Khmer language
Khmer | |
---|---|
Cambodian | |
ភាសាខ្មែរ
/ ខេមរភាសា Phéasa Khmêr / Khémôrôphéasa | |
Pronunciation | [pʰiəsaː kʰmae] [kʰeːmarapʰiəsaː] |
Native to | |
Ethnicity | Khmer |
speakers | L1: 17 million (2019)[1] L2: 1 million (no date)[1] |
Austroasiatic
| |
Early forms | |
Official status | |
Official language in | Cambodia |
Recognised minority language in | |
Regulated by | Royal Academy of Cambodia, National Council of Khmer Language[2] |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-1 | km Central Khmer |
ISO 639-2 | khm Central Khmer |
ISO 639-3 | Either:khm – Khmerkxm – Northern Khmer |
Glottolog | khme1253 Khmericcent1989 Central Khmer |
Linguasphere | 46-FBA-a |
Khmer |
Khmer (
The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer, the dialect of the central plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer. Two exceptions are the speech of the capital,
Outside of Cambodia, three distinct dialects are spoken by ethnic Khmers native to areas that were historically part of the Khmer Empire. The Northern Khmer dialect is spoken by over a million Khmers in the southern regions of Northeast Thailand and is treated by some linguists as a separate language. Khmer Krom, or Southern Khmer, is the first language of the Khmer of Vietnam, while the Khmer living in the remote Cardamom Mountains speak a very conservative dialect that still displays features of the Middle Khmer language.
Khmer is primarily an
Khmer differs from neighboring languages such as
Classification
Khmer is a member of the
Diffloth places Khmer in an eastern branch of the
Geographic distribution and dialects
Khmer is spoken by some 13 million people in Cambodia, where it is the official language. It is also a second language for most of the minority groups and indigenous hill tribes there. Additionally there are a million speakers of Khmer native to southern Vietnam (1999 census)[10] and 1.4 million in northeast Thailand (2006).[11]
Khmer
The following is a classification scheme showing the development of the modern Khmer dialects.[15][16]
- Middle Khmer
- Cardamom (Western) Khmer
- Central Khmer
- Surin (Northern) Khmer
- Standard Khmer and related dialects (including Khmer Krom)
Standard Khmer, or Central Khmer, the language as taught in Cambodian schools and used by the media, is based on the dialect spoken throughout the Central Plain,[17] a region encompassed by the northwest and central provinces.
Northern Khmer (called Khmer Surin in Khmer) refers to the dialects spoken by many in several border provinces of present-day northeast Thailand. After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the early 15th century, the Dongrek Mountains served as a natural border leaving the Khmer north of the mountains under the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of Lan Xang. The conquests of Cambodia by Naresuan the Great for Ayutthaya furthered their political and economic isolation from Cambodia proper, leading to a dialect that developed relatively independently from the midpoint of the Middle Khmer period.[18]
This has resulted in a distinct accent influenced by the surrounding tonal languages Lao and Thai, lexical differences, and phonemic differences in both vowels and distribution of consonants. Syllable-final /r/, which has become silent in other dialects of Khmer, is still pronounced in Northern Khmer. Some linguists classify Northern Khmer as a separate but closely related language rather than a dialect.[19][20]
Phnom Penh Khmer is spoken in the capital and surrounding areas. This dialect is characterized by merging or complete
This alters the quality of any preceding consonant, causing a harder, more emphasized pronunciation. Another unique result is that the syllable is spoken with a low-rising or "dipping" tone much like the "hỏi" tone in Vietnamese. For example, some people pronounce ត្រី [trəj] ('fish') as [tʰəj]: the [r] is dropped and the vowel begins by dipping much lower in tone than standard speech and then rises, effectively doubling its length. Another example is the word រៀន [riən] ('study'), which is pronounced [ʀiən], with the uvular "r" and the same intonation described above.[21]
Khmer Krom or Southern Khmer is spoken by the indigenous Khmer population of the Mekong Delta, formerly controlled by the Khmer Empire but part of Vietnam since 1698. Khmers are persecuted by the Vietnamese government for using their native language and, since the 1950s, have been forced to take Vietnamese names.[22] Consequently, very little research has been published regarding this dialect. It has been generally influenced by Vietnamese for three centuries and accordingly displays a pronounced accent, tendency toward monosyllabic words and lexical differences from Standard Khmer.[23]
Historical periods
Linguistic study of the Khmer language divides its history into four periods one of which, the Old Khmer period, is subdivided into pre-Angkorian and Angkorian.[25] Pre-Angkorian Khmer is the Old Khmer language from 600 CE through 800. Angkorian Khmer is the language as it was spoken in the Khmer Empire from the 9th century until the 13th century.[26]
