Where does “ពាក្យក្លាយ” come from?

ពាក្យក្លាយ (Khmer) comes from Khmer ពាក្យ, from Sanskrit वाक्य, from Sanskrit वच्, from Proto-Indo-European wekʷ- — to speak, to sound out.

Ancestry of “ពាក្យក្លាយ”, step by step

ពាក្យក្លាយ traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Khmer ពាក្យ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Khmerពាក្យword, term; utterance, expression, phrase; speech
2Sanskritवाक्यspeech, saying, assertion, statement, command,...
3Sanskritवच्to speak, utter, say
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwekʷ-to speak, to sound out

via Khmer ក្លាយ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Khmerក្លាយto change (into), transform (into), to alter something
2Thaiกลายto become; to mutate; last
3Proto-Taiklaːjᴬlast
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wekʷ- →Every word from Sanskrit वच् →Every word from Sanskrit वाक्य →