| Khmer Cambodian | |
|---|---|
 Âkkhârôkrâm Khmêr ("Khmer script") written in Khmer script | |
| Script type | |
Period | c. 611 – present[1] |
| Direction | Left-to-right  |
| Official script | Cambodia[2] |
| Languages | |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Sukhothai,Khom Thai,Lai Tay |
Sister systems | Old Mon,Cham,Kawi,Grantha,Tamil |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Khmr(355), Khmer |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Khmer |
| |
| This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. | |
| Brahmic scripts |
|---|
| TheBrahmi script and its descendants |
|
Khmer script (Khmer:អក្សរខ្មែរ,Âksâr Khmêr[ʔaksɑːkʰmae])[3] is anabugida (alphasyllabary) script used to write theKhmer language, the official language ofCambodia. It is also used to writePali in the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia andThailand.
Khmer is written fromleft to right. Words within the same sentence or phrase are generally run together with nospaces between them.Consonant clusters within a word are "stacked", with the second (and occasionally third) consonant being written in reduced form under the main consonant. Originally there were 35 consonant characters, but modern Khmer uses only 33. Each character represents a consonant sound together with aninherent vowel, eitherâ orô; in many cases, in the absence of another vowel mark, the inherent vowel is to be pronounced after the consonant.
There are some independentvowel characters, but vowel sounds are more commonly represented as dependent vowels, additional marks accompanying a consonant character, and indicating what vowel sound is to be pronounced after that consonant (or consonant cluster). Most dependent vowels have two different pronunciations, depending in most cases on the inherent vowel of the consonant to which they are added. There are also a number ofdiacritics used to indicate further modifications in pronunciation. The script also includes its ownnumerals andpunctuation marks.
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The Khmer script was adapted from thePallava script, used in southern India and Southeast Asia during the 5th and 6th centuries AD,[4] which ultimately descended from theTamil-Brahmi script.[5] The oldest datedKhmer inscription was found atAngkor Borei District inTakéo Province south of Phnom Penh and dates from 611.[6] Stelae of the Pre-Angkorean and Angkorean periods, featuring the Khmer script, have been found throughout the formerKhmer Empire, from theMekong Delta to what is now southernLaos,Northeast Thailand, andCentral Thailand.[7] Slight differences can be seen between ancient Khmer inscriptions written in Sanskrit and those written in Khmer. These two different systems have evolved into the modernâksâr mul andâksâr chriĕng styles of Khmer script. The former is used for sacred inscriptions while the latter is used for general use.[8] Theâksâr chriĕng style is a cursive form ofâksâr mul, adapted to fit the Khmer language.[9]
The oldest known record of the name “Khmer Script” (អក្សរខ្មែរ) is found in inscription K.362, dating to the late 9th century during the reign of KingYasovarman I.[10] The inscription contains the Sanskrit term “Kāmvujākṣara”, written in Old Khmer “កម្វុជាក្សរ”. This serves as evidence that the Khmer people had a specific name for their script as early as the 9th century.
The modern Khmer script differs somewhat from precedent forms seen on the inscriptions of the ruins ofAngkor. TheThai andLao scripts are descendants of an older cursive form of the Khmer script, through theSukhothai script.
There are 35 Khmerconsonant symbols, although modern Khmer only uses 33, two having become obsolete. Each consonant has aninherent vowel:â/ɑː/ orô/ɔː/; equivalently, each consonant is said to belong to thea-series oro-series. A consonant's series determines the pronunciation of thedependent vowel symbols which may be attached to it, and in some positions the sound of the inherent vowel is itself pronounced.
The two series originally representedvoiceless andvoiced consonants respectively (and are still referred to as such in Khmer).Sound changes during theMiddle Khmer period affected vowels following voiceless consonants, and these changes were preserved even though the distinctive voicing was lost(see:Khmer language § Phonation and tone).
Each consonant, with one exception (ឡ), also has a subscript form. These may also be called "sub-consonants"; the Khmer phrase isជើងអក្សរcheung âksâr, meaning "foot of a letter". Most subscript consonants resemble the corresponding consonant symbol, but in a smaller and possibly simplified form, although in a few cases there is no obvious resemblance. Most subscript consonants are written directly below other consonants, although subscriptr appears to the left, while a few others have ascending elements which appear to the right.
Subscripts are used in writingconsonant clusters (consonants pronounced consecutively in a word with no vowel sound between them). Clusters in Khmer normally consist of two consonants, although occasionally in the middle of a word there will be three. The first consonant in a cluster is written using the main consonant symbol, with the second (and third, if present) attached to it in subscript form. Subscripts were previously also used to write final consonants; in modern Khmer this may be done, optionally, in some words ending-ng or-y, such asឲ្យaôy ("give").