The following centuries saw changes in morphology, phonology and lexicon. The language of this transition period, from about the 14th to 18th centuries, is referred to as Middle Khmer and saw borrowings from Thai in the literary register.[26] Modern Khmer is dated from the 19th century to today.[25]
The following table shows the conventionally accepted historical stages of Khmer.[15]
Historical stage | Date |
---|---|
Pre- or Proto-Khmer | Before 600 CE |
Pre-Angkorian Old Khmer | 600–800 |
Angkorian Old Khmer | 800 to mid-14th century |
Middle Khmer | Mid-14th century to 18th century |
Modern Khmer | 1800–present |
Just as modern Khmer was emerging from the transitional period represented by Middle Khmer, Cambodia fell under the influence of French colonialism.[27] Thailand, which had for centuries claimed suzerainty over Cambodia and controlled succession to the Cambodian throne, began losing its influence on the language.[28] In 1887 Cambodia was fully integrated into French Indochina, which brought in a French-speaking aristocracy. This led to French becoming the language of higher education and the intellectual class. By 1907, the French had wrested over half of modern-day Cambodia, including the north and northwest where Thai had been the prestige language, back from Thai control and reintegrated it into the country.[28]
Many native scholars in the early 20th century, led by a monk named Chuon Nath, resisted the French and Thai influences on their language. Forming the government sponsored Cultural Committee to define and standardize the modern language, they championed Khmerization, purging of foreign elements, reviving affixation, and the use of Old Khmer roots and historical Pali and Sanskrit to coin new words for modern ideas.[27][29] Opponents, led by Keng Vannsak, who embraced "total Khmerization" by denouncing the reversion to classical languages and favoring the use of contemporary colloquial Khmer for neologisms, and Ieu Koeus, who favored borrowing from Thai, were also influential.[29]
Koeus later joined the Cultural Committee and supported Nath. Nath's views and prolific work won out and he is credited with cultivating modern Khmer-language identity and culture, overseeing the translation of the entire Pali Buddhist canon into Khmer. He also created the modern Khmer language dictionary that is still in use today, helping preserve Khmer during the French colonial period.[27]
Phonology
Part of a series on the |
Khmer language |
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Dialects |
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The phonological system described here is the inventory of sounds of the standard spoken language,[17] represented using the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA).
Consonants
Labial | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Nasal | m | n
|
ɲ | ŋ | ||
Plosive | voiceless | p (pʰ) | t (tʰ )
|
c (cʰ) | k (kʰ) | ʔ |
voiced | ɓ ~ b | d
|
||||
Fricative | s | (ç) | h | |||
Liquid | rhotic | r
|
||||
lateral | l
|
|||||
Approximant | ʋ ~ w | j |
The voiceless plosives /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/ may occur with or without
The voiced plosives are pronounced as implosives [ɓ, ɗ] by most speakers, but this feature is weak in educated speech, where they become [b, d].[32]
In syllable-final position, /h/ and /ʋ/ approach [ç] and [w] respectively. The stops /p/, /t/, /c/, /k/ are unaspirated and have no audible release when occurring as syllable finals.[17]
In addition, the consonants /ɡ/, /f/, /ʃ/ and /z/ occur occasionally in recent
Vowels
Various authors have proposed slightly different analyses of the Khmer vowel system. This may be in part because of the wide degree of variation in pronunciation between individual speakers, even within a dialectal region.[33] The description below follows Huffman (1970).[17] The number of vowel nuclei and their values vary between dialects; differences exist even between the Standard Khmer system and that of the Battambang dialect on which the standard is based.[34]
Front | Central | Back | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
short
|
long
|
short | long | short | long | |
Close | i | iː | ɨ | ɨː | u | uː |
Close-mid | e | eː | ə | əː | o | oː |
Open-mid | ɛː | ɔː | ||||
Open | a | aː | ɑ | ɑː |
Front | Central | Back | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
Short | centering | ĕə | ŏə, ŭə | |
Long | centering | iə | ɨə | ɔə, uə |
mid closing | ei | əɨ | ou | |
open closing | ae | aə | ao |
In addition, some diphthongs and triphthongs are analyzed as a vowel nucleus plus a semivowel (/j/ or /w/) coda because they cannot be followed by a final consonant. These include: (with short monophthongs) /ɨw/, /əw/, /aj/, /aw/, /uj/; (with long monophthongs) /əːj/, /aːj/; (with long diphthongs) /iəj/, /iəw/, /ɨəj/, /aoj/, /aəj/ and /uəj/.[35]
Syllable structure
A Khmer syllable begins with a single consonant, or else with a cluster of two, or rarely three, consonants. The only possible clusters of three consonants at the start of a syllable are /str/, /skr/,[36] and (with aspirated consonants analyzed as two-consonant sequences) /sth/, /lkh/. There are 85 possible two-consonant clusters (including [pʰ] etc. analyzed as /ph/ etc.). All the clusters are shown in the following table, phonetically, i.e. superscript ʰ can mark either contrastive or non-contrastive aspiration (see above).
