត ៀន” is a transitive verb.

-

Example 8
Annotated Khmer: កូ ន_n តែក_v កនញង_o អ្ប្រងឹង_n ។_.
English gloss: childto-sleep inhammock.

English translation: The child sleeps in a hammock.
note: “តែក” is an intransitive verb.

4

-

Example 9
Annotated Khmer: ខ្ញុំ_n

ជា_v

បូ លីស_n។_.

English gloss: I

to-bepolice.

English translation: I am a police.
note: “ជា” is a copula. Another common copula is “គឺ”.
4.3.

Usage of “a” Tag
The “a” tag is applied for adjective tokens modifying or describing a noun. Specific examples are illustrated in the following.

-

Example 10
Annotated Khmer:

កង់
_n

េូ ច
_a

ជិេះ
_v

ម្ិន ាន តលឿន តទ ។
_o _v
_o
_o _.

English gloss: bicycle small to-ride not

can

fast

n/a .

English translation: Riding a small bicycle cannot be fast.
note: “េូ ច” is a common adjective.

-

Example 11
Annotated Khmer:ផ្ទ េះ
_nEnglish gloss: house

ខ្ញុំ
_a

សង់
_v

តៅ
_o[o

កណា
ា ល
_o]o

វាល
_n[n

ណប្រស
_n]n

។
_.

my

to-buildin

middle

field

paddy

.

English translation: My house is built in the middle of the rice field.
note: “គាេ់” is a possessive adjective. Most personal pronouns can beused as possessive adjectives directly.

-

Example 12
Annotated Khmer:

សាលា
_n[n

English gloss: school

ត ៀន
_v]n

តនេះ
_a

ជា
_v

សាលា
_n[n

ត ៀន
_v]n

ខ្ញុំ
_a

។
_.

to-study

this

to-be

schoolto-studymy.

English translation: This school is my school.
note: “តនេះ” is a demonstrative adjective. Most demonstrative pronouncan be used as demonstrative adjectives directly.
As Khmer has head-initial structure, the adjective usually comes after the nouns they5modify, as illustrated by the examples. However, adjectives borrowed from Sanskrit or Palimay precede the nouns they modify to form head-final structures. Typical examples areសាធា ណ_n[a ែឋ _n]n (republic), which is composed by សាធា ណ_a (public) and ែឋ _n(state), and បុព្វ_n[a បុ ស_n]n (ancestor), which is composed by បុព្វ_a (ancient) andបុ ស_n (person).
4.4.

Usage of “o” Tag
The “o” tag is applied for all the functional tokens, including adverbs, auxiliary verbs,
prepositions, conjunctions, and various particles. Generally, the “o” tag can be applied forany ambiguous tokens with a certain syntactic role (or the “+” tag will be applied). Specificexamples are illustrated in the following.

-

Example 13
ឯង
_n

កុុំ
_o

តបើក
_v

ម្ូ េូ
_n

តលឿន
_o

តព្ក
_o

។
_.

English gloss: younotto-ride

bike

fast

too

.

Annotated Khmer:

English translation: Do not ride a bike too fast.
note: “កុ”ុំ is a particle for negation.
“តលឿន” is a common adverb to show the manner of an activity.
“តព្ក” is an adverb for degree.

-

Example 14
Annotated Khmer: វា_n

តៅ_vឆ្ងាយ_o។_.

English gloss: it

to-stayfar.

English translation: It is far from here.
note: “ឆ្ងាយ” is an adverb to show place.

-

Example 15
Annotated Khmer:ជួ នជា ខ្ញុំ តែើ
_o
_n _v

English gloss: just

I

កាេ់
_v

ទី
_n

ត េះ ។
_a_.

to-walk to-pass-through place that.

English translation: I just passed there.
note: “ជួ នជា” is an adverb to show time.

6

-

Example 16
Annotated Khmer: តេើ_o

ឯង_n

ម្ក_v

អ្ង្កាល_o?_.

English gloss: n/ayou

to-comewhen?

English translation: When will you arrive?
note: “អ្ង្កាល” is an interrogative adverb.
“តេើ” is a particle for interrogative sentences.
Other common interrogative adverbs are“ែូ ចតម្ត ច” (how), and “បុ ែ ន” (how much).

-

Example 17
Annotated Khmer:ខ្ញុំ ាន_n _oEnglish gloss: Iអាន_vតសៀិតៅ តនេះ ចប់
_n
_a _v

already to-read bookthisត ើយ ។
_o_.

to-finish n/a.

English translation: I have finished the book.
note: “ាន” is an aspect marker, considered as auxiliary verb.
“ត ើយ” is a final particle indicating completed action.

-

Example 18
Annotated Khmer:ខ្ញុំ ធាៃប់
_n _oEnglish gloss: Iនិយាយ ត ឿង_v_n

to-be-used-to to-tellតនេះ ណែ
_a _ostory this

too

។
_.
.

English translation: I am used to tell this story too.
note: “ធាៃប់” is an auxiliary verb. “ណែ ” is a final particle.

-

Example 19
Annotated Khmer: គាេ់_n អាច_o តប្រចៀង_v[v ាន_v]v ព្ីត េះ_o ។_.
English gloss: she/hecanto-sing

to-getsweetly.

English translation: She (He) can sing sweetly.
note: “អាច” is a modal verb. “ព្ីត េះ” is an adverb.

7

-

Example 20
Annotated Khmer:តយើង ត្វ ី_n_v

English gloss: weែុំតណើ
_nតាម្ យនត
_o_n[nto-do travelbyត េះ ។
_n]n _.

machine to-fly.

English translation: We travel by plan.
note: “តាម្” is a preposition.

-

Example 21
Annotated Khmer: គាេ់_n ស តស _v សាាេ_o ត ើយ_o ប្រេឹម្ប្រេិូ _o ។_.
English gloss: she/he

to-write

neatlyandcorrectly.

English translation: She (He) writes neatly and correctly.
note: “ត ើយ” is a coordinating conjunction.
“សាាេ” and “ប្រេឹម្ប្រេិូ ” are common adverbs.
Another common coordinating conjunctions is “ឬ” (or).

-Example 22
Annotated Khmer:ខ្ញុំ ម្ិន តៅ_n _o _v

English gloss: I

not

ត្វ ី
កា
តប្ររេះ
_v[v _n]v _oto-go to-do

workខ្ញុំ ឈឺ_n _v

because I។_.

sick .

English translation: I do not go to work because I am sick.
note: “ម្ិន” is a particle for negation.
“តប្ររេះ” is a subordinating conjunction.

-

Example 23
Annotated Khmer: ខ្ញុំ_nEnglish gloss: I

ម្ិន_o

ែឹង_v

តទ_o

។_.

not

to-known/a.

English translation: I do not know.
note: “ម្ិន” is a particle for negation.
“តទ” is a final particle for negated sentences.
Other common particles for negation are “គាែន” and “កុ”ុំ
4.5.

Usage of Auxiliary Tags

8

The three auxiliary tags “1”, “.”, and “+” are used trivially to represent numbers, punctuations marks, and tokens with weak syntactic roles, e.g., interjections.
Specifically, numbers represented in Arabic numbers, Khmer numbers, and in lexical
forms are all annotated by the “1” tag, e.g., 123_1, ប្រា_ុំ 1, and ១២៣៩_1. Common
Khmer punctuation marks annotated with the “.” tag are “។”, “៕”, “៛”, “៖”, and “៘”.
Common Khmer particles annotated with the “+” tag are “អាតែញ”, “អា”, “ណណ”, “តអ្ើ”,“តណេះ”, “តម្ើល”ិ៍ , “ាទ”, and “ចា៎”, to expressing hesitation or confirmation in conversation.

5.

Part-of-Speech Annotation for Multi-Token Compounds

5.1.

Identification
As Khmer has a head-initial structure and adjectives are usually placed after the noun they
modify, the integration of nominal compounds composed of multiple tokens can be identified by the place of the adjective placed. For example, four morphemes can be identified
with the expression of “ឡានែឹកទុំនញ
ិ ស”, which are “ឡាន” (vehicle), “ែឹក” (to-carry),“ទុំនិញ” (goods), and “ស” (white). If a further adjectival morpheme like “េូ ច” (small) isused to modify the expression, the most natural place of insertion is between“ឡានែឹកទុំនញ
ិ ” and “ស”, from which we can identify the “ឡានែឹកទុំនញ
ិ ” (truck) is an
integrated compound. As a further example, “ែីស” composed of two morphemes “ែ”ី (soil)and “ស” (white), while the “េូ ច” (small) cannot be placed between them but be attached
ី ” should be considered as an integrated
to the whole expression for modification. So “ែស

compound. It should be notice that the compound identification cannot be decided only by
specific morphemes from the two examples, that the relation and integrity among components should be considered.
The combination between verbal morphemes are looser than that of nominal ones. We
can use the same insertion approach to judge whether a sequence of verbal morphemes iscompound or not. For example, the expression of “តៅតលង” contains two morphemes“តៅ” (to-go) and “តលង” (to-visit), and a further object “ផ្ទ េះ” (home) can be inserted between them. So, “តៅតលង” will not be treated as a compound. Another examples is“ព្ាយាម្កា រ ”, where two morphemes “ព្ាយាម្” (to-try) and “កា រ ” (to-protect) canbe identified. When the expression is negated, the negation particle “ម្ិន” (not) is placed
between them. So, this expression is still not a compound.
5.2.

Common Patten

9For the annotation of the compound, each token within the compound is annotated separately according to its own tag, while the first and last token are wrapped by a pair ofbrackets as mentioned in Section 3. Generally, there is no restriction on the number of tokens in a compound, while in Khmer a compound composed of two or three tokens (morphemes) are common. Examples of common compound patterns are listed in the following
Tables 2 and 3.
Table 2. Examples of two-token compound
Annotated Khmer
1st-tokenចុំតណេះ_n[n2nd-token

English gloss
1st-token

2nd-token

compoundវិ ជ្ជាា_n]n knowledge knowledge → knowledgeម្ុខ_n[nមាេ់_n]nface mouthចុំនួន_n[nតលខ_n]nnumber number→ number

លែ_n[nតជើង_n]nhand leg→ stoogeតទេះ_n[nត្ៃ ើង_n]ncart fire→ trainតនន _n[nសម្ុប្រទ_n]nbeach sea

→ beachតប្រសាម្_n[nលែ_n]ncover hand

→ gloves

ជាេិ_n[nណែក_n]nsubstance ironគិេ_v[vគូ _v]v

to-think to-draw→ to-think-about

សុ_
ី v[v

ផ្ឹក_v]v

to-eat to-drink→ to-eat-and-drink

ណបង_v[vណចក_v]v

to-divide to-divideខព ង់_a[a

ខព ស_
់ a]a

high high→ highតោក_a[aទប_a]acheap low

→ cheapតសា ៀម្_a[aសាាេ់_a]asilent silent→ silent

ង្កយ_a[aប្រសួល_a]aeasy easy→ easyណ ល_v[vទឹក_n]v

to-swim water→ to-swim

តលាេ_v[vទឹក_n]v

to-jump water→ to-diveិតងវ ង_v[vផ្ល ិូ _n]v

to-be-lost way→ to-lose-the-wayវិ ជ្ល_v[vម្ុខ_n]v

to-spin face

→ to-feel-dizzyទល់_v[vគុំនិេ_n]v

to-exhaust idea

→ to-be-stuck

មាស_n[nនា ិន_a]ngold pure→ pure-gold

ី n[n
ែ_

ជាុំ_a]nsoil wet→ wet-groundshape tapered→ cone-shapeង_n[n ប្រជលម្_a]n→ appearance→ iron→ to-divideម្នុសស_n[nចស់_a]nperson old→ adult