The consonants and their subscript forms are listed in the following table. Usual phonetic values are given using theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA); variations are described below the table. The sound system is described in detail atKhmer phonology. The spokenname of each consonant letter is its value together with its inherent vowel. Transliterations are given using the transcription system of theGeographic Department of the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management and Urban Planning used by the Cambodian government and theUNGEGN system;[11][12] for other systems seeRomanization of Khmer.
| Consonant | Subscript form | Name/Full value (with inherent vowel) | Consonant value | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | IPA | ||
| ក | ្ក | kâ | ka | ka | [kɑː] | k | k | k | [k] |
| ខ | ្ខ | khâ | kha | kha | [kʰɑː] | kh | kh | kh | [kʰ] |
| គ | ្គ | kô | ko | ga | [kɔː] | k | k | g | [k] |
| ឃ | ្ឃ | khô | kho | gha | [kʰɔː] | kh | kh | gh | [kʰ] |
| ង | ្ង | ngô | ngo | nga | [ŋɔː] | ng | ng | ng | [ŋ] |
| ច | ្ច | châ | cha | ca | [cɑː] | ch | ch | c | [c] |
| ឆ | ្ឆ | chhâ | chha | cha | [cʰɑː] | chh | chh | ch | [cʰ] |
| ជ | ្ជ | chô | cho | ja | [cɔː] | ch | ch | j | [c] |
| ឈ | ្ឈ | chhô | chho | jha | [cʰɔː] | chh | chh | jh | [cʰ] |
| ញ | ្ញ | nhô | nho | ña | [ɲɔː] | nh | nh | ñ | [ɲ] |
| ដ | ្ដ | dâ | da | ṭa | [ɗɑː] | d | d | ṭ | [ɗ] |
| ឋ | ្ឋ | thâ | tha | ṭha | [tʰɑː] | th | th | ṭh | [tʰ] |
| ឌ | ្ឌ | dô | do | ḍa | [ɗɔː] | d | d | ḍ | [ɗ] |
| ឍ | ្ឍ | thô | tho | ḍha | [tʰɔː] | th | th | ḍh | [tʰ] |
| ណ | ្ណ | nâ | na | ṇa | [nɑː] | n | n | ṇ | [n] |
| ត | ្ត | tâ | ta | ta | [tɑː] | t | t | t | [t] |
| ថ | ្ថ | thâ | tha | tha | [tʰɑː] | th | th | th | [tʰ] |
| ទ | ្ទ | tô | to | da | [tɔː] | t | t | d | [t] |
| ធ | ្ធ | thô | tho | dha | [tʰɔː] | th | th | dh | [tʰ] |
| ន | ្ន | nô | no | na | [nɔː] | n | n | n | [n] |
| ប | ្ប | bâ | ba | pa | [ɓɑː] | b, p | b, p | p | [ɓ],[p] |
| ផ | ្ផ | phâ | pha | pha | [pʰɑː] | ph | ph | ph | [pʰ] |
| ព | ្ព | pô | po | ba | [pɔː] | p | p | b | [p] |
| ភ | ្ភ | phô | pho | bha | [pʰɔː] | ph | ph | bh | [pʰ] |
| ម | ្ម | mô | mo | ma | [mɔː] | m | m | m | [m] |
| យ | ្យ | yô | yo | ya | [jɔː] | y | y | y | [j] |
| រ | ្រ | rô | ro | ra | [rɔː] | r | r | r | [r] |
| ល | ្ល | lô | lo | la | [lɔː] | l | l | l | [l] |
| វ | ្វ | vô | vo | va | [ʋɔː] | v | v | v | [ʋ] |
| ឝ | ្ឝ | śâ | śa | śa | [ɕɑː] | ś | ś | ś | [ɕ] |
| ឞ | ្ឞ | ṣô | ṣo | ṣa | [ʂɔː] | ṣ | ṣ | ṣ | [ʂ] |
| ស | ្ស | sâ | sa | sa | [sɑː] | s | s | s | [s] |
| ហ | ្ហ | hâ | ha | ha | [hɑː] | h | h | h | [h] |
| ឡ | none[13] | lâ | la | ḷa | [lɑː] | l | l | ḷ | [l] |
| អ | ្អ | 'â | 'a | ʿʹa | [ʔɑː] | ' | ' | ʿʹ | [ʔ] |
The letterបbâ appears in somewhat modified form (e.g.បា) when combined with certain dependent vowels (seeLigatures).
The letterញnhô is written without the lower curve when a subscript is added. When it is subscripted to itself, the subscript is a smaller form of the entire letter:ញ្ញ-nhnh-.
Note thatដdâ andតtâ have the same subscript form. In initial clusters this subscript is always pronounced[ɗ], but in medial positions it is[ɗ] in some words and[t] in others.