p | ɓ | t | ɗ | c | k | ʔ | m | n | ɲ | ŋ | j | l | r | s | h | ʋ | t+h | k+h | t+r | k+r | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
p | pʰt- | pɗ- | pʰc- | pʰk- | pʔ- | pʰn- | pʰɲ- | pʰŋ- | pʰj- | pʰl- | pr- | ps- | pʰ- | ||||||||
t | tʰp- | tɓ- | tʰk- | tʔ- | tʰm- | tʰn- | tʰŋ- | tʰj- | tʰl- | tr- | tʰ- | tʰʋ- | |||||||||
c | cʰp- | cɓ- | cɗ- | cʰk- | cʔ- | cʰm- | cʰn- | cʰŋ- | cʰl- | cr- | cʰ- | cʰʋ- | |||||||||
k | kʰp- | kɓ- | kʰt- | kɗ- | kʰc- | kʔ- | kʰm- | kʰn- | kʰɲ- | kŋ- | kʰj- | kʰl- | kr- | ks- | kʰ- | kʰʋ- | |||||
s | sp- | sɓ- | st- | sɗ- | sk- | sʔ- | sm- | sn- | sɲ- | sŋ- | sl- | sr- | sʋ- | stʰ- | str- | skr- | |||||
ʔ | ʔʋ- | ||||||||||||||||||||
m | mt- | mɗ- | mc- | mʔ- | mn- | mɲ- | ml- | mr- | ms- | mh- | |||||||||||
l | lp- | lɓ- | lk- | lʔ- | lm- | lŋ- | lh- | lʋ- | lkʰ- |
Slight vowel epenthesis occurs in the clusters consisting of a plosive followed by /ʔ/, /b/, /d/, in those beginning /ʔ/, /m/, /l/, and in the cluster /kŋ-/.[37]: 8–9
After the initial consonant or consonant cluster comes the syllabic
A minor syllable (unstressed syllable preceding the main syllable of a word) has a structure of CV-, CrV-, CVN- or CrVN- (where C is a consonant, V a vowel, and N a nasal consonant). The vowels in such syllables are usually short; in conversation they may be reduced to [ə], although in careful or formal speech, including on television and radio, they are clearly articulated. An example of such a word is មនុស្ស mɔnuh, mɔnɨh, mĕəʾnuh ('person'), pronounced [mɔˈnuh], or more casually [məˈnuh].[37]: 10
Stress
Stress in Khmer falls on the final syllable of a word.[39] Because of this predictable pattern, stress is non-phonemic in Khmer (it does not distinguish different meanings).
Most Khmer words consist of either one or two syllables. In most native disyllabic words, the first syllable is a minor (fully unstressed) syllable. Such words have been described as sesquisyllabic (i.e. as having one-and-a-half syllables). There are also some disyllabic words in which the first syllable does not behave as a minor syllable, but takes secondary stress. Most such words are compounds, but some are single morphemes (generally loanwords). An example is ភាសា ('language'), pronounced [ˌpʰiəˈsaː].[37]: 10
Words with three or more syllables, if they are not compounds, are mostly loanwords, usually derived from Pali, Sanskrit, or more recently, French. They are nonetheless adapted to Khmer stress patterns.[40] Primary stress falls on the final syllable, with secondary stress on every second syllable from the end. Thus in a three-syllable word, the first syllable has secondary stress; in a four-syllable word, the second syllable has secondary stress; in a five-syllable word, the first and third syllables have secondary stress, and so on.[37]: 10–11 Long polysyllables are not often used in conversation.[17]: 12
Compounds, however, preserve the stress patterns of the constituent words. Thus សំបុកចាប, the name of a kind of cookie (literally 'bird's nest'), is pronounced [sɑmˌbok ˈcaːp], with secondary stress on the second rather than the first syllable, because it is composed of the words [sɑmˈbok] ('nest') and [caːp] ('bird').[40]
Phonation and tone
Khmer once had a phonation distinction in its vowels, but this now survives only in the most archaic dialect (Western Khmer).[5] The distinction arose historically when vowels after Old Khmer voiced consonants became breathy voiced and diphthongized; for example *kaa, *ɡaa became *kaa, *ɡe̤a. When consonant voicing was lost, the distinction was maintained by the vowel (*kaa, *ke̤a); later the phonation disappeared as well ([kaː], [kiə]).[30] These processes explain the origin of what are now called a-series and o-series consonants in the Khmer script.
Although most Cambodian dialects are not
Intonation
The intonation pattern of a typical Khmer declarative phrase is a steady rise throughout followed by an abrupt drop on the last syllable.[36]
- ខ្ញុំមិនចង់បានទេ [↗kʰɲom mɨn cɑŋ baːn | ↘teː] ('I don't want it')[36]
Other intonation contours signify a different type of phrase such as the "full doubt" interrogative, similar to yes–no questions in English. Full doubt interrogatives remain fairly even in tone throughout, but rise sharply towards the end.
