Khmer language
| Khmer | |
|---|---|
| Cambodian | |
| ភាសាខ្មែរ | |
| Pronunciation | pʰiːəsaː kʰmaːe |
| Native to | Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, USA, France, Australia |
| Ethnicity | Khmer |
Native speakers | 16 million (2007)[1] 1 million L2 speakers[2] |
Austroasiatic
| |
| Dialects |
|
| Khmer script (abugida) | |
| Official status | |
Official language in |  Cambodia |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | km |
| ISO 639-2 | khm |
| ISO 639-3 | Either: khm – Central Khmer kxm – Northern Khmer |
Khmer is the official language of Kampuchea/Cambodia. Its script was the base for the Thai script, although Thai does not use subscript consonants. One thing that makes it particularly difficult for many foreigners to learn is that Khmer words are not separated in a sentence and the sounds are quite hard for foreigners to replicate. But still each word in the sentence can be distinguished. Also, there is not much material on Khmer, although this situation is changing.
Writing[change | change source]
The Khmer script is based on an ancient Indian alphabet. It is written from left to right. There are 35 consonants, some of which are written under other consonants. Vowels are combined with the consonants.
Grammar[change | change source]
The language has a subject-verb-object order. Pronouns change based on who you are speaking to.
Examples[change | change source]
ខ្ញុំមិនចង់បានទេ
"I don't want it"
អ្នកចង់ទៅលេងសៀមរាបទេ
"Do you want to go to Siem Reap?"
References[change | change source]
- ↑ Nationalencyklopedin "Världens 100 största språk 2007" The World's 100 Largest Languages in 2007
- ↑ Lewis, M. Paul (ed.), 2009. Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Sixteenth edition. Dallas, Tex.: SIL International. Entry for Khmer