The seriesដdâ,ឋthâ,ឌdô,ឍthô,ណnâ originally representedretroflex consonants in the Indic parent scripts. The second, third and fourth of these are rare, and occur only for etymological reasons in a few Pali and Sanskrit loanwords. Because the sound /n/ is common, and often grammatically productive, in Mon-Khmer languages, the fifth of this group,ណ, was adapted as an a-series counterpart ofនnô for convenience (all other nasal consonants are o-series).
The lettersឝśa andឞṣa are obsolete and are used only forPali/Sanskrit transliteration.[14] Historicallyឝ was used forpalatal s andឞ was used forretroflex s.[14]
The aspirated consonant letters (kh-,chh-,th-,ph-) are pronounced with aspiration only before a vowel. There is also slight aspiration withk,ch,t andp sounds beforecertain consonants, but this is regardless of whether they are spelt with a letter that indicates aspiration.
A Khmer word cannot end with more than one consonant sound, so subscript consonants at the end of words (which appear for etymological reasons) are not pronounced, although they may come to be pronounced when the same word begins a compound.
In some words, a single medial consonant symbol represents both the final consonant of one syllable and the initial consonant of the next.
The letterបbâ represents[ɓ] only before a vowel. When final or followed by a subscript consonant, it is pronounced[p] (and in the case where it is followed by a subscript consonant, it is also romanized asp in the UN system). For modification top by means of a diacritic, seeSupplementary consonants. The letter, which represented /p/ in Indic scripts, also often maintains the[p] sound in certain words borrowed from Sanskrit and Pali.
The lettersដdâ andឌdô are pronounced[t] when final. The letterតtâ is pronounced[ɗ] in initial position in a weak syllable ending with a nasal.
In final position, letters representing a[k] sound (k-,kh-) are pronounced as a glottal stop[ʔ] after the vowels[ɑː],[aː],[iə],[ɨə],[uə],[ɑ],[a],[ĕə],[ŭə]. The letterរrô is silent when final (in most dialects; seeNorthern Khmer). The letterសsâ when final is pronounced/h/ (which in this position approaches[ç]).
The Khmer writing system includes supplementary consonants, used in certainloanwords, particularly fromFrench andThai. These mostly represent sounds which do not occur in native words, or for which the native letters are restricted to one of the two vowel series. Most of them aredigraphs, formed by stacking a subscript under the letterហhâ, with an additionaltreisăptdiacritic if required to change the inherent vowel toô. The character forpâ, however, is formed by placing themusĕkâtônd ("mouse teeth") diacritic over the characterបbâ.
| Supplementary consonant | Description | Full value (with inherent vowel) | Consonant value | Notes | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | IPA | UNGEGN | GD | ALA-LC | IPA | |||
| ហ្គ | hâ +kô | hkâ | hka | hga | [ɡɑː] | hk | hk | hg | [ɡ] | Example:ហ្គាសhkas[ɡaːh] ('gas'; from Frenchgaz) |
| ហ្គ៊ | hâ +kô + diacritic | hkô | hko | hg′a | [ɡɔː] | hk | hk | hg′ | [ɡ] | Example:ហ្គ៊ារhkéar[giə] ('train station'; from Frenchgare) |
| ហ្ន | hâ +nô | hnâ | hna | hna | [nɑː] | hn | hn | hn | [n] | Example:ហ្នាំង/ហ្ន័ងhnăng[naŋ] ('shadow play' from Thaiหนังnǎng) |
| ប៉ | bâ + diacritic | pâ | pa | p′′a | [pɑː] | p | p | p′′ | [p] | Example:ប៉ាក់păk[pak] ('to embroider'),ប៉័ងpăng[paŋ] ('bread'; from Frenchpain) |
| ហ្ម | hâ +mô | hmâ | hma | hma | [mɑː] | hm | hm | hm | [m] | Example:គ្រូហ្មkru hmâ[kruːmɑː] ('shaman'; from Thaiหมอmɔ̌ɔ) |
| ហ្ល | hâ +lô | hlâ | hla | hla | [lɑː] | hl | hl | hl | [l] | Example:ហ្លួងhluŏng[luəŋ] ('king'; from Thaiหลวงlǔuang) |
| ហ្វ | hâ +vô | hvâ | hva | hva | [fɑː],[ʋɑː] | hv | hv | hv | [f],[ʋ] | Pronounced[ʋ] inហ្វង់hváng[ʋɑŋ] ('clear'),[f] inកាហ្វេkahvé[kaːfeː] ('coffee'; from Frenchcafé) |
| ហ្វ៊ | hâ +vô + diacritic | hvô | hvo | hv′a | [fɔː],[ʋɔː] | hv | hv | hv′ | [f],[ʋ] | Example:ហ្វ៊ីលhvil[fiːl] ('film'; from Frenchfilm) |
| ហ្ស | hâ +sâ | hsâ | hsa | hsa | [zɑː],[ʒɑː] | hs | hs | hs | [z],[ʒ] | Example:ហ្សាសhsas[ʒaːh] ('jazz'; from Frenchjazz),ភីហ្សាphihsa[pʰiːzaː] ('pizza') |
| ហ្ស៊ | hâ +sâ + diacritic | hsô | hso | hs′a | [zɔː],[ʒɔː] | hs | hs | hs′ | [z],[ʒ] | Example:ហ្ស៊ីបhsib[ʒiːp] ('jeep'; from Frenchjeep),ហ្សឺណេវhsœnév[zəːneːw] ('Geneva'; from FrenchGenève) |
Most Khmer vowel sounds are written using dependent, ordiacritical, vowel symbols, known in Khmer asស្រៈនិស្ស័យsrăk nĭssăy orស្រៈផ្សំsrăk phsâm ("connecting vowel"). These can only be written in combination with a consonant (or consonant cluster). The vowel is pronounced after the consonant (or cluster), even though some of the symbols have graphical elements which appear above, below or to the left of the consonant character.