- អ្នកចង់ទៅលេងសៀមរាបទេ [↗neaʔ caŋ | ↗tɨw leːŋ siəm riəp | ꜛteː] ('do you want to go to Siem Reap?')[36]
Exclamatory phrases follow the typical steadily rising pattern, but rise sharply on the last syllable instead of falling.[36]
- សៀវភៅនេះថ្លៃណាស់ [↗siəw pʰɨw nih | ↗tʰlaj | ꜛnah] ('this book is expensive!')[36]
Grammar
Khmer is primarily an
/loːk
you[RESP]
PN
nĕəʔ
you[FAM]
PN
pʰɗɑl
provide
VERB
cʰiəm
blood
NOUN
teaŋ
every
PTCL
ʔɑh
all
ADJ
trəw
must
AUX
tae
have to
INT
tɔtuəl
receive
VERB
nəw
OM
kaː
NMLZ
pinɨt
examine
VERB
riəŋ
shape
NOUN
kaːj
body
NOUN
nɨŋ
and
CNJ
pʰɗɑl
provide
VERB
nəw
OM
prɑʋɔət
history
NOUN
sokʰapʰiəp
health
ADJ
ciə
be
COP
mun
before
ADV
ciə
be
COP
sən/
first
ADV
'All blood donors must pass a physical examination and provide a health history first (before they can give blood).'
Morphology
Modern Khmer is an
Affix | Function | Word | Meaning | Affixed Word | Meaning |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
prefixed [pʰ] | causation | [ɗac] [ɗaəm] |
"broke, torn" "origin" |
[pʰɗac] [pʰɗaəm] |
"to tear apart" "to originate (trans.)" |
prefixed [rɔː] | derives adjectives nominalization |
[lut] [ɓaŋ] |
"to extinguish" "to hide" |
[rɔːlut] [rɔːɓaŋ] |
"extinguished" "a screen, shade" |
prefixed [prɑː] | reciprocity | [kʰam] [ɗouc] |
"to bite" "similar" |
[prɑːkʰam] [prɑːɗouc] |
"to bite each other" "to compare" |
prefixed [ɓɑm], [ɓɑn], [ɓɑŋ] | causation | [ɓaek] [ɗaə] [riən] |
"to break (intrans.)" "to walk" "to study, learn" |
[ɓɑmɓaek] [ɓɑnɗaə] [ɓɑŋriən] |
"to cause to break" "to take for a walk" "to teach" |
infixed [ɑm] | causation | [sʔaːt] [slap] |
"to be clean" "to die" |
[sɑmʔaːt] [sɑmlap] |
"to clean" "to kill" |
infixed [ɑm(n)], [um(n)] | nominalization | [ɗaə] [ɗəŋ] [cɨə] |
"to walk" "to know (something)" "to believe" |
[ɗɑmnaə] [ɗɑmnəŋ] [cumnɨə] |
"a trip" "information" "belief" |
Coordinate compounds:[37]: 296–297
[ʔəwpuk]
father
+
[mɗaːj]
mother
⇒
[ʔəwpuk.mɗaːj]
parents
[ɗək]
to transport
+
[nɔəm]
to bring
⇒
[ɗəknŏəm]
to lead
Repetitive compounds:[37]: 185–185
[cʰap]
fast
⇒
[cʰapcʰap]
very fast, quickly
[srəj]
women
⇒
[srəjsrəj]
women, women in general
Nouns and pronouns
Khmer
[cʰkae
dog
craən]
many
"many dogs"
[cʰkae
dog
piː]
two
"two dogs"
[cʰkae
dog
tʰom
large
tʰom]
large
'large dogs'
[kʰmawɗaj
pencil
piː
two
ɗaəm]
CLF [long cylindrical object]
"two pencils"
Possession is colloquially expressed by word order. The possessor is placed after the thing that is possessed.[43]: 160 Alternatively, in more complex sentences or when emphasis is required, a possessive construction using the word របស់ ([rɔːbɑh] ~ [lə.bɑh], "property, object") may be employed. In formal and literary contexts, the possessive particle នៃ ([nɨj]) is used:[37]: 358
[puəʔmaːʔ
friend
kʰɲom]
I
"my friend"
[puəʔmaːʔ
friend
rɔːɓɑh
property
kʰɲom]
I
"my friend"
[puəʔmaːʔ
friend
nɨj
of
kʰɲom]
I
"my friend"
Pronouns are subject to a complicated system of social register, the choice of pronoun depending on the perceived relationships between speaker, audience and referent (see Social registers below). Khmer exhibits pronoun avoidance, so kinship terms, nicknames and proper names are often used instead of pronouns (including for the first person) among intimates. Subject pronouns are frequently dropped in colloquial conversation.[47]
Adjectives, verbs and verb phrases may be made into nouns by the use of nominalization particles. Three of the more common particles used to create nouns are [kaː], [seckdəj], and [pʰiəp].[43]: 45–48 These particles are prefixed most often to verbs to form abstract nouns. The latter, derived from Sanskrit, also occurs as a suffix in fixed forms borrowed from Sanskrit and Pali such as [sokʰapʰiəp] ("health") from [sok] ("to be healthy").[40]
[kaː
NMLZ
rŭəhnɨw]
to live
'life'
[sec
NMLZ
kdəj deik]
to lie down
'[the act of] lying down'
Adjectives and adverbs
Adjectives, demonstratives and numerals follow the noun they modify. Adverbs likewise follow the verb. Morphologically, adjectives and adverbs are not distinguished, with many words often serving either function. Adjectives are also employed as verbs as Khmer sentences rarely use a copula.[37]
/srəj
girl
nuh
DEM
sʔaːt/
pretty
'That girl is pretty.'
