ក្លៀក

Khmer

Etymology

From Proto-Mon-Khmer *kʔik ~ *kʔiək ~ *kʔaik (“armpit”) (Shorto, 2006).

In spite of reconstruction by Shorto (2006), the bare root of this Austroasiatic etymon was most likely something like *kɛːk, reflected in Muong Bi kéch and Mal kɛʔ. The Khmer form (as with Khmu [Cuang] klʔɛk) are laterally infixed, while Mon ကၞက် (as in ပါၚ်ကၞက်) and Vietnamese nách are the nasally infixed forms. Compare also Malay kelek, Javanese kelek, likely Austroasiatic loans.

Pronunciation

Orthographic and Phonemic	ក្លៀក k̥liak
WT romanisation	kliək
(standard) IPA^(key)	/kʰliəʔ/

Noun

ក្លៀក • (kliək)

armpit, underarm

Verb

ក្លៀក • (kliək) (abstract noun ការក្លៀក)

to scrub the back (of an elephant)