Most of the vowel symbols have two possible pronunciations, depending on the inherent vowel of the consonant to which it is added. Their pronunciations may also be different inweak syllables, and when they are shortened (e.g. by means of a diacritic).Absence of a dependent vowel (or diacritic) often implies that a syllable-initial consonant is followed by the sound of its inherent vowel.
In determining the inherent vowel of a consonant cluster (i.e. how a following dependent vowel will be pronounced),stops andfricatives are dominant oversonorants. For any consonant cluster including a combination of these sounds, a following dependent vowel is pronounced according to the dominant consonant, regardless of its position in the cluster. When both members of a cluster are dominant, the subscript consonant determines the pronunciation of a following dependent vowel.
A non-dominant consonant (and in some words alsoហhâ) will also have its inherent vowel changed by a preceding dominant consonant in the same word, even when there is a vowel between them, although some words (especially among those with more than two syllables) do not obey this rule.
The dependent vowels are listed below, in conventional form with a dotted circle as a dummy consonant symbol, and in combination with the a-series letterអ’â. The IPA values given are representative of dialects from the northwest and central plains regions, specifically from theBattambang area, upon whichStandard Khmer is based. Vowel pronunciation varies widely in other dialects such asNorthern Khmer, where diphthongs are leveled, andWestern Khmer, in whichbreathy voice andmodal voicephonations are still contrastive.
| Dependent vowel | Example | IPA[3] | GD | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a-series | o-series | a-series | o-series | a-series | o-series | ||||
| (none) | អ | [ɑː], [ɒː] in some dialects | [ɔː] | a | o | â | ô | a | SeeModification by diacritics andConsonants with no dependent vowel. |
| ា | អា | [aː] | [iːə][15] | a | ea | a | éa | ā | SeeModification by diacritics. អ៊ា, the o-series ofា, is slightly distinct fromៀ.(អ៊ា ~ "air" vsៀ ~ "ear") |
| ិ | អិ | [ə],[e] | [ɨ],[i] | e | i | ĕ | ĭ | i | Pronounced[e]/[i] in syllables with no written final consonant (a glottal stop is then added if the syllable is stressed; however in some words the vowel is silent when final, and in some words in which it is not word-final it is pronounced[əj]). In the o-series, combines with final យyô to sound[iː]. (See alsoModification by diacritics.) |
| ី | អី | [əj] | [iː] | ei | i | ei | i | ī | |
| ឹ | អឹ | [ə] | [ɨ] | oe | ue | œ̆ | ẏ | ||
| ឺ | អឺ | [əɨ] | [ɨː] | eu | ueu | œ | ȳ | ||
| ុ | អុ | [o] | [u] | o | u | ŏ | ŭ | u | SeeModification by diacritics. In a stressed syllable with no written final consonant, the vowel is followed by a glottal stop[ʔ], or by[k] in the word តុtŏk ("table") (but the vowel is silent when final in certain words). |
| ូ | អូ | [ou] | [uː] | ou | u | o | u | ū | Becomes[əw]/[ɨw] before a finalវvô. |
| ួ | អួ | [uə] | uo | uŏ | ua | ||||
| ើ | អើ | [aə] | [əː] | aeu | eu | aeu | eu | oe | SeeModification by diacritics. |
| ឿ | អឿ | [ɨə] | oea | œă | ẏa | ||||
| ៀ | អៀ | [iə] | ie | iĕ | ia | ||||
| េ | អេ | [ei] | [eː] | e | é | e | Becomes[ə]/[ɨ] before palatals (or in the a-series,[a] before[c] in some words). Pronounced[ae]/[ɛː] in some words. See alsoModification by diacritics. | ||
| ែ | អែ | [ae] | [ɛː] | ae | eae | ê | ae | SeeModification by diacritics. | |
| ៃ | អៃ | [aj] | [ɨj] | ai | ey | ai | ey | ai | |
| ោ | អោ | [ao] | [oː] | ao | ou | aô | oŭ | o | SeeModification by diacritics. |
| ៅ | អៅ | [aw] | [ɨw] | au | ov | au | ŏu | au | |
The spoken name of each dependent vowel consists of the wordស្រៈsrăk[sraʔ]("vowel") followed by the vowel's a-series value preceded by a glottal stop (and also followed by a glottal stop in the case of short vowels).