/srəj
girl
nuh
DEM
sʔaːt
pretty
sʔaːt/
pretty
'That girl is very pretty.'
/srəj
girl
nuh
DEM
sʔaːt
pretty
nah/
very
'That girl is very pretty.'
Verbs
As is typical of most East Asian languages,
Khmer verbs are a relatively
/kʰɲom
I
ɲam
eat
ɓaj/
rice
"I eat rice."
/kʰɲom
I
tɨɲ
buy
ɓaːrəj/
cigarettes
"I buy cigarettes."
Intransitive verbs are verbs that can not be followed by an object:
/kʰɲom
I
ɗaə
walk
tɨw
DIR
pʰsaː/
market
"I walk to the market."
/ʔaɲcəɲ
to invite
ʔɑŋkuj/
to sit
"Please sit."
Adjectival verbs are a word class that has no equivalent in English. When modifying a noun or verb, they function as adjectives or adverbs, respectively, but they may also be used as main verbs equivalent to English "be + adjective".
- Adjective:
/proh
boy
sɑŋ.haː/
handsome
"handsome boy"
- Adverb:
/proh
boy
nuh
DEM
tʰʋəː kaː
to work
lʔɑː/
good
"That boy works well."
- Verb:
Syntax
A complete Khmer sentence consists of four basic elements—an optional topic, an optional subject, an obligatory predicate, and various adverbials and particles.[50] The topic and subject are noun phrases, predicates are verb phrases and another noun phrase acting as an object or verbal attribute often follows the predicate.[50]
Basic constituent order
When combining these noun and verb phrases into a sentence the order is typically SVO:
/kʰɲom
I
SBJ
ʔaoj
give
VERB
ceik
banana
OBJ
muəj
one
cɑmnuən/
bunch[CLF]
'I gave a bunch of bananas.'
When both a
/kʰɲom
I
SBJ
ʔaoj
give
VERB
ceik
banana
DO
cruːk
pig
IO
muəj
one
cɑmnuən/
bunch[CLF]
'I gave the pig a bunch of bananas.'[43]: 207
This ordering of objects can be changed and the meaning clarified with the inclusion of particles. The word /dɑl/, which normally means "to arrive" or "towards", can be used as a preposition meaning "to":
/kʰɲom
I
ʔaoj
give
ceik
banana
muəj
one
cɑmnuən
bunch[CLF]
dɑl
toward
cruːk/
pig
'I gave a bunch of bananas to the pigs.'[43]: 207
Alternatively, the indirect object could precede the direct object if the object-marking preposition /nəw/ were used:
/kʰɲom
I
ʔaoj
give
cruːk
pig
nəw
OM
ceik
banana
muəj
one
cɑmnuən/
bunch[CLF]
'I gave the pig a bunch of bananas.'[43]: 207
However, in spoken discourse OSV is possible when emphasizing the object in a
Noun phrase
The noun phrase in Khmer typically has the following structure:[37]: 50–51 [44]: 83
- Noun Phrase = (Honorific) Noun (Adjectival modifiers) (Numeral) (Classifier) (Demonstrative)
The elements in parentheses are optional. Honorifics are a class of words that serve to index the social status of the referent. Honorifics can be kinship terms or personal names, both of which are often used as first and second person pronouns, or specialized words such as /preah/ ('god') before royal and religious objects.[43]: 155 The most common demonstratives are /nih/ ('this, these') and /nuh/ ('that, those'). The word /ae nuh/ ('those over there') has a more distal or vague connotation.[40]
If the noun phrase contains a possessive adjective, it follows the noun and precedes the numeral. If a descriptive attribute co-occurs with a possessive, the possessive construction (/rɔbɑh/) is expected.[37]: 73
Some examples of typical Khmer noun phrases are:
ផ្ទះ
/ptĕəh
house
NOUN
ស្កឹមស្កៃ
skəm.skaj
high
ADJ
បី
bəj
three
NUM
បួន
buən
four
NUM
ខ្នង
kʰnɑːŋ
spine[CLF]
CLF
នេះ
nih/
these
DEM
'these three or four high houses'[43]: 142
ចេក
/ceːk
banana
NOUN
ទុំ
tum
ripe
ADJ
ពីរ
piː
two
NUM
ស្និត
snət
bunches[CLF]
CLF
នេះ
nih/
