The foundation of learning any new language begins with the alphabet. With just one letter, we can construct words, phrases, and sentences.
What makes the Khmer language unique is that a single consonant can also function as a standalone word. Does this pique your interest in discovering more about the Khmer language?
Khmer Language
Khmer, also known as Cambodian, is the official language in Cambodia. Unlike some other Asian languages such as Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, and Burmese, Khmer is not a tonal language.
When it comes to reading and writing, Khmer is read and written from left to right. In sentence structures, there are no spaces that separate words from one another. Instead, each word is tightly woven together in a continuous string.
The word order in a Khmer sentence follows the pattern of subject-verb-object, similar to English. However, there is no capitalization in Khmer. In colloquial conversation, subjects are often dropped and not required. ch
To indicate changes in tense, aspect, and mood, Khmer uses particles, auxiliary words, and adverbs. There are no inflections, conjugations or case endings in Khmer language.
Khmer Alphabet
The Khmer alphabet is like a large box of Lego pieces, offering numerous components to explore and learn. Each element has its own role in forming words and sentences.
The Khmer alphabet consists of consonants, vowels, subscript consonants, and diacritics. These elements come together to form the entire alphabet in the Khmer language.
- 33 consonants
- 24 dependent vowels
- 13 independent vowels
- 32 subscript consonants
- 12 diacritics
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| Khmer Consonants |
.png "khmer vowels") |
| Khmer Vowels |
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| Khmer Subscript Consonants |
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| Khmer Consonants And Their Subscript Consonants |
.png "khmer diacritics") |
| Khmer Diacritics |
At the beginning, it may feel overwhelming to realize the number of characters that need to be memorized. However, rest assured that we are here to assist you every step of the way in your journey to master the Khmer alphabet.