The addition of some of theKhmer diacritics can modify the length and value of inherent or dependent vowels.
The following table shows combinations with thenĭkkôhĕt andreăhmŭkh diacritics, representing final[m] and[h]. They are shown with the a-series consonantអ’â.
| Combination | IPA | GD | UNGEGN | ALA-LC | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| a-series | o-series | a-series | o-series | a-series | o-series | |||
| អុំ | [om] | [um] | om | um | om | ŭm | uṃ | |
| អំ | [ɑm] | [um] | am | um | âm | um | aṃ | The wordធំthum ("big") is pronounced[tʰom] (but[tʰum] in some dialects). |
| អាំ | [am] | [ŏəm] | am | oam | ăm | ŏâm | āṃ | When followed byងngô, becomes[aŋ]/[eəŋ]ăng/eăng. |
| អះ | [ah] | [ĕəh] | ah | eah | ăh | eăh | aḥ | |
| អិះ | [eh] | [ih] | eh | is | ĕh | ĭh | iḥ | |
| អុះ | [oh] | [uh] | oh | uh | ŏh | ŭh | uḥ | |
| អេះ | [eh] | [ih] | eh | éh | eḥ | |||
| អោះ | [ɑh] | [ŭəh] | aoh | uoh | aôh | ŏăh | oaḥ | The wordនោះnŏăh ("that") can be pronounced[nuh]. |
The first four configurations listed here are treated as dependent vowels in their own right, and have names constructed in the same way as for the other dependent vowels (described in the previous section).
Other rarer configurations with thereăhmŭkh areអើះ (orអឹះ), pronounced[əh], andអែះ, pronounced[eh]. The wordចា៎ះ "yes" (used by women) is pronounced [caː] and rarely[caːh].
Thebânták (a small vertical line written over the final consonant of a syllable) has the following effects:
) in the a-series, the vowel is shortened to[a], UN transcriptionăThesanhyoŭk sannha is equivalent to thea dependent vowel with thebântăk. However, its o-series pronunciation becomes[ɨ] before finaly, and[ɔə] before final (silent)r.
Theyŭkôlpĭntŭ (pair of dots) represents[a] (a-series) or[ĕə] (o-series), followed by a glottal stop.
There are three environments where a consonant may appear without a dependent vowel. The rules governing the inherent vowel differ for all three environments. Consonants may be written with no dependent vowel as an initial consonant of aweak syllable, an initial consonant of a strong syllable or as the final letter of a written word.
In careful speech, initial consonants without a dependent vowel in weak initial syllables are pronounced with their inherent vowel shortened as if modified by thebânták diacritic (see previous section). For example the first-series letter "ច" in "ចន្លុះ" ("torch") is pronounced with the short vowel/ɑ/. The second-series letter "ព" in "ពន្លឺ" ("light") is pronounced with the short diphthong/ŏə/. In casual speech, these are most often reduced to/ə/ for both series.
Initial consonants in strong syllables without written vowels are pronounced with their inherent vowels. The wordចង ("to tie") is pronounced[cɑːŋ],ជត ("weak", "to sink") is pronounced[cɔːt]. In some words, however, the inherent vowel is pronounced in its reduced form, as if modified by abântăk diacritic, even though the diacritic is not written (e.g.សព[sɑp] "corpse"). Such reduction regularly takes place in words ending with a consonant with a silent subscript (such asសព្វ[sɑp] "every"), although in most such words it is thebânták-reduced form of the vowela that is heard, as inសព្ទ[sap] "noise". The wordអ្នក "you, person" has the highly irregular pronunciation[nĕəʔ].
Consonants written as the final letter of a word usually represent a word-final sound and are pronounced without any following vowel and, in the case of stops, withno audible release as in the examples above. However, in some words adopted fromPali andSanskrit, what would appear to be a final consonant under normal rules can actually be the initial consonant of a following syllable and pronounced with a short vowel as if followed byាក់. For example, according to rules for native Khmer words,សុភ ("good", "clean", "beautiful") would appear to be a single syllable, but, being derived from Palisubha, it is pronounced[sopʰĕəʔ].