these
DEM
these two bunches of ripe bananas
ពួកម៉ាក
/puəʔmaʔ
friend
NOUN
ខ្ញុំ
kʰɲom
I
POSS
ពីរ
piː
two
NUM
នាក់
nĕə
person[CLF]
CLF
នេះ
nih/
these
DEM
these two friends of mine
ពួកម៉ាក
/puəʔmaʔ
friend
NOUN
តូច
touc
small
ADJ
របស់
rɔbɑh
of
POSS
ខ្ញុំ
kʰɲom
I
POSS
ពីរ
piː
two
NUM
នាក់
nĕə
person[CLF]
CLF
នេះ
nih/
these
DEM
these two small friends of mine[37]: 73
The Khmer particle /dɑː/ marked attributes in Old Khmer noun phrases and is used in formal and literary language to signify that what precedes is the noun and what follows is the attribute. Modern usage may carry the connotation of mild intensity.[43]: 163
/ʋiəl
field
srae
paddy
dɑː
ADJ.MARKER
lʋɨŋ lʋəːj/
vast
'(very) expansive fields and paddies'
Verb phrase
Khmer verbs are completely uninflected, and once a subject or topic has been introduced or is clear from context the noun phrase may be dropped. Thus, the simplest possible sentence in Khmer consists of a single verb. For example, /tɨw/ 'to go' on its own can mean "I'm going.", "He went.", "They've gone.", "Let's go.", etc.[37]: 17 This also results in long strings of verbs such as:
Khmer uses three verbs for what translates into English as the copula. The general copula is /ciə/; it is used to convey identity with nominal predicates.[43]: 212 For locative predicates, the copula is /nɨw/.[43]: 212 The verb /miən/ is the "existential" copula meaning "there is" or "there exists".[43]: 208
/piəsaː
language
ciə
copula
kaː
NMLZ
sɑmdaeŋ
to express
cət
heart
kumnɨt
thought
krŏəp
all
jaːŋ/
kind
'Language is the expression of all emotions and ideas'
/ʋiə
he
nɨw
copula
cɪt
close
ʋŏət/
temple
'He is close to the temple.'
/miən
to
pʰaen
exist
kaː/
plan
'There is a plan.'
Negation is achieved by putting មិន /mɨn/ before the verb and the particle ទេ /teː/ at the end of the sentence or clause. In colloquial speech, verbs can also be negated without the need for a final particle, by placing ឥត /ʔɑt/~/ʔət/ before them.[47]
/kʰɲom
I
cɨə/
to believe
'I believe.'
/kʰɲom
I
mɨn
NEG
cɨə
to believe
teː/
NEG
'I don't believe.'
/kʰɲom
I
ʔɑt
NEG
cɨə/
to believe
'I don't believe.'
Past tense can be conveyed by adverbs, such as "yesterday" or by the use of perfective particles such as /haəj/
/kŏət
he
tɨw
to go
msəlmɨɲ/
yesterday
'He went yesterday.'
Different senses of future action can also be expressed by the use of adverbs like "tomorrow" or by the future tense marker /nɨŋ/, which is placed immediately before the verb, or both:
Imperatives are often unmarked.[43]: 240 For example, in addition to the meanings given above, the "sentence" /tɨw/ can also mean "Go!". Various words and particles may be added to the verb to soften the command to varying degrees, including to the point of politeness (jussives):[43]: 240
/cou
IMP
saːk
try
lbɑːŋ
try
kʰluən
you
aeŋ
REFL
coh/
IMP
'Go ahead and try it yourself.'
/soum
please
tʰʋəː
do
taːm
follow
bɑndam
instruction
kŏət
he
tɨw/
IMP
'Please follow his instructions.'
Prohibitives take the form "/kom/ + verb" and also are often softened by the addition of the particle /ʔəj/ to the end of the phrase.[43]: 242
/kom
PROH
nɨw
to be
tiː
place
nih
DEM
ʔəj/
COHORT
'Don't stay in this place.'
Questions
There are three basic types of questions in Khmer. for questions.
/loːk
you
tɨw
to go
naː/
where
'Where are you going?'
/loːk
you
sdap
understand
baːn
modal
teː/
Q
'Can you understand?'
/loːk
you
tɨw
to go
psaː
market
haəj
PRF
rɨː
or
nɨw/
yet
'Have you gone to the store yet?'
