Textual criticism
Textual criticism demonstrates the great variation of expression in "Preah Ko Preah Keo" stemming from various forms of transmission. In 1870, ethnologist Gustave Janneau translated "Preah Ko Preah Keo" from a very succinct oral tradition. In 1952, Kim Ky copied and printed "Preah Ko Preah Keo" from palm-leaf manuscripts dating back to the late 19th or early 20th century. In the transcription, the narrator, who refers to himself as Kau and describes himself as "an ordinary man of the people" originating from the Prey Kabbas District (Khmer: ស្រុកព្រៃកប្បាស), says he heard the song from a story-teller named Chai who sang it in verse. The Reyum Institute published a Khmer-English abbreviated version of the legend in 2001, and Ly Thayly published another Khmer version in prose in 2004.