Most consonants, including a few of the subscripts, formligatures with the vowela (ា) and with all other dependent vowels that contain the same cane-like symbol. Most of these ligatures are easily recognizable, but a few may not be, particularly those involving the letterបbâ. This combines with the a vowel in the formបា, created to differentiate it from the consonant symbolហhâ and also from the ligature forចchâ witha (ចា).
Some more examples of ligatured symbols follow:
Independent vowels are non-diacritical vowel characters that stand alone (i.e. without being attached to a consonant symbol). In Khmer they are calledស្រៈពេញតួsră pénh tuŏ, which means "complete vowels". They are used in some words to represent certain combinations of a vowel with an initialglottal stop orliquid. The independent vowels are used in a small number of words, mostly of Indic origin, and consequently there is some inconsistency in their use and pronunciations.[3] However, a few words in which they occur are used quite frequently; these include:ឥឡូវĕlov[ʔəjləw] "now",ឪពុកâupŭk[ʔəwpuk] "father",ឬrœ[rɨː] "or",ឮlœ[lɨː] "hear",ឲ្យaôy[ʔaoj] "give, let",ឯងêng[ʔaeŋ] "oneself, I, you",ឯណាê na[ʔaenaː] "where".
| Independent vowel | IPA | GD | UNGEGN |
|---|---|---|---|
| ឥ | [ʔə],[ʔɨ],[ʔəj] | e | ĕ |
| ឦ | [ʔəj] | ei | ei |
| ឧ | [ʔo],[ʔu],[ʔao] | o | ŏ, ŭ |
| ឨ | Obsolete (equivalent to the sequenceឧក)[16] | ||
| ឩ | [ʔou],[ʔuː] | ou | not given |
| ឪ | [ʔəw] | au | âu |
| ឫ | [rɨ] | rue | rœ̆ |
| ឬ | [rɨː] | rueu | rœ |
| ឭ | [lɨ] | lue | lœ̆ |
| ឮ | [lɨː] | lueu | lœ |
| ឯ | [ʔae],[ʔɛː],[ʔeː] | ae | ê |
| ឰ | [ʔaj] | ai | ai |
| ឱ,ឲ | [ʔao] | ao | aô |
| ឳ | [ʔaw] | au | au |
Independent vowel letters are named similarly to the dependent vowels, with the wordស្រៈsră[sraʔ] ("vowel") followed by the principal sound of the letter (the pronunciation or first of the pronunciations listed above), followed by an additional glottal stop after a short vowel. However the letter ឥ is calledស្រៈឥsră ĕ[sraʔʔeʔ].[17]
The Khmer writing system contains severaldiacritics (វណ្ណយុត្តិ,vônnâyŭttĕ,pronounced[ʋannajut]), used to indicate further modifications in pronunciation.
| Diacritic | Khmer name | Function |
|---|---|---|
| ំ | និគ្គហិតnĭkkôhĕt | The Paliniggahīta, related to theanusvara. A small circle written over a consonant or a following dependent vowel, itnasalizes the inherent or dependent vowel, with the addition of[m]; long vowels are also shortened. For details seeModification by diacritics. |
| ះ | រះមុខreăhmŭkh "shining face" | Related to thevisarga. A pair of small circles written after a consonant or a following dependent vowel, it modifies and adds finalaspiration/h/ to the inherent or dependent vowel. For details seeModification by diacritics. |
| ៈ | យុគលពិន្ទុyŭkoălpĭntŭ | A "pair of dots", a fairly recently introduced diacritic, written after a consonant to indicate that it is to be followed by a short vowel and a glottal stop. SeeModification by diacritics. |
| ៉ | មូសិកទន្តmusĕkâtônd "mouse teeth" | Two short vertical lines, written above a consonant, used to convert some o-series consonants (ង ញ ម យ រ វ) to a-series. It is also used withបbâ to convert it to ap sound (seeSupplementary consonants). |
| ៊ | ត្រីស័ព្ទtreisăpt | A wavy line, written above a consonant, used to convert some a-series consonants (ស ហ ប អ) to o-series. |
| ុ | ក្បៀសក្រោមkbiĕs kraôm | Also known asបុកជើងbŏk cheung ("collision foot"); a vertical line written under a consonant, used in place of the diacriticstreisăpt andmusĕkâtônd when they would be impeded by superscript vowels. |
| ់ | បន្តក់bânták | A small vertical line written over the last consonant of a syllable, indicating shortening (and corresponding change in quality) of certain vowels. SeeModification by diacritics. |
| ៌ | របាទrôbat រេផៈréphă | This superscript diacritic occurs in Sanskrit loanwords and corresponds to theDevanagari diacriticrepha. It originally represented anr sound (and is romanized asr in the UNGEGN system). Now, in most cases, the consonant above which it appears, and the diacritic itself, are unpronounced. Examples:ធម៌thôrm[tʰɔə] ("dharma"),កាណ៌karn[kaː] (from karṇa),សួគ៌ាsuŏrkéa[suəkiə] ("Svarga"). |
| ៍ | ទណ្ឌឃាដtôndôkhéad | Written over a final consonant to indicate that it is unpronounced. (Such unpronounced letters are still romanized in the UNGEGN system.) |
| ៎ | កាកបាទkakâbat | Also known as a "crow's foot", used in writing to indicate the rising intonation of an exclamation orinterjection; often placed onparticles such as/na/,/nɑː/,/nɛː/,/ʋəːj/, and onចា៎ះ/caːh/, a word for "yes" used by females. |
| ៏ | អស្តាâsda "number eight" | Used in a few words to show that aconsonant with no dependent vowel is to be pronounced with its inherent vowel, rather than as a final consonant. |
| ័ | សំយោគសញ្ញាsâmyoŭk sânhnhéa | Used in some Sanskrit and Pali loanwords (although alternative spellings usually exist); it is written above a consonant to indicate that the syllable contains a particular short vowel; seeModification by diacritics. |
| ៑ | វិរាមvĭréam | A mostly obsolete diacritic, corresponding to thevirāma, which suppresses a consonant's inherent vowel. |
For the purpose ofdictionary ordering[18] of words, main consonants, subscript consonants and dependent vowels are all significant; and when they appear in combination, they are considered in the order in which they would be spoken (main consonant, subscript, vowel). The order of theconsonants and of thedependent vowels is the order in which they appear in the above tables. A syllable written without any dependent vowel is treated as if it contained a vowel character that precedes all the visible dependent vowels.
As mentioned above, the fourconfigurations with diacritics exemplified in the syllablesអុំ អំ អាំ អះ are treated as dependent vowels in their own right, and come in that order at the end of the list of dependent vowels. Other configurations with thereăhmŭkhdiacritic are ordered as if that diacritic were a final consonant coming after all other consonants. Words with thebânták andsâmyoŭk sânhnhéa diacritics are ordered directly after identically spelled words without the diacritics.
Vowels precede consonants in the ordering, so a combination of main and subscript consonants comes after any instance in which the same main consonant appears unsubscripted before a vowel.
Words spelled with anindependent vowel whose sound begins with a glottal stop follow after words spelled with the equivalent combination ofអ’â plus dependent vowel. Words spelled with an independent vowel whose sound begins[r] or[l] follow after all words beginning with the consonantsរrô andលlô respectively.
Words spelled with a consonant modified by a diacritic follow words spelled with the same consonant and dependent vowel symbol but without the diacritic.[dubious –discuss][citation needed] However, words spelled withប៉ (abâ converted to ap sound by a diacritic) follow all words with unmodifiedបbâ (without diacritic and without subscript).[dubious –discuss][citation needed] Sometimes words in whichប is pronouncedp are ordered as if the letter were writtenប៉.
The numerals of the Khmer script, similar to that used by other civilizations in Southeast Asia, are also derived from the southern Indian script. Western-styleArabic numerals are also used, but to a lesser extent.
0 ០ | 1 ១ | 2 ២ | 3 ៣ | 4 ៤ | 5 ៥ | 6 ៦ | 7 ៧ | 8 ៨ | 9 ៩ |
In large numbers,groups of three digits are delimited with Western-styleperiods. Thedecimal point is represented by a comma. The Cambodian currency, theriel, is abbreviated using the symbol៛ or simply the letterរrô.
Spaces are not used between all words in written Khmer. Spaces are used within sentences in roughly the same places ascommas might be in English, although they may also serve to set off certain items such as numbers and proper names.
Western-stylepunctuation marks are quite commonly used in modern Khmer writing, including French-styleguillemets forquotation marks. However, traditional Khmer punctuation marks are also used; some of these are described in the following table.
| Mark | Khmer name | Function |
|---|---|---|
| ។ | ខណ្ឌkhând | Used as aperiod (the sign resembles aneighth rest in music writing). However, consecutive sentences on the same theme are often separated only by spaces. |
| ៘ | ល៉ៈlăk | Equivalent toetc. |
| ៗ | លេខទោlékh toŭ ("figure two") | Duplication sign (similar in form to theKhmer numeral for 2). It indicates that the preceding word or phrase is to be repeated (duplicated), a common feature in Khmer syntax. |
| ៕ | បរិយោសានbârĭyoŭsan | A period used to end an entire text or a chapter. |
| ៚ | គោមូត្រkoŭmutr ("cow urine") | A period used at the end of poetic or religious texts. |
| ៙ | ភ្នែកមាន់phnêk moăn ("cock's eye") | A symbol (said to represent the elephant trunk ofGanesha) used at the start of poetic or religious texts. |
| ៖ | ចំណុចពីរគូសchâmnŏch pir kus "two dots (and a) line" | Used similarly to acolon. (The middle line distinguishes this sign from adiacritic.) |
Ahyphen (សហសញ្ញាsâhâ sânhnhéa) is commonly used between components of personal names, and also as in English when a word is divided between lines of text. It can also be used between numbers to denote ranges or dates. Particular uses of Western-style periods include grouping of digits in large numbers (seeNumerals hereinbefore) and denotation ofabbreviations.
