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Khmer is a language spoken by over 20 million people in Southeast Asia, particularly in Cambodia. It is a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family and has been influenced by Hinduism, Buddhism, and neighboring languages. The Khmer alphabet is one of the oldest in Southeast Asia. It is considered easier for English speakers to learn than other regional languages due to its lack of tonal structure.
Khmer is a language spoken throughout Southeast Asia, particularly in the nation of Cambodia. It is spoken by more than 20 million people, the majority speaking it as their native language. Khmer is a member of the Austro-Asiatic language family and is related to languages such as Vietnamese and Mon.
The region that is present-day Cambodia was once the center of the Khmer empire, where the language originates from, and is the country’s official language. There are an estimated 5 million other speakers of this language living in Vietnam and Thailand. Abroad, both France and the United States have large populations of Cambodian immigrants who also speak Khmer, adding an estimated 250,000 more speakers.
As the state religion of the Khmer Empire changed from Hinduism to Buddhism, the language also changed accordingly. During the Hindi periods, the language experienced a great change and expansion of vocabulary from the Pali language used in the national religion, and during the Buddhist periods, it experienced a similar growth through Sanskrit. Khmer has also been influenced by the Lao and Thai languages, as well as a number of minor languages existing on the same dialect continuum. A number of words and sentence structures appear to derive from Lao or Thai forms, and both Lao and Thai are also heavily influenced by Khmer. A dialect of Khmer, known as Northern Khmer, is so different from standard that it is classified by some as a distinct language; this is largely because it is the dialect spoken in Thailand, and thus has been even more heavily influenced by Thai, resulting in some extreme variations.
The modern Khmer alphabet is a descendant of the ancient alphabet, which has been in use for over 1,400 years, making it one of the oldest alphabets in Southeast Asia. It consists of 33 consonants, 14 independent vowels and 21 diacritical vowels. Each of the vowel diacritics can be used in one of two distinct sets, effectively doubling the amount of vowel sounds they can make.
Khmer is considered much easier for English speakers to learn than any of the major surrounding languages, such as Vietnamese, Lao, or Thai. While some of this is attributable to grammar and vocabulary, it is mostly a feature of Khmer which is a non-tonal language. Most Asian languages present a great difficulty to English speakers due to the need to shift to a mindset where the tone of a word affects its meaning; Khmer has no such tonal structure, allowing for much easier acquisition.
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