ទឹក_n[nតមែ_a]nwater black

→ ink

ី n[n
ែ_

ស_a]n

soil white→ chalk
10

Annotated Khmer

English gloss

1st-token

2nd-token

1st-tokenែូ ិ_n[nតតត_a]nseason hot

អាិ_n[n្ុំ_a]nshirt big→ coatប្រេី_n[nអាុំង_v]nfish broil→ broiled-fish

សាលា_n[nត ៀន_v]nschool studyយនត _n[nតបនទ ប់_n[nតែក_v]nេះ_v]n2nd-token

compound→ summer→ school→ planemachine fly→ bed-room

room sleep

Table 3. Examples of three-token compound
Annotated Khmer
1st-tok.

2nd-tok.

ផ្កាយ_n[nតសេះ_n[nEnglish gloss

3rd-tok.

1st-tok. 2nd-tok. 3rd-tok.

ែុេះ_v កនទញយ_n]ncompoundstar to-growtail→ cometរក់_v

បងា ង់_n]nhorse to-wear

ring→ zebraបនទ ប់_n[n ទទួ ល_vត្ញៀិ_n]nroom to-greet

guest→ living-room

5.3.

Affixation
Many very frequent components in compounds may be considered as affixes. Most of them
are borrowed from Sanskrit or Pali, and a part of prefixes are originally Khmer nouns.
These affixes are segmented as token and annotated by the brackets as compounds. Typicalexamples are shown in Tables 4 and 5.
Table 4. Examples of two-token compound, where the first token is a prefix

Annotated Khmer
1st-token

2nd-tokenអ្ន ក_n[nជុំនួញ_n]nអ្ន ក_n[n តសៀម្ ប_n]nអ្ន ក_n[nប្រក_a]n

កា _n[nព្ិេ_a]n

កា _n[nផ្ទ េះ_n]nតសចកត ី_n[n

កាៃ

ន_a]n

តសចកត ី_n[nសងឃឹម្_v]nអ្នុ_n[aម្ន្តនតី_n]n

អ្នុ_n[aប្របធាន_n]nEnglish gloss
1st-token
person(-er/-or)work/actcase/state
vice-

2nd-token
trade

compound→ businessman

Siem Reap → Siem-Reap-peoplepoor→ the-poorreal→ realityhouse→ housework

brave→ courage

to-hope→ hopeminister→ junior-ministerpresident→ vice-president

11Annotated Khmer
1st-token

2nd-token

កិចច_n[nសនា_v]nកិចច_n[nប្របជុ_ុំ v]nឯក_a[aជ_n]aឯក_a[aទិស_n]aអ្គគ _n[aយក_n]nអ្គគ _n[aវាច_n]nEnglish gloss
1st-token
actsingle/alone
first/best

2nd-token

compoundto-agree→ agreement

to-meet→ meetingreign→ independent

direction→ one-way

director→ general-director

word→ sophisticated-words

Table 5. Examples of two-token compound, where the second token is a suffix
Annotated Khmer
1st-token

2nd-token

English gloss
1st-token

2nd-token

compoundសងគ ម្_n[n និយម្_n]nsociety principle→ socialismប្រាកែ_n[a និយម្_n]nreal (-ism)→ realismslave→ slavery

ទស_n[nភាព្_n]nតស ី_n[nភាព្_n]n free-personប្របិេត ិ_n[nវិ ជ្ទូ _n]nhistoryទសសន_n[nវិ ជ្ទូ _n]nconcept្ូ ម្ិ_n[nសាន្តសត_n]nearthអ្កស _n[nសាន្តសត_n]nletterែឋ _n[nសភា_n]nnationប្រព្ឹទធ_n[nសភា_n]nseniorវិ ជ្ទា_n[nសាាន_n]nknowledge

ឱសល_n[nសាាន_n]n

medicine

6.