Several styles of Khmer writing are used for varying purposes. The two main styles areâksâr chriĕng (literally "slanted script") andâksâr mul ("round script").
The basicKhmer block was added to theUnicode Standard in version 3.0, released in September 1999. It then contained 103 defined code points; this was extended to 114 in version 4.0, released in April 2003. Version 4.0 also introduced an additional block, calledKhmer Symbols, containing 32 signs used for writinglunar dates.
The Unicode block for basic Khmer characters is U+1780–U+17FF:
| Khmer[1][2][3] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+178x | ក | ខ | គ | ឃ | ង | ច | ឆ | ជ | ឈ | ញ | ដ | ឋ | ឌ | ឍ | ណ | ត |
| U+179x | ថ | ទ | ធ | ន | ប | ផ | ព | ភ | ម | យ | រ | ល | វ | ឝ | ឞ | ស |
| U+17Ax | ហ | ឡ | អ | ឣ | ឤ | ឥ | ឦ | ឧ | ឨ | ឩ | ឪ | ឫ | ឬ | ឭ | ឮ | ឯ |
| U+17Bx | ឰ | ឱ | ឲ | ឳ | KIV AQ | KIV AA | ា | ិ | ី | ឹ | ឺ | ុ | ូ | ួ | ើ | ឿ |
| U+17Cx | ៀ | េ | ែ | ៃ | ោ | ៅ | ំ | ះ | ៈ | ៉ | ៊ | ់ | ៌ | ៍ | ៎ | ៏ |
| U+17Dx | ័ | ៑ | ្ | ៓ | ។ | ៕ | ៖ | ៗ | ៘ | ៙ | ៚ | ៛ | ៜ | ៝ | ||
| U+17Ex | ០ | ១ | ២ | ៣ | ៤ | ៥ | ៦ | ៧ | ៨ | ៩ | ||||||
| U+17Fx | ៰ | ៱ | ៲ | ៳ | ៴ | ៵ | ៶ | ៷ | ៸ | ៹ | ||||||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
The first 35 characters are theconsonant letters (including two obsolete). The symbols at U+17A3 and U+17A4 are deprecated (they were intended for use in Pali and Sanskrit transliteration, but are identical in appearance to the consonantអ, written alone or with thea vowel). These are followed by the 15independent vowels (including one obsolete and one variant form). The code points U+17B4 and U+17B5 are invisible combining marks for inherent vowels, intended for use only in special applications.
Next come the 16dependent vowel signs and the 12diacritics (excluding thekbiĕh kraôm, which is identical in form to theŏ dependent vowel); these are represented together with a dotted circle, but should be displayed appropriately in combination with a preceding Khmer letter.
The code point U+17D2, calledជើងceung, meaning "foot", is used to indicate that a following consonant is to be written in subscript form. It is not normally visibly rendered as a character. U+17D3 was originally intended for use in writing lunar dates, but its use is now discouraged (see the Khmer Symbols block hereafter). The next seven characters are thepunctuation marks listed hereinbefore; these are followed by theriel currency symbol, a rare sign corresponding to the Sanskritavagraha, and a mostly obsolete version of thevĭréam diacritic. The U+17Ex series contains theKhmer numerals, and the U+17Fx series contains variants of the numerals used indivination lore.
The block with additional lunar date symbols is U+19E0–U+19FF:
| Khmer Symbols[1] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+19Ex | ᧠ | ᧡ | ᧢ | ᧣ | ᧤ | ᧥ | ᧦ | ᧧ | ᧨ | ᧩ | ᧪ | ᧫ | ᧬ | ᧭ | ᧮ | ᧯ |
| U+19Fx | ᧰ | ᧱ | ᧲ | ᧳ | ᧴ | ᧵ | ᧶ | ᧷ | ᧸ | ᧹ | ᧺ | ᧻ | ᧼ | ᧽ | ᧾ | ᧿ |
Notes
| ||||||||||||||||
The symbols at U+19E0 and U+19F0 represent the first and second "eighth month" in a lunar year containing a leap-month (seeKhmer calendar). The remaining symbols in this block denote the days of a lunar month: those in the U+19Ex series for waxing days, and those in the U+19Fx series for waning days.
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