First learning Khmer alphabet



Khmer Language or Cambodian is one of the main Austroasiatic languages, and has had considerable influence from Sanskrit, Pali. Some of these influences, such as Sanskrit and Pali, come from the influence of Buddhism and Hinduism on Khmer culture; the latter two are the result of linguistic contact and geographic proximity.

The Cambodian language is somewhat unusual among its neighboring countries' languages of Thai, Laotian and Vietnamese in that it is not a tonal language.

Dialects are sometimes quite marked; notable variations are found in speakers from Phnom Penh (the capital city) and Battambong.

Written Cambodian is alphabetic like English (and unlike Chinese). Its alphabet consists of two separate categories -- consonants and vowels. Pronunciation is given here in the traditional form (you will need a computer with Khmer fonts to see the letters below). It is also notable that the Cambodian script has fewer vowel symbols than the language has vowel phonemes. Instead, each consonant symbol has two digraphs, each with its own inherent vowel (incidentally making Khmer script an abugida rather than a true alphabet. The actual vowel sound represented is therefore indicated by the combination of the vowel symbol plus the inherent vowel of its associated consonant.

Consonants consists of 33 alphabets
1.- gaw -kaw -go -ko -ngo
2. -jaw -chaw -jo -cho -nyo
3. -daw -taw -do -to -naw
4. -Daw -taw -Do -to -no
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-yo -ro -lo -vo -saw - haw -law -aw

Vowels
aa/Ea Ay/EE A/E ew/ew eww/eww
OO/UU O/U

Khmer Consonants

Khmer Vowels

Khmer Numbers