Confusion Cases

6.1.

Functional Multi-Token Expression

state/condition
scholar/expert
science/knowledge
assembly
marketplace→ liberty→ historian→ philosopher→ geography→ literature→ parliament→ senate→ institute→ pharmacy

In most cases, the brackets are applied for compounds with substantial meanings, most ofwhich are nominal expressions. The bracket can also be used for functional expressions, aslong as the meaning of components within them can be identified clearly, as the tokenization principle is to segment out small tokens as possible. Specific cases include some interrogative or indefinite pronouns, adverbs, and complex prepositions and conjunctions. Examples are listed as follows.

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Example 24
Annotated Khmer:

តេើ
_o

អ្ន ក
_n[n

ណា
_n]n

តទើប
_o[o

នឹង
_o]o

ម្ក
_v

?
_.

English gloss:

n/aperson

which

then

with

to-come?

English translation: Who has just come?
note: “អ្ន ក_n[n ណា_n]n” means “who”, an interrogative pronoun.
“តទើប_n[n នឹង_n]n means “just”, an adverb.

-

Example 25
Annotated Khmer:

តេើ
_o

អ្ន ក
_n[n

ល់
_o

គាន
_n]n

ចង់
_o

ាន
_v

អ្វ ី
_n

?
_.

English gloss:

n/apersonevery

n/a

to-want

to-getwhat?

English translation: What does everyone what?
note: “អ្ន ក_n[n ល់_o គាន_n]n” means “everyone”, an indefinite
pronoun, where “គាន” is a counter of person.

-

Example 26
Annotated Khmer:
English gloss:តប្រកាយ ម្ក_o[o _o]o
after

ព្ិ្ី
_n[n

ជប់តលៀង ក៏_v]n_otoward ceremonythenបញ្ច ប់ ។_v_.

them to-end.

English translation: Afterward, the party ended.
note: “តប្រកាយ_o[o ម្ក_o]o” means “afterward”, an adverb.

-

Example 27
Annotated Khmer:ម្នុសស
_n

ខៃ េះ
_a

តៅ
_o[o

ខាង
_o

កនញង
_o]o

បនទ ប់_n។
_.

English gloss:

people

some

in

side

in

room

.

English translation: There are some people in the room.
note: “តៅ_o[o ខាង_o កនញង_o]o” is a complex preposition,used to show the place.

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Example 28
Annotated Khmer:ប្របសិន តបើអ្ន ក តៅណេម្ិន យល់
_o[o _o]o _n _o[o _o]o _o _v
ifEnglish gloss:

if

you

in

just

not

to-understandEnglish translation: If you still not understand…
note: “ប្របសិន_o[o តបើ_o]o” means “if”, a conjunction.
“តៅ_o[o ណេ_o]o” means “still”, an adverb.
6.2.

Annotation Around Number and Reduplication
The numbers are generally segmented to separate token. For the number-counter constituents for counting nouns, brackets are used. The number-counter constituents are treated as
adjectival expressions because of modifying nouns, and the counters are generally annotated by “n”, as most of them are derived from grammaticalized nouns. Specific examples
are listed as follows.

-

Example 29
Annotated Khmer:
English gloss:ខ្ញុំ ាន ទិញ
_n _o
_v
I

have

តសៀិតៅ ែប់កាល ។_n_a[1 _n]a _.

to-buy

book

ten

unit

.

English translation: I have bought ten books.
note: “កាល” is a counter for counting books.

-

Example 30
Annotated Khmer:

ខ្ញុំ
_n

ត ៀន
_v

ែល់
_o

តម្ត ៀន
_n

ទី
_a[n

បួ ន
_1]a

។
_.

