How to use title: អូន/oun or ប្អូន Phʔoun). In order to avoid calling people's names, we used titles such as ពូ pu មីង miɲ, បង ɓɔŋ, ប្អូន phʔoun. The title (អូន/oun or ប្អូន Phʔoun), we used to call younger brother or younger sister. Related to the question from my student (May). Her question is: Why don't I call her អូន/oun because she heard from the other side that people usually call her អូន/oun?
Notably, May is 32 years old. She is a model from China. She is already married with three children. She worked in Phnom Penh for around 3 years. She learned Khmer with me at the coffee shop. We are of similar ages. Here is the situation of the man calling the woman in the coffee shop.
Moreover, the term អូន/oun has a deeper meaning than ប្អូន Phʔoun. For example, I call my wife អូន/oun instead of ប្អូន Phʔoun. The word អូន/oun here does not refer to younger sisters. It means honey, lover, baby, wife, or fiancé. In contrast, in this situation, everyone around me may think we are in a romantic relationship. In order to avoid confusion, I can call her បង/ɓonɡ or ប្អូន Phʔoun.
In conclusion, we can call someone អូន/oun or ប្អូន Phʔoun; it depends on the place, relationship, gender, or age. For example, it is not strange if we call someone អូន/oun in the workplace because we know we are coworkers, but people may consume you are husband and wife, then the man calls the woman អូន/oun in the public. Additionally, the man can call the women អូន/oun because they are far different ages. For example, the man is 34 and the woman is around 16 to 30 years old.
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