Khmer (Cambodian) alphabet and language (2024)

Khmer is a Mon-Khmer language spoken mainly in Cambodia, and also in Vietnam and Thailand. In 2015 there were about 16 million Khmer speakers in Cambodia, and there were about 1.2 million speakers of the language in Vietnam in 2009. In Thailand a variety of Khmer known as Northern Khmer is spoken by 1.4 million people. This is considered a separate language by some people.

Khmer at a glance

  • Native name: ភាសាខ្មែរ (phiəsaa khma) [pʰiə.ˈsaː kʰmae]
  • Language family: Austroasiatic, Mon-Khmer
  • Number of speakers: c. 18.6 million
  • Spoken in: Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand
  • First written: 9th century
  • Writing system: Khmer script
  • Status: official language in Cambodia. Recognised minority language in Vietnam and Thailand

Khmer shares many features and much vocabulary with Thai as a result of centuries of two-way borrowing. There are also borrowings from Sanskrit, Pali, French and Chinese in Khmer.

Khmer is also known as Cambodian. The official name of Cambodia is the Kingdom of Cambodia (ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា [Preah Reachanachâk Kampuchea]). In the past it has been known as the Khmer Republic (1970-1975), Democratic Kapuchea (1975-1979), the People's Republic of Kampuchea (1979-1989) and the State of Cambodia (1989-1993). The name Kampuchea comes from the Sanskrit कम्बोजदेश [Kambujadeśa] - "land of Kambuja") [source]. The name Cambodia is an English version of the French Cambodge, which is a version of Kampuchea [source].

Varieties of Khmer include:

  • Standard or Central Khmer, - spoken mainly in central Cambodia, and used as the language of instruction in schools
  • Northern Khmer (Khmer Surin / ខ្មែរសុរិន្) - spoken in northeast Thailand
  • Western Khmer - spoken in western Cambodia and eastern Thailand
  • Phnom Penh Khmer - spoken in Phnom Penh and nearby areas
  • Southern Khmer (Khmer Krom / ខ្មែរក្រោម) - spoken in southwest Vietnam
  • Khmer khe - spoken in Stung Treng Province in northern Cambodia

Khmer alphabet (អក្សរខ្មែរ)

The Khmer alphabet is descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava script, which was used in southern India and South East Asia during the 5th and 6th Centuries AD. The oldest dated inscription in Khmer, found at Angkor Borei in Takev Province south of Phnom Penh, dates from 611 AD.

The Khmer alphabet closely resembles the Thai and Lao alphabets, which developed from it.

Notable features

  • Type of writing system: Abugida / Syllabic Alphabet in which each consonant has two forms, one with an inherent /ɑː/ (first series) and one with an inherent /ɔː/ (second series).
  • Writing direction: left to right in horizontal lines.
  • Vowels are indicated using either separate letters or diacritics, which written above, below, in front of, after or around consonants. The pronunciation of the vowels depends on whether a consonant they are attached to is of the first or second series.
  • All consonants have a subscript form which is used to write the second consonant of a cluster.
  • In a Khmer text there are no spaces between words, instead spaces indicate the end of a clause or sentence.
  • Inspite of efforts to standardise written Khmer, many words have more than one accepted spelling.

There are a number of ways to Romanize Khmer. The transliteration used here is the United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names (UNGEGN) system, a group of experts that deals with the national and international standardization of geographical names.

Khmer script

Khmer (Cambodian) alphabet and language (1)

Sample text

Khmer (Cambodian) alphabet and language (2)

Transliteration

mnoussa teangoasa kaetamk mean seripheap ning pheap smae knea knong setthi ning sechakdeithlaithnaur. mnoussa krobroub sotthote mean vichearonanhnhean ning satesambochonhnh haey trauv br pru td champoh knea towvinhtowmk knong smartei reaban knea chea bangobaaun.

Hear a recording of this text (made with Text To Speech Free)

Translation

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

Sample video in Khmer

See more videos like this on Wikitongues

Information about Khmer | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Tower of Babel | Learning materials

Links

Information about the Khmer language
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmer_language
http://www.khmerlanguage.com
http://www.seasite.niu.edu/khmer/
http://www.wsslanguage.com
https://www.ethnologue.com/language/khm

Online Khmer lessons
http://www.pratyeka.org/csw/
http://polymath.org/khmer.php

Khmer phrases
http://www.bongthom.com/AKOnline/phrasespageek.asp?Chapter=6
http://www.studiomartin.us/learn-khmer-cambodian.cfm
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~hongly/trans-1xl.html
http://www.holiday-in-angkor-wat.com/cambodian-language.html
http://pheakdey2u.wordpress.com/2007/08/09/some-useful-khmer-words-phrases-for-foreigners/
http://www.ximplex.com/dictionary/english/common_phrases.aspx

Online Khmer dictionaries
http://dictionary.tovnah.com/
http://www.english-khmer.com
http://kheng.info
https://www.lexilogos.com/english/cambodian_dictionary.htm

Online Khmer news and radio
http://www.rfa.org/khmer/

Free Khmer fonts
http://www.cambodia.org/fonts
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Khmer.html
http://www.magma.ca/~sary/fonts.htm
http://scripts.sil.org/Mondulkiri
http://selapa.net/khmerfonts/