English gloss:I

to-study

up-to

lesson

place

four

.

English translation: I study the lesson fourth.
note: “ទី” originally means “place”, used to form an ordinal number.

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Example 31
Annotated Khmer:

ដាតណ
_n

ត ៀន
_v

ោនក់
_n

ទី
_a[n

ប្រាុំ
_1

បី
_1]a

។
_.

English gloss:

Danei

to-study

class

place

five

three

.

English translation: Danei is an eighth-grade student.
note: As Khmer uses a quinary numeral system, digits are segmented.

The phenomenon of reduplication is common in Khmer, which can be applied on
nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. The reduplication is annotated by a special “ៗ” mark,which is annotated by “.” and wrapped with the preceding main token by brackets.

-

Example 32
Annotated Khmer:
English gloss:តកែ ង ៗកុំព្ុង តលង_n[n _.]n _o
_v
child

-s

-ing

បិទ
_n[v

ព្ួ ន
_v]n

។
_.

to-play to-stick to-hide .

English translation: children are playing hide-and-seek.
note: “ៗ” is used to address plural here.

6.3.

Context Depended Tagging
The annotation around functionalized or grammaticalized tokens should depend on the contexts, i.e., the specific role they played. A typical case is nominal pronouns playing attributive rather than a substitutive role, where “a” should be used instead of “n”. Specific examples are listed as follows.

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Example 33
Annotated Khmer: តនេះ_n ជា_v តសៀិតៅ_n ។_.
English gloss:

this

is

book

.

English translation: This is a book.
note: “តនេះ” is used as a nominal token.

-

Example 34
Annotated Khmer: ខ្ញុំ_n ប្រសឡាញ់_v តសៀិតៅ_n តនេះ_a ។_.
English gloss:I

to-like

book

this

.

English translation: I like this book.
note: “តនេះ” is used as an adjectival token.

-

Example 35
Annotated Khmer: ម្ួ យ_n[1oneEnglish gloss:

ណា_n]n

ជា_v

បស់_n

ឯង_a

?_.

which

is

thing

you

?

English translation: Which is yours?
note: “ម្ួ យ_n[1 ណា_n]n” is a complex interrogative pronoun.
“ឯង” is a pronoun used as adjective for possession.

-

Example 36
Annotated Khmer:តេើ_oម្ូ េូ
_n

ម្ួ យ
_a[1

ណា
_n]a

ជា
_v

បស់
_n

ឯង
_a

?
_.

English gloss:

n/a

bike

one

which

is

thing

you

?

English translation: Which bike is yours?
note: “ម្ួ យ_a[1 ណា_n]a” here is used as an adjective token.

Another phenomenon is the relatively free changing among nominal, adjectival, and verbal
tokens. Specific examples are listed as follows. The tagging must conducted with a consideration of the phrase or sentence structure and the specific role the token plays.
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Example 37
Annotated Khmer: ណផ្ៃ_n[n សាវយ_n]n តនេះ_a ទុុំ_v
English gloss:

fruit

mango

this

ត ើយ_o ។_.

to-ripen already.

English translation: Mangos ripen.
note: “ណផ្ៃ” is a noun with a meaning of “fruit”.
“ទុុំ” is a verb with a meaning of “to ripen”.

-

Example 38
Annotated Khmer: សាវយ_nEnglish gloss:mango

ណផ្ៃ_v
to-bear-fruitតប្រចើន_o

ណាស់_o

much

very

។_.
.

English translation: Mango trees bear a lot of fruits.
note: “ណផ្ៃ” is used as a verbal token here to address “bear fruit”.

-

Example 39
Annotated Khmer: ប្រសូិ_n

ទុុំ_aប្រេិូ _o

ាន_o

ែក_v

។_.

rice

ripe

n/a

already

to-pull.

English gloss:

English translation: Ripe rice has been pulled.
note: “ទុុំ” is used as an adjectival token here to address “ripe”.

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