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 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:
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.
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.
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)
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)
See more videos like this on Wikitongues
Information about Khmer | Phrases | Numbers | Family words | Tower of Babel | Learning materials
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/
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
Page last modified: 16.07.24
[top]
You can support this site by Buying Me A Coffee, and if you like what you see on this page, you can use the buttons below to share it with people you know.
If you like this site and find it useful, you can support it by making a donation via PayPal or Patreon, or by contributing in other ways. Omniglot is how I make my living.
Note: all links on this site to Amazon.com
[top]