In more formal contexts and in polite speech, questions are also marked at their beginning by the particle /taə/.
Passive voice
Khmer does not have a passive voice,[41] but there is a construction utilizing the main verb /trəw/ ("to hit", "to be correct", "to affect") as an auxiliary verb meaning "to be subject to" or "to undergo"—which results in sentences that are translated to English using the passive voice.[43]: 286–288
/piː
from
msəlmɨɲ
yesterday
kʰɲom
I
trəw
to undergo
cʰkae
dog
kʰam/
to bite
'Yesterday I was bitten by a dog.'[37]: 302
Clause syntax
Complex sentences are formed in Khmer by the addition of one or more
Relative clauses can be introduced by /dael/ ("that") but, similar to coordinate clauses, often simply follow the main clause. For example, both phrases below can mean "the hospital bed that has wheels".[43]: 313
/krɛː
bed
pɛːt
hospital
miən
have
kɑŋ
wheel
ruɲ/
to push
"the hospital bed that has wheels"
/krɛː
bed
pɛːt
hospital
dael
REL
miən
have
kɑŋ
wheel
ruɲ/
to push
"the hospital bed that has wheels"
Relative clauses are more likely to be introduced with /dael/ if they do not immediately follow the head noun.[43]: 314 Khmer subordinate conjunctions always precede a subordinate clause.[43]: 366 Subordinate conjunctions include words such as /prŭəh/ ("because"), /hak bəj/ ("seems as if") and /daəmbəj/ ("in order to").[37]: 251 [43]
Numerals
Counting in Khmer is based on a
The principal number words are listed in the following table, which gives Western and Khmer digits, Khmer spelling and IPA transcription.[45]
Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN | Value | Khmer | Word form | IPA | UNGEGN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
0 | ០ | សូន្យ | /soːn/ | sony | |||||
1 | ១ | មួយ | /muəj/ | muŏy | |||||
2 | ២ | ពីរ | /piː/ | pir | 20 | ២០ | ម្ភៃ | /mpʰɨj/, /məˈpʰɨj/ | mphey |
3 | ៣ | បី | /ɓəj/ | bei | 30 | ៣០ | សាមសិប | /saːmsəp/ | samsĕb |
4 | ៤ | បួន | /ɓuən/ | buŏn | 40 | ៤០ | សែសិប | /saesəp/ | sêsĕb |
5 | ៥ | ប្រាំ | /pram/ | brăm | 50 | ៥០ | ហាសិប | /haːsəp/ | hasĕb |
6 | ៦ | ប្រាំមូយ | /prammuəj/ | brămmuŏy | 60 | ៦០ | ហុកសិប | /hoksəp/ | hŏksĕb |
7 | ៧ | ប្រាំពីរ | /prampiː/, /prampɨl/ | brămpir | 70 | ៧០ | ចិតសិប | /cətsəp/ | chĕtsĕb |
8 | ៨ | ប្រាំបី | /pramɓəj/ | brămbei | 80 | ៨០ | ប៉ែតសិប | /paetsəp/ | pêtsĕb |
9 | ៩ | ប្រាំបួន | /pramɓuən/ | brămbuŏn | 90 | ៩០ | កៅសិប | /kawsəp/ | kausĕb |
10 | ១០ | ដប់ | /ɗɑp/ | dáb | 100 | ១០០ | មួយរយ | /muəjrɔːj/ | muŏyrôy |
Intermediate numbers are formed by compounding the above elements. Powers of ten are denoted by loan words: រយ rôy /rɔːj/ (100), ពាន់ poăn /pŏən/ (1,000), ម៉ឺន mœn /məːn/ (10,000), សែន sên /saen/ (100,000) and លាន léan /liən/ (1,000,000) from Thai and កោដិ kaôdĕ /kaot/ (10,000,000) from Sanskrit.[52]
Ordinal numbers are formed by placing the particle ទី ti /tiː/ before the corresponding cardinal number.[40]
Social registers
Khmer employs a system of registers in which the speaker must always be conscious of the social status of the person spoken to. The different registers, which include those used for common speech, polite speech, speaking to or about royals and speaking to or about monks, employ alternate verbs, names of body parts and pronouns. As an example, the word for "to eat" used between intimates or in reference to animals is /siː/. Used in polite reference to commoners, it is /ɲam/. When used of those of higher social status, it is /pisa/ or /tɔtuəl tiən/. For monks the word is /cʰan/ and for royals, /saoj/.[4] Another result is that the pronominal system is complex and full of honorific variations, just a few of which are shown in the table below.[40]
