Editing Khmer language (section)

==Social registers==
Khmer employs a system of [[Register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] in which the speaker must always be conscious of the social status of the person spoken to. The different registers, which include those used for common speech, polite speech, speaking to or about royals and speaking to or about monks, employ alternate verbs, names of body parts and pronouns. As an example, the word for "to eat" used between intimates or in reference to animals is {{IPA|/siː/}}. Used in polite reference to commoners, it is {{IPA|/ɲam/}}. When used of those of higher social status, it is {{IPA|/pisa/}} or {{IPA|/tɔtuəl tiən/}}. For monks the word is {{IPA|/cʰan/}} and for royals, {{IPA|/saoj/}}.<ref name ="cl" /> Another result is that the pronominal system is complex and full of honorific variations, just a few of which are shown in the table below.<ref name=KhDict />

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Situational usage
! colspan=3 | I/me
! colspan=3 | you
! colspan=3 | he/she/it
|-
| Intimate or addressing an inferior
| {{lang|km|អញ}}
| {{transliteration|km|ânh}}
| {{IPA|[ʔaɲ]}}
| {{lang|km|ឯង}}
| {{transliteration|km|êng}}
| {{IPA|[ʔaeŋ]}}
| {{lang|km|វា}}
| {{transliteration|km|véa}}
| {{IPA|[ʋiə]}}
|-
| neutral
| {{lang|km|ខ្ញុំ}}
| {{transliteration|km|khnhŭm}}
| {{IPA|[kʰɲom]}}
| {{lang|km|អ្នក}}
| {{transliteration|km|'nâk}}
| {{IPA|[neaʔ]}}
| {{lang|km|គេ}}
| {{transliteration|km|ké}}
| {{IPA|[keː]}}
|-
| Formal
| {{lang|km|យើងខ្ញុំ}}, {{lang|km|ខ្ញុំបាទ}}
| {{transliteration|km|yeung khnhŭm}}, {{transliteration|km|khnhŭm bat}}
| {{IPA|[jəːŋ kʰɲom]}}<br />{{IPA|[kʰɲom ɓaːt]}}
| {{lang|km|លោក}}<br />(or kinship term, title or rank)
| {{transliteration|km|loŭk}}
| {{IPA|[loːk]}}
| {{lang|km|គាត់}}
| {{transliteration|km|koăt}}
| {{IPA|[kɔət]}}
|-
| Layperson to/about Buddhist clergy
| {{lang|km|ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា}}
| {{transliteration|km|khnhŭm preăh kârŭna}}
| {{IPA|[kʰɲom preah karunaː]}}
| {{lang|km|ព្រះតេជព្រះគុណ}}
| {{transliteration|km|preăh téch preăh kŭn}}
| {{IPA|[preah ɗaec preah kun]}}
| {{lang|km|ព្រះអង្គ}}
| {{transliteration|km|preăh ângk}}
| {{IPA|[preah ʔɑŋ]}}
|-
| Buddhist clergy to layperson
| {{lang|km|អាត្មា}}, {{lang|km|អាចក្តី}}
| {{transliteration|km|atma}}, {{transliteration|km|ach kdei}}
| {{IPA|[ʔatʰmaː]}}, {{IPA|[ʔaːc kɗəj]}}
| {{lang|km|ញោមស្រី}} (to female) <br /> {{lang|km|ញោមប្រុស}} (to male)
| {{transliteration|km|nhoŭm srei}} (to female), {{transliteration|km|nhoŭm brŏs}} (to male)
| {{IPA|[ɲoːm srəj]}} (to female), {{IPA|[ɲoːm proh]}} (to male)
| {{lang|km|ឧបាសក}} (to male), {{lang|km|ឧបាសិកា}} (to female)
| {{transliteration|km|ŭbasâk}} (to male), {{transliteration|km|ŭbasĕka}}
| {{IPA|[ʔuɓaːsɑk]}} <br /> {{IPA|[ʔuɓaːsekaː]}}
|-
| when addressing royalty
| {{lang|km|ខ្ញុំព្រះបាទអម្ចាស់}} or {{lang|km|ទូលបង្គុំ}} (male), {{lang|km|ខ្ញុំម្ចាស់}} (female)
| {{transliteration|km|khnhŭm preăh bat âmchăs}} or {{transliteration|km|tul bângkŭm}} (male), {{transliteration|km|khnhŭm mchăs}} (female)
| {{IPA|[kʰɲom preah ɓaːt ʔɑmcah]}} or {{IPA|[tuːl ɓɑŋkom]}} (male), {{IPA|[kʰɲom mcah]}} (female)
| {{lang|km|ព្រះករុណា}}
| {{transliteration|km|preăh kârŭna}}
| {{IPA|[preah karunaː]}}
| {{lang|km|ទ្រង់}}
| {{transliteration|km|tróng}}
| {{IPA|[trɔŋ]}}
|}