The
Khmer script
The
Khmer script
The
Khmer script (អក្ខរក្រមខេមរភាសា; âkkhârâkrâm khémârâ phéasa, informally aksar Khmer; អក្សរខ្មែរ) is used to write the
Khmer languageKhmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. It is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language , with speakers in the tens of millions. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious...
which is the official language of
CambodiaThe Kingdom of Cambodia , formerly known as Kampuchea , is a country in South East Asia with a population of over 14 million people. The kingdom's capital and largest city is Phnom Penh...
. It is often considered to be the longest alphabet in the world.
It is generally thought that the Khmer script developed from the Pallava script of India. The oldest dated inscription in Khmer was found at Angkor Borei in Takev Province south of Phnom Penh and dates from 611 AD.
Those inscriptions that have survived are engraved in stone and the evolution of Khmer script is as follows:
- Han Chey, approximately 6th century
- Veal Kan Teng, end of the 6th or early 7th century
- Ang Chomney Kor, 667 century
- Inn Kor Sey, 970 century
- Preash Keo, 1002 AD
- Nor Korr, 1066 AD
- Banteay Chmar, early 12th or 13th century
- Angkor Wat, 13th century
- Angkor script, 1702 AD
The Khmer alphabet has fewer symbols for
vowelIn phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
s than the language has vowel
phonemeIn a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances....
s. To account for this, each consonant belongs to one of two series, and the vowel produced depends on which series the consonant belongs to (making it an
abugidaAn abugida , also called an alphasyllabary, is a segmental writing system which is based on consonants, and in which vowel notation is obligatory but secondary. This contrasts with an alphabet proper, in which vowels have status equal to consonants, and with an abjad, in which vowel marking is...
rather than a true
alphabetAn alphabet is a standardized set of letters basic written symbols or graphemes each of which roughly represents a phoneme in a spoken language, either as it exists now or as it was in the past. There are other systems, such as logographies, in which each character represents a word, morpheme, or...
). Therefore, most vowel signs have two 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 signs 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
diacriticA diacritic is an ancillary glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective...
s, which can change the series of the consonant or change the pronunciation of the vowel.
Styles
There are several styles of Khmer script which are used for different purposes.
- 'Âksâr chriĕng' refers to slanted (or italic) letters. Slanted letters do not serve the same purpose as italics in English, so entire bodies of text such as novels and other publications may be produced in 'âksâr chriĕng' .
- 'Âksâr chhôr' refers to any style that is "standing" or upright. Upright letters were previously not as common as 'âksâr chriĕng', but now most computer fonts display Khmer text upright by default for ease of reading.
thumbnail
- 'Âksâr mul' is a round style which is used for titles and headings in Cambodian documents, books, or currency, on shop signs or banners. Religious text on palm leaves may be entirely written in this script style. It is sometimes used to write royal names while the surrounding text remains plain. Several consonants and some subscripts in this style take on different forms than their counterparts in the standard orthography.
- 'Âksâr khâm' is a variation of 'âksâr mul', with only minor differences. See also Khom script
There are two scripts in Southeast Asia called Khom script. This article describes the obscure script from Laos that Sidwell and Jacq have described under the name "Khom script"....
.
The last two styles, when handwritten, are usually pencil-line width, however, in printed form and on computer fonts, they are usually seen in wider widths. Most Khmer computer fonts depict neither style correctly; in fact, some may meld elements of 'âksâr mul' and 'âksâr khâm' into one style, so generally either is referred to as 'âksâr mul'.
Consonants
There are 35 Khmer consonants symbols, although modern Khmer only uses 33, two having become obsolete. Subscript consonants are special forms used to form consonant clusters. Also sometimes referred to as "sub-consonants", subscript consonants often resemble the corresponding consonant symbol, only smaller. In Khmer, they are known as 'cheung âksâr' (ជើងអក្សរ), meaning the
foot of a letter. In forming consonant clusters, the second (and where necessary, the third) consonant sound of the cluster is written as a subscript which cancels the inherent vowel of the preceding consonant. Most subscript consonants are written directly below the consonant which they follow, although subscript /r/ is written before while a few others have ascending elements which appear after.