Situational usage | I/me | you | he/she/it | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Intimate or addressing an inferior | អញ | ânh | [ʔaɲ] | ឯង | êng | [ʔaeŋ] | វា | véa | [ʋiə] |
neutral | ខ្ញុំ | khnhŭm | [kʰɲom] | អ្នក | 'nâk | [neaʔ] | គេ | ké | [keː] |
Formal | យើងខ្ញុំ, ខ្ញុំបាទ | yeung khnhŭm, khnhŭm bat | [jəːŋ kʰɲom] [kʰɲom ɓaːt] |
លោក (or kinship term, title or rank) |
loŭk | [loːk] | គាត់ | koăt | [kɔət] |
Layperson to/about Buddhist clergy | ខ្ញុំព្រះករុណា | khnhŭm preăh kârŭna | [kʰɲom preah karunaː] | ព្រះតេជព្រះគុណ | preăh téch preăh kŭn | [preah ɗaec preah kun] | ព្រះអង្គ | preăh ângk | [preah ʔɑŋ] |
Buddhist clergy to layperson | អាត្មា, អាចក្តី | atma, ach kdei | [ʔatʰmaː], [ʔaːc kɗəj] | ញោមស្រី (to female) ញោមប្រុស (to male) |
nhoŭm srei (to female), nhoŭm brŏs (to male) | [ɲoːm srəj] (to female), [ɲoːm proh] (to male) | ឧបាសក (to male), ឧបាសិកា (to female) | ŭbasâk (to male), ŭbasĕka | [ʔuɓaːsɑk] [ʔuɓaːsekaː] |
when addressing royalty | ខ្ញុំព្រះបាទអម្ចាស់ or ទូលបង្គុំ (male), ខ្ញុំម្ចាស់ (female) | khnhŭm preăh bat âmchăs or tul bângkŭm (male), khnhŭm mchăs (female) | [kʰɲom preah ɓaːt ʔɑmcah] or [tuːl ɓɑŋkom] (male), [kʰɲom mcah] (female) | ព្រះករុណា | preăh kârŭna | [preah karunaː] | ទ្រង់ | tróng | [trɔŋ] |
Writing system
Khmer is written with the Khmer script, an abugida developed from the Pallava script of India before the 7th century when the first known inscription appeared.[53] Written left-to-right with vowel signs that can be placed after, before, above or below the consonant they follow, the Khmer script is similar in appearance and usage to Thai and Lao, both of which were based on the Khmer system. The Khmer script is also distantly related to the Mon–Burmese script.[53] Within Cambodia, literacy in the Khmer alphabet is estimated at 77.6%.[54]
Consonant symbols in Khmer are divided into two groups, or series. The first series carries the inherent vowel [ɑː] while the second series carries the inherent vowel [ɔː]. The Khmer names of the series, [akʰoːsaʔ] ('voiceless') and [kʰoːsaʔ] ('voiced'), respectively, indicate that the second series consonants were used to represent the voiced phonemes of Old Khmer. As the voicing of stops was lost, however, the contrast shifted to the phonation of the attached vowels, which, in turn, evolved into a simple difference of vowel quality, often by diphthongization.[30] This process has resulted in the Khmer alphabet having two symbols for most consonant phonemes and each vowel symbol having two possible readings, depending on the series of the initial consonant:[17]
ត + ា | = តា | [taː] | 'grandfather' |
ទ + ា | = ទា | [tiə] | 'duck' |
Examples
The following text is from Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Khmer | មនុស្សទាំងអស់កើតមកមានសេរីភាពនិងភាពស្មើៗគ្នាក្នុងសិទ្ធិ និងសេចក្ដីថ្លៃថ្នូរ ។ មនុស្សគ្រប់រូបសុទ្ធតែមានវិចារណញ្ញាណនិងសតិសម្បជញ្ញៈ ហើយត្រូវប្រព្រឹត្ដចំពោះគ្នាទៅវិញទៅមកក្នុងស្មារតីរាប់អានគ្នាជាបងប្អូន ។ |
---|---|
UNGEGN romanization |
Mônŭss teăng ás kaeut môk méan sériphéap nĭng phéap smaeu-smaeu knéa knŏng sĕtthĭ, nĭng séchâkdei thlaithnor. Mônŭss krôb rub sŏtth tê méan vĭcharônânhnhéan nĭng sâtĕsâmbâchônhnheă, haeuy trov brâprœ̆tt châmpŏăh knéa tŏu vĭnh tŏu môk knŏng smarôtei roăp an knéa chéa bâng b'on. |
IPA transcription |
/mɔnuh tĕaŋ ɑh kaət̚ mɔːk̚ miən seːrəjpʰiəp̚ nɨŋ pʰiəp̚ smaəsmaə kniə knoŋ sət̚ nɨŋ seːc̚k̚ɗəj tʰlaj tʰnou. mɔnuh krup̚ ruːp̚ sot̚ tae miən vicaːranaɲiən nɨŋ satəsampacŏəɲɲeaʔ haəj trouʋ prɑprɨt cɑmpŭəh kniə tɨw ʋɨɲ tɨw mɔːk̚ knoŋ smaːrