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Philip N. Jenner

Portrait of Philip N.  Jenner

Philip Norman Jenner (16 Oct 1921, Seattle, USA — 4 Jan 2013, Olympia, USA) was a Professor Emeritus of Cambodian and Southeast Asian linguistics, author of several dictionaries and grammar manuals of Old and Middle Khmer. 

At age 11, he discovered his passion for ancient languages when learning Armenian with and an Armenian couple living in his neighborhood, then learnt Latin and Greek with teacher Charles Alban Taylor, and then studied Slavic languages and Oriental Studies at University of Washington. During World War II, he was assigned to the US Army Japanese Language School at the University of Michigan, and later to the Military Intelligence Service Japanese Training School in Minnesota. Working under under General MacArthur in Japan, he developed his passion for Far East cultures, and married the daughter of a Japanese florist settled in Seattle, Miyo Marie Inouye, in 1947.

Later on, Janner attended the Pali and Sanskrit courses at University of Chicago, and earned his PhD from the University of Hawaii, Department of Indo-Pacific Languages, whree he became one of the world’s foremost authorities on Cambodian and Old Khmer, working with noted Khmer linguists Saveros Pou. 

Retired in 1984, Philip Jenner furthered his many years of scholarship on the inscriptions of Cambodia. His last work, finished just two months before his death at age 91, was a translation from the Dutch of an Old Balinese dictionary.

Among his publications, Sealang​.net makes available online the following works:

  • “Observations on Old Khmer man”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, vol. 20, pp. 1 – 10.
  • “A note on lexical replacement in Khmer”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, vol. 21, pp. 179 – 184.
  • “The form /​syan/​in Angkorian Khmer”, in Austroasiatic Languages, Essays in honour of H. L. Shorto, ed. J.H.C.S. Davidson, pp. 227 – 240. School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. 
  • Jenner, P. and Pou, S. 1980 – 1981, ​“A lexicon of Khmer morphology”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, vol. 9 – 10, pp. 1 – 517. 
  • “Review Article: Robert K. Headley Jr, Kylin Chhor, Lam Kheng Lim, Lim Hak Kheang, Chen Chun: Cambodian-English Dictionary”, 1978, in South-east Asian Linguistic Studies Vol. 4, ed. N.D. Liem, vol. 4, pp. 431 – 436. Pacific Linguistics, the Australian National University. 
  • “A minor Khmer ethical text of early date”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, vol. 7, pp. 111 – 140.
  • “Anomalous expansions in Khmer morphology”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, 1977, vol. 6, pp. 169 – 189. 
  • “The Relative Dating of Some Khmer CPA’PA*”, in Austroasiatic Studies, ed. P.N. Jenner et al., Honolulu, 1976,pp. 693 – 710. The University Press of Hawaii.
  • “A Possible Case of Cosmological Gender in Khmer”, in Austroasiatic Studies, ed. P.N. Jenner et al., Honolulu, 1976, pp. 711 – 740. The University Press of Hawaii.
  • “The value of i, ī, u and ū in Middle Khmer”, in The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal, 1976, vol. 5, pp. 101 – 133. 
  • “The value of i, ī, u and ū in Middle Khmer”, in South-east Asian Linguistic Studies Vol. 2, ed. N.D. Liem, vol. 2, 1976, pp. 39 – 72. Pacific Linguistics, the Australian National University. 
  • “The Development of the Registers in Standard Khmer”, in South-east Asian Linguistic Studies Vol. 1, ed. N.D. Liem, vol. 1, 1974, pp. 47 – 60. Pacific Linguistics, the Australian National University. 
  • “Observations on the Surin Dialect of Khmer”, in South-east Asian Linguistic Studies Vol. 1, ed. N.D. Liem, vol. 1, 1974, pp. 61 – 74. Pacific Linguistics, the Australian National University. 
  • “The Value of /​au/​and /​ai/​in Middle Khmer”, in South-east Asian Linguistic Studies Vol. 1, ed. N.D. Liem, vol. 1, 1974, pp. 157 – 174. Pacific Linguistics, the Australian National University.