Le dictionnaire khmer unilingue de l’Institut bouddhique comme lieu de réflexion sur la normalisation linguistique au Cambodge (1900-2018)

Research training

Many NORNG, winner of the 2020 IRASEC field grants, will present her work in defense of her doctoral thesis on Wednesday, December 17, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. (Inalco – 2, rue de Lille).

The Khmer DICTIONARY of the Buddhist Institute (BI), now known as the “dictionary of Samdech CHUON Nath,” was developed under the French Protectorate, established after the signing of the first treaty with Cambodia in 1863. Its first edition, published in 1938 after more than twenty years of preparation since it began in 1915, marks a major milestone in the linguistic history of the country. This monumental work has played a decisive role in the process of standardizing the Khmer language from the early 20th century to the present day. Our research, at the crossroads of lexicography, lexicology, and language policy, examines both the construction of this normative tool and its reception by the Cambodian elites, some of whom have proposed alternative paths to linguistic modernization. Focusing our reflection on the fifth edition of the BI DICTIONARY (1967/1968), we analyze how Khmer linguistic norms have been constructed, perceived, and developed in the intellectual sphere of Cambodia since the early 20th century. This multidisciplinary study allows us to question the normative considerations formulated by Cambodian intellectuals on both linguistic and ideological levels.