Editing Khmer language (section)

====Nouns and pronouns====
Khmer [[noun]]s do not inflect for [[grammatical gender]] or [[grammatical number|singular/plural]]. There are no [[Article (grammar)|articles]], but indefiniteness is often expressed by the word for "one" ({{lang|km|មួយ}} {{IPA|[muəj]}}) following the noun as in {{lang|km|ឆ្កែមួយ}} ({{IPA|[cʰkae muəj]}} "a dog"). Plurality can be marked by [[postnominal]] particles, numerals, or reduplication of a following adjective, which, although similar to intensification, is usually not ambiguous due to context.<ref name=msc />

<blockquote>
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{{interlinear|[cʰkae craən]|dog many|"many dogs"}}
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{{interlinear|[cʰkae piː]|dog two|"two dogs"}}
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{{interlinear|[cʰkae tʰom tʰom]|dog large large|'large dogs'}}
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</blockquote>

[[Classifier (linguistics)|Classifying particles]] are used after numerals, but are not always obligatory as they are in [[Thai grammar|Thai]] or [[Chinese classifier|Chinese]], for example, and are often dropped in colloquial speech. Khmer nouns are divided into two groups: mass nouns, which take classifiers; and specific, nouns, which do not. The overwhelming majority are mass nouns.<ref name=ModSpok />{{rp|67–68}}

{{interlinear|indent=3
|[kʰmawɗaj piː ɗaəm]
|pencil two {CLF [long cylindrical object]}
|"two pencils"}}

Possession is colloquially expressed by word order. The possessor is placed after the thing that is possessed.<ref name=Haiman />{{rp|160}} Alternatively, in more complex sentences or when emphasis is required, a possessive construction using the word {{lang|km|របស់}} ({{IPA|[rɔːbɑh] ~ [lə.bɑh]}}, "property, object") may be employed. In formal and literary contexts, the possessive particle {{lang|km|នៃ}} ({{IPA|[nɨj]}}) is used:<ref name=ModSpok />{{rp|358}}

<blockquote>
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{{interlinear|[puəʔmaːʔ kʰɲom]|friend I|"my friend"}}
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{{interlinear|[puəʔmaːʔ rɔːɓɑh kʰɲom]|friend property I|"my friend"}}
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{{interlinear|[puəʔmaːʔ nɨj kʰɲom]|friend of I|"my friend"}}
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</blockquote>

[[Pronoun]]s are subject to a complicated system of social register, the choice of pronoun depending on the perceived relationships between speaker, audience and referent (see [[#Social registers|Social registers]] below). Khmer exhibits [[pronoun avoidance]], so kinship terms, nicknames and proper names are often used instead of pronouns (including for the first person) among intimates. Subject pronouns are frequently [[null-subject language|dropped]] in colloquial conversation.<ref name=msc />

Adjectives, verbs and verb phrases may be made into nouns by the use of [[nominalization]] particles. Three of the more common particles used to create nouns are {{IPA|[kaː]}}, {{IPA|[seckdəj]}}, and {{IPA|[pʰiəp]}}.<ref name=Haiman />{{rp|45–48}} These particles are prefixed most often to verbs to form abstract nouns. The latter, derived from Sanskrit, also occurs as a suffix in fixed forms borrowed from Sanskrit and Pali such as {{IPA|[sokʰapʰiəp]}} ("health") from {{IPA|[sok]}} ("to be healthy").<ref name=KhDict />

<blockquote>
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{{interlinear|[kaː rŭəhnɨw]|NMLZ {to live}|'life'}}
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{{interlinear|[sec {kdəj deik}]|NMLZ {to lie down}|'[the act of] lying down'}}
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{{interlinear|[pʰiəp {sɑːm rum'}]|NMLZ appropriate|'appropriateness'<ref name=Haiman />}}
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</blockquote>