Khmer language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Khmer |
|
|---|---|
| Cambodian | |
| Native to | Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, USA, France, Australia |
| Ethnicity | Khmer |
| Native speakers | 16 million (2007) |
| Language family |
Default
|
| Official status | |
| Official language in |  Cambodia |
Khmer is the main language spoken by the Khmer people. It is also the official language of Cambodia. About 16 million people speak Khmer. This makes it the second most spoken language in the Austroasiatic language family. Only Vietnamese has more speakers in this family.
Khmer has been greatly influenced by other languages. These include Sanskrit and Pali. This influence is especially seen in words used for royalty and religion. This happened because of Hinduism and Buddhism. Most Khmer speakers use a dialect called Central Khmer. This dialect is spoken in the central plains of Cambodia. This is where most Khmer people live.
The Khmer Writing System
Khmer is written using the Khmer script. This writing system is an abugida. An abugida is a script where consonants have a basic vowel sound. You change this sound with special marks. The Khmer script came from the Pallava script of India. It appeared before the 7th century. The first known writing in Khmer script was found then.
The Khmer script is based on an old Indian alphabet. It is written from left to right, just like English. There are 35 consonants in Khmer. Some of these are written underneath other consonants. Vowels are always combined with the consonants to form words.
Images for kids
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The approximate locations where various dialects of Khmer are spoken
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A stone carved with Old Khmer writing
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An example of modern Khmer script at the Cambodian Embassy in Berlin
See also
In Spanish: Idioma jemer para niños