Listed in the table below are the pronunciations of the consonants when recited. Although Khmer spelling is very regular, the pronunciation of some consonants may be slightly different from the recited version in a few words. This is especially true in loan words. The
IPAThe International Phonetic Alphabet
["The acronym 'IPA' strictly refers [...] to the 'International Phonetic Association'. But it is now such a common practice to use the acronym also to refer to the alphabet itself that resistance seems pedantic...]
values given are for consonants in the initial or medial position. Because of Khmer phonology, in which final stops are
unreleasedAn unreleased stop or unreleased plosive is a plosive consonant without an audible release burst. That is, the oral tract is blocked to pronounce the consonant, and there is no audible indication of when that occlusion ends...
and possible finals are limited, word-final values may differ. For example, word-final /s/ is pronounced /h/ and, in most dialects, word-final /r/ is silent. The inherent vowels of consonants in the final position are almost never pronounced. The two obsolete consonants are highlighted in gray.
| Consonants |
Subscript form |
Transliteration |
IPA |
| ក |
្ក |
kâ |
|
| ខ |
្ខ |
khâ |
|
| គ |
្គ |
kô |
|
| ឃ |
្ឃ |
khô |
|
| ង |
្ង |
ngô |
|
| ច |
្ច |
châ |
|
| ឆ |
្ឆ |
chhâ |
|
| ជ |
្ជ |
chô |
|
| ឈ |
្ឈ |
chhô |
|
| ញ |
្ញ |
nhô |
|
| ដ |
្ដ |
dâ |
|
| ឋ |
្ឋ |
thâ |
|
| ឌ |
្ឌ |
dô |
|
| ឍ |
្ឍ |
thô |
|
| ណ |
្ណ |
nâ |
|
| ត |
្ត |
tâ |
|
| ថ |
្ថ |
thâ |
|
| ទ |
្ទ |
tô |
|
| ធ |
្ធ |
thô |
|
| ន |
្ន |
nô |
|
| ប |
្ប |
bô |
|
| ផ |
្ផ |
phâ |
|
| ព |
្ព |
pô |
|
| ភ |
្ភ |
phô |
|
| ម |
្ម |
mô |
|
| យ |
្យ |
yô |
|
| រ |
្រ |
rô |
|
| ល |
្ល |
lô |
|
| វ |
្វ |
vô |
|
| ឝ |
្ឝ |
shâ |
- |
| ឞ |
្ឞ |
ssô |
- |
| ស |
្ស |
sâ |
|
| ហ |
្ហ |
hâ |
|
| ឡ |
្ឡ* |
lâ |
|
| អ |
្អ |
qâ |
|
* The subscript for the consonant
lâ is included in Unicode although its usage in modern Khmer is generally non-existent.
For some phonemes in loanwords, the Khmer writing system has 'created' supplementary consonants. Most of these consonants are created by stacking a subscript under the character for to form digraphs. The consonant for , however, is created by using the diacritical sign called
musĕkâtônd over the consonant for . These additional consonants are mainly used to represent sounds in French and Thai loanwords.
| Digraph consonants |
Transliteration |
IPA |
| ហ្គ |
gâ |
|
| ហ្ន |
nâ |
|
| ប៉ |
pâ |
|
| ហ្ម |
mâ |
|
| ហ្ល |
lâ |
|
| ហ្វ |
fâ, wâ |
|
| ហ្ស |
žâ |
|
Dependent vowels
There are 16 unique dependent vowel symbols, although this name can be added up to 24 when dependent vowels with
diacritical symbolsA diacritic is an ancillary glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός . Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective...
are included. Dependent vowels are known in Khmer as
srăk nissăy (ស្រៈនិស្ស័យ) or
srăk phsâm (ស្រៈផ្សំ). Dependent vowels must always be combined with a consonant in
orthographyThe orthography of a language specifies the correct way of using a specific writing system to write the language. Where more than one writing system is used for a language, for example for Kurdish, there can be more than one orthography. Orthography is derived from Greek ὀρθός orthós and γράφειν...
