I was reading Kenneth So's article on the word Yuon. I would like to submit my piece on it to your website also. It is an excerpt from my book "Reflections of a Khmer Soul. The word Yuon, like the term ethnic cleansing, has been a topic of many discussions in my journey. Yuon is a Khmer word that means Vietnamese. It is neither derogatory nor flattering. As we call Cambodia, Srok Khmer, we also called Vietnam Srok Yuon.In "Khmer Language and the Term Yuon," Bora Touch argues:To say that "yuon" means "savages," critics of the term are likely reliant on the Khmer Rouge's definition from KR Black Book (1978) p.9, a definition that is incorrect and baseless and was included by the KR for the purpose of propaganda. Some Khmer, including Khmer Krom, believe that "yuon" actually derives from "Yuonan," the Chinese word for Vietnam. Others believe it comes from the Yaun (Khan) dynasty, against whose armies both the Khmer and Cham did battle.But in Cambodia, Yuon has somehow become a politically incorrect word that some view as derogatory.Many Cambodian-Americans and local Cambodians disagree on the meaning of the word Yuon. If I were to accept that the meaning changed due to some occurrence in Cambodia and that people outside of Cambodia were out of the loop, I would hope that the world could accept that Yuon can still be used neutrally without a supposedly derogatory connotation. But I'm not convinced that the word has changed in meaning. I think people may change it for their own agenda. Unfortunately, it can bring misunderstanding and animosity when Yuon is used in Cambodia.The new acceptable term for Yuon is Vietnam. I also saw an Internet discussion asserting that the Laotian word for Vietnamese is Yuon or Kaew. To be able to live and have the dignity to use your language without others telling you that certain words have a negative connotation is a luxury that Cambodians do not have. Excerpt from "Reflections of a Khmer Soul"http://www.navyphim.com/
Saturday, January 19, 2008
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4 comments:
I feel more negative than positive about the word. That said, there are also times i use the word to mean just the exact same way i do Vietnam.
haha idon care what it implies. It is common and more natural to use the word now. Like Siam, it is neutral. The Thai and English also use the word. Being bad or gud is in our mind, not word.
Roatha is right, I use it as common word and never mean to discriminate agaist Vietnanese.
Cheers,
Savuth
Linguistically conservative, I wish we could use the word in a non-derogative way, as I always do. we still use it in official historical texts, and the word 'youn' is also used by thai and lao people. Khmericans (unofficially coined) here still use the word everyday. But if we really want to avoid misunderstanding, for now at least, it may be good not to use it officially. I just hope it will become politically correct again in the future.
By the way, nice blog Roatha! Keep up the good work!
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