"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" translated into Khmer.

The Khmer alphabet (ÂkkhârâKrôm Khémâra Phéasa - អក្ខរក្រមខេមរភាសា) is used to write the Khmer language. The oldest dated inscription in Khmer, found at Angkor Borei in Takev Province south of Phnom Penh, dates from 611 AD, but Khmer script was probably in use much earlier. Before this the Khmer used a southern indic script (Sanskrit) for several hundred years. Khmer script is probably the oldest writing system among the Southeast Asian cultures next to Mon script. Mon script was developed around the 8th century and Thai script was established in the late 13th century (1292 AD). It is also used to write a few other minority languages in Cambodia who have no form of script of their own. This is one of many styles of Khmer (Cambodian) script. ... This is one of many styles of Khmer (Cambodian) script. ... Khmer is one of the main Austroasiatic languages. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas used in South Asia and Southeast Asia. ... The Sanskrit language ( संस्कृता वाक्) is one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European language family and is not only a classical language, but also an official language of India. ...

A notable feature of the Khmer alphabet is that it has fewer symbols for vowels than the language has vowel phonemes. Instead, each consonant belongs to one of two series, and the vowel produced depends on which series the consonant belongs to (incidentally making it an abugida rather than a true alphabet). Therefore, most vowel signs have two different possible pronunciations, depending on which series the consonant belongs to. When no vowel sign is present, usually the inherent vowel of the consonant is used. Vowels can be divided into two groups: dependent vowel signs, which are written around a consonant letter, and independent vowel letters, which can stand alone. Dependent vowel signs are used more frequently than independent vowels and all independent vowel letters can be phonetically rendered with a dependent vowel. Khmer also has a number of diacritics, which can change the series of the consonant or change the pronunciation of the vowel. Note: This page contains IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. ... In spoken language, a phoneme is a basic, theoretical unit of sound that can distinguish words (that is changing one phoneme in a word can produce another word) A succinct way to describe the idea of a phoneme is the smallest difference that makes a difference in meaning. ... An alphasyllabary or abugida (a term coined by Peter T. Daniels) is a writing system whose basic signs denote consonants with an inherent vowel and where consistent modifications of the basic sign indicate other following vowels than the inherent one (or, in some cases, the lack of a vowel, for... An alphabet is a complete standardized set of letters—basic written symbols—each of which roughly represents a phoneme of a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it may have been in the past. ... A diacritic mark or accent mark is an additional mark added to a basic letter. ...

Ancient Khmer script engraved into the stone wall of a now ruined temple.

Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 707 KB) From http://justinsomnia. ... Download high resolution version (1760x1168, 707 KB) From http://justinsomnia. ...

Styles

The Khmer script comes in several styles which may serve different purposes. Aksâr Chriĕng refers to slanted (or italic) letters. Slanted letters do not serve the same purpose as it does in English, so entire bodies of text such as in pulications or novels can be italic. Khmer slanted script File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Aksâr Chhôr refers to any style that is "standing" or upright. Upright letters were previously not common as Aksâr Chriĕng, but now most computer fonts defaultly display Khmer text upright making it more widely seen. Khmer standing script File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Aksâr Mul is a round style which can be seen used for titles and headings in Cambodian documents, books, or currency, on shop signs or banners. Religious text on palm leaves can be entirely composed of this style of script. It is sometimes used to write royal titles while the surrounding text was plain. Several consonants and some subscripts in this style look totally different than the usual. Khmer round script File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Aksâr Khôm is a variation of Aksâr Mul, but with some minor difference. Khmer khom script File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

When these styles are handwritten, they can be pencil-line width. Most Khmer computer fonts depict neither of these styles exact, in fact, some may meld elements of Aksâr Mul and Aksâr Khôm into one style, so generally either is reffered to as Aksâr Mul.

Consonants

There are 33 consonants in modern Khmer, there were two extra ones that were dropped but may be found only Pali or Sanskrit texts written with the Khmer script. To form consonant clusters, subscript consonants are used. Subscript consonants are commonly referred to plainly as subscripts or sometimes sub-consonants. In Khmer, they are known as cheung âksâr (ជើង​អ័ក្សរ) meaning the foot of a letter. Subscript consonants help form consonant clusters by cancelling the inherent vowel of the preceding consonant it's paired with. All consonants except for the Khmer letter Lâ (ឡ) has a subscript form.

Listed in the table below are the pronounciation of the consonants when recited, their values may be slightly different in orthography. Download high resolution version (520x1382, 24 KB)Khmer consonants File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Vowels

There are 23 official dependent vowels in Khmer. In Khmer they are known as srăk nissăy (ស្រៈនិស្ស័យ) or srăk phsâm (ស្រៈផ្សំ). Dependent vowels always have to be combined, or paired with a consonant in writing. Just like the consonants, there are A-series and O-series vowels. Of the 23, 15 of the vowels have a different pronounciation in the O-series. Vowel pronounciation depends on the series of the consonant it is paired with.

Independent Vowels are vowels that can be written without a consonant, hence the name. In Khmer they are called srăk penhtuŏ (ស្រៈពេញតួ) which means complete vowels.

Download high resolution version (518x872, 15 KB)Khmer dependent vowels File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Consonant-Vowel Combinations

Khmer consonant-vowel combinations File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Consonant combinations for loanwords

The Khmer writing system uses special combinations of consonant symbols to represent sounds that occur in loanwords. They are created by stacking a subscript under the consonant [hɑ] and to modify it's series, a treisâpt is used. For the consonant [pɑ], it is created by using the diacritical sign called musikaton over the consonant [bɑ]. Most of these additional consonants are mainly used to represent sounds from French and Thai loanwords.

Additional group of Khmer consonants File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Numerals

Khmer has its own set of numerals. Khmer numerals are very similar to Thai numerals, but have their own Khmer names. Arabic numerals are used to a lesser extent. Khmer numerals are the numerals used in the Khmer language of Cambodia. ... Thai numerals are traditionally used in Thailand, although the Western or Arabic numerals are more common. ... Arabic numerals (also called Hindu numerals or Indian numerals ) are the most common set of symbols used to represent numbers in the Hindu numeration system. ...

Khmer numbers File links The following pages link to this file: Khmer alphabet ...

Khmer in Unicode

References

• Huffman, Franklin. 1970. Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader. Yale University Press. ISBN 0300013140
• Jacob, Judith. 1974. A Concise Cambodian-English Dictionary. London, Oxford University Press.

See also

• Khmer language
• Brahmic family

Khmer is one of the main Austroasiatic languages. ... The Brahmic family is a family of abugidas used in South Asia and Southeast Asia. ...

External links

• FAQ and Resources on Khmer in Unicode (http://www.bauhahnm.clara.net/Khmer/Welcome.html)
• Enabling Khmer Unicode (http://www.khmeros.info/khmeros_workingsoft.html#KHMERWINDOWS)
• Omniglot entry on Khmer (http://omniglot.com/writing/khmer.htm)
• Geonames Khmer Alphabet Chart (http://geonames.de/alphkl.html#khm)
• Khmer Transcription Table (http://www.eki.ee/wgrs/rom1_km.pdf) (PDF)

Special characters