. For most of the vowel symbols, there are two sounds (registers). The sound of the vowel used depends on the series (the inherent vowel) of the dominant consonant in a syllable cluster.
Dependent
vowels |
Transliteration |
IPA |
| a-series |
o-series |
a-series |
o-series |
| អ |
ar |
or |
|
|
| អា |
a |
éa |
|
|
| អិ |
ĕ |
ĭ |
|
|
| អី |
ei |
i |
|
|
| អឹ |
ŏe |
|
|
| អឺ |
œ |
|
|
| អុ |
ŏ |
ŭ |
|
|
| អូ |
o |
u |
|
|
| អួ |
uŏ |
|
|
|
| អើ |
aeu |
eu |
|
|
| អឿ |
eua |
|
| អៀ |
iĕ |
|
| អេ |
é |
|
|
| អែ |
ê |
|
|
| អៃ |
ai |
ey |
|
|
| អោ |
aô |
oŭ |
|
|
| អៅ |
au |
ŏu |
|
|
Dependent
vowels
& diacritics |
Transliteration |
IPA |
| a-series |
o-series |
a-series |
o-series |
| អុំ |
om |
ŭm |
|
|
| អំ |
âm |
um |
|
|
| អាំ |
ăm |
ŏâm |
|
|
| អះ |
ăh |
eăh |
|
|
| អុះ |
ŏh |
uh |
|
|
| អេះ |
éh |
|
|
| អោះ |
aŏh |
uŏh |
|
|
- For technical reasons, the dependent vowels are seen here paired with the letter អ (KHMER LETTER QA in Unicode) as not all browsers will display them by themselves correctly.
Independent vowels
Independent vowels are vowels that do not have to be paired with a consonant in a syllable, hence the name. In Khmer they are called
srăk penhtuŏ (ស្រៈពេញតួ) which means
complete vowels.
Independent
vowels |
Transliteration |
IPA |
| ឣ |
â |
|
| ឤ |
a |
|
| ឥ |
ĕ |
|
| ឦ |
ei |
|
| ឧ |
ŏ |
|
| ឨ |
|
|
| ឩ |
ŭ |
|
| ឪ |
ŏu |
|
| ឫ |
rŏe |
|
| ឬ |
rœ |
|
| ឭ |
lŏe |
|
| ឮ |
lœ |
|
| ឯ |
é |
|
| ឰ |
ai |
|
| ឱ, ឲ |
aô |
|
| ឳ |
âu |
|
Diacritics
| Diacritics |
Name |
Notes |
| ំ |
nĭkkôhĕt (និគ្គហិត) |
anusvara Anusvara is the diacritic used to mark a type of nasalization used in a number of Indic languages. Depending on the location of the anusvara in the word and the language within which it is used, its exact pronunciation can vary greatly....
, sometimes used to represent in Sanskrit loanwords |
| ះ |
reăhmŭkh (រះមុខ) |
shining face; adds final aspiration to dependent or inherent vowels, usually omitted, corresponds to the visarga Visarga is a Sanskrit word meaning "sending forth, discharge". In Sanskrit phonology , is the name of a phone, , written as IAST <>, Harvard-Kyoto , Devanagari <>. Visarga is an allophone of and in pausa...
diacritic, it maybe included as dependent vowel symbol |
| ៈ |
yŭkôleăkpĭntŭ (យុគលពិន្ទុ) |
yugalabindu (pair of dots); adds final glottalness The glottal stop, or more fully, the voiceless glottal plosive, is a type of consonantal sound used in many spoken languages. In English the feature is represented for example by the hyphen in uh-oh! and by the apostrophe or [[ʻokina]] in Hawaii among those attempting an authentic pronunciation of...
to dependent or inherent vowels, usually omitted, a relatively new diacritic |
| ៉ |
musĕkâtônd (មូសិកទន្ត) |
musikadanta (mouse teeth); used to convert some o-series consonants to the a-series |
| ៊ |
trei sâpt (ត្រីសព្ទ) |
trisabda; used to convert some a-series consonants to the o-series |
| ុ |
kbiĕh kraôm (ក្បៀសក្រោម) |
also known as bŏkcheung (បុកជើង); used in place when the diacritics trei sâpt and musĕkâtônd impede with superscript vowels |
| ់ |
bântăk (បន្តក់) |
used to shorten some vowels |
| ៌ |
rôbat (របាទ)
répheăk (រេផៈ) |
rapada, repha; behaves similarly to the tôndâkhéat, corresponds to the DevanagariDevanagari , also called Nagari , is an abugida alphabet of India and Nepal. It is written from left to right, lacks distinct letter cases, and is recognizable by a distinctive horizontal line running along the tops of the letters that links them together. Devanāgarī is the main script used to...
diacritic 'repha', however it lost its original function which was to represent a vocalic r |
| ៍ |
tôndâkhéat (ទណ្ឌឃាដ) |
|
| ៎ |
kakâbat (កាកបាទ) |
crow's foot); more a punctuation mark than a diacritic; used in writing to indicate the rising intonation of an exclamation or interjection; often placed on particles such as /na/, /n/, /n/, /vj/, and the feminine response /cah/ |
| ៏ |
âsda (អស្តា) |
denotes stressed intonation in some single-consonant words |
| ័ |
sanhyoŭk sannha (សំយោគសញ្ញា) |
represents a short inherent vowel in Sanskrit and Pali words; usually omitted |
| ៑ |
vĭréam (វិរាម) |
a mostly obsolete diacritic, corresponds to the virama Virāma is a generic term for the diacritic in many Brahmic scripts, including Devanagari and East Nagari, that is used to suppress the inherent vowel that otherwise occurs with every consonant letter. The name is Sanskrit for "cessation, termination, end"...
|
| ្ |
cheung (ជើង) |
a.w. coeng; a sign developed for Unicode to input subscript consonants, appearance of this sign varies among fonts |
Punctuation marks
The Khmer script uses several unique punctuation marks as well as some borrowed from the Latin script such as the
question markThe question mark , also known as an interrogation point, interrogation mark, question point, query, or eroteme, is a punctuation mark that replaces the period at the end of an interrogative sentence...
. The period in the Khmer language "។" resembles an eighth rest in music writing.
Ligatures
Most consonants, including a few of the subscripts, form
ligaturesIn writing and typography, a ligature occurs where two or more graphemes are joined as a single glyph. Ligatures usually replace consecutive characters sharing common components and are part of a more general class of glyphs called "contextual forms" where the specific shape of a letter depends on...
with all dependent vowels that contain the symbol used for the vowel
a (ា). A lot of these ligatures are easily recognizable, however a few may not be. One of the more unrecognizable is the ligature for the
bâ and
a which was created to differentiate it from the consonant symbol
hâ as well as the ligature for
châ and
a. It is not always necessary to connect consonants with the dependent vowel
a.
Examples of ligatured symbols:
Ligatured consonant subscript and vowel combination:
Numerals
The numerals of the Khmer script, similar to that used by other civilizations in Southeast Asia, are also derived from the southern Indian script. Arabic numerals are also used, but to a lesser extent.
| Khmer numerals |
០ |
១ |
២ |
៣ |
៤ |
៥ |
៦ |
៧ |
៨ |
៩ |
| Arabic numerals |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
7 |
8 |
9 |
Khmer in Unicode
The
UnicodeUnicode is a computing industry standard allowing computers to consistently represent and manipulate text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
range for Khmer consists of two ranges: U+1780 ... U+17FF for the basic characters, and U+19E0 - U+19FF for additional symbols. Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points.
External links