Information about Khmer Unicode
http://www.khmeros.info/khmeros_workingsoft.html

Khmer character picker
http://people.w3.org/rishida/scripts/pickers/khmer/

Khmeric languages

Khmer, Northern Khmer

Abugidas / Syllabic alphabets

Ahom, Aima, Arleng, Badagu, Badlit, Basahan, Balinese, Balti-A, Balti-B, Batak, Baybayin, Bengali, Bhaiksuki, Bhujimol, Bilang-bilang, Bima, Blackfoot, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese, Carrier, Chakma, Cham, Cree, Dehong Dai, Devanagari, Dham Lipi, Dhankari / Sirmauri, Ditema, Dives Akuru, Dogra, Ethiopic, Evēla Akuru, Fox, Fraser, Gond, Goykanadi, Grantha, Gujarati, Gunjala Gondi, Gupta, Gurmukhi, Halbi Lipi, Hanifi, Hanuno'o, Hočąk, Ibalnan, Incung, Inuktitut, Jaunsari Takri, Javanese, Kaithi, Kadamba, Kamarupi, Kannada, Kawi, Kharosthi, Khema, Khe Prih, Khmer, Khojki, Khudabadi, Kirat Rai, Kōchi, Komering, Kulitan, Kurukh Banna, Lampung, Lanna, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Lota Ende, Magar Akkha, Mahajani, Malayalam, Meitei (Modern), Manpuri (Old), Marchen, Meetei Yelhou Mayek, Meroïtic, Masarm Gondi, Modi, Mon, Mongolian Horizontal Square Script, Multani, Nandinagari, Newa, New Tai Lue, Ojibwe, Odia, Ogan, Pahawh Hmong, Pallava, Phags-pa, Purva Licchavi, Qiang / Rma, Ranjana, Rejang (Kaganga), Sasak, Savara, Satera Jontal, Shan, Sharda, Sheek Bakrii Saphaloo, Siddham, Sinhala, Sorang Sompeng, Sourashtra, Soyombo, Sukhothai, Sundanese, Syloti Nagri, Tagbanwa, Takri, Tamil, Tanchangya (Ka-Pat), Tani, Thaana, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigalari, Tikamuli, Tocharian, Tolong Siki, Vatteluttu, Warang Citi

Other writing systems

Page last modified: 01.05.24

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FAQs

What language is mostly spoken in Cambodia? ›

Most of the population in Cambodia speaks the Khmer language, the country's official language. Others include Vietnamese, Lao, Chinese, Thai, English and etc., reflecting such cross-border migration from neighboring countries and international migration from other foreign countries.

Does Khmer have 74 letters? ›

The language with the most letters is Khmer (Cambodian), with 74 (including some without any current use).

What alphabet does Cambodia use? ›

Khmer script (Khmer: អក្សរខ្មែរ, Âksâr Khmêr [ʔaksɑː kʰmae]) is an abugida (alphasyllabary) script used to write the Khmer language, the official language of Cambodia.

Is Cambodian language the same as Khmer? ›

Khmer, also known as Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

What language is closest to Cambodia? ›

Diffloth places Khmer in an eastern branch of the Mon-Khmer languages. In these classification schemes Khmer's closest genetic relatives are the Bahnaric and Pearic languages.

How to learn Khmer quickly? ›

Immerse yourself in the language by listening to Khmer songs, watching movies or reading books in the language. Practise with native speakers whenever possible – even if it's just a few words or sentences. Keep a notebook of what you learn so that you can easily revisit it when needed.

Is Cambodia safe for tourists? ›

Yes, there are areas where caution is wise—like border regions or certain rural spots—but these are well-documented and off limits, so travelers can plan their adventures smartly and without much worry. In cities like Phnom Penh and Siem Reap, bustle does not equal danger.

Is it hard to learn Khmer? ›

Khmer is a truly difficult language for Westerners to learn, harder than Mandarin to speak, and harder than anything other than Chinese or Japanese to read. There are several difficulties. First, many of the vowel sounds are unlike anything in a European language and are only subtly different from one another.

Is Khmer similar to Thai? ›

Both descend from the Brahmi script which was used in ancient India. As a result, the Khmer script and the Thai script share a common origin with the Devanagari script used for Hindi. One similarity between Khmer and Thai is that they do not use spaces to separate words (in contrast to Hindi).

Does Duolingo have Khmer? ›

While learning a moderate amount of French or Spanish before moving may be easy, Khmer is not on Duolingo. We tried and failed to find language support in Denver before leaving for Phnom Penh. The number of speakers worldwide is small.

What is Khmer called now? ›

Khmer language, also known as Cambodian, is the official language of Cambodia, and is spoken by millions of people in Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia.

Why isn't Cambodia called Khmer? ›

Etymology. The Kingdom of Cambodia is the official English name of the country. The English Cambodia is an anglicisation of the French Cambodge, which in turn is the French transliteration of the Khmer កម្ពុជា (Kâmpŭchéa, pronounced [kampuciə]).

Is Thai derived from Khmer? ›

Their languages are mutually comprehensible in both their spoken and written forms. Khmer is not even remotely related to Thai, even though to the untrained eye they look the same. Khmer is an Austroasiatic language, and both Thai and Lao belong to the Tai-Kadai language families.

Can you learn Khmer on Duolingo? ›

While learning a moderate amount of French or Spanish before moving may be easy, Khmer is not on Duolingo.

Why is French spoken in Cambodia? ›

The French language began its presence in Cambodia in the late 19th century after French explorers and merchants made their way from Vietnam into Cambodia. In 1863, Cambodia became a protectorate of France and was incorporated into French Indochina in 1887.

Are Khmer and Thai the same? ›

The truth is that Thai and Khmer are from different language families but share quite a large amount of vocabulary.

Is Cambodia British Dutch or French? ›

Cambodia was integrated into the French Indochina union in 1887 along with the French colonies and protectorates in Vietnam (Cochinchina, Annam and Tonkin). In 1946, Cambodia was granted self-rule within the French Union and had its protectorate status abolished in 1949. Cambodia later gained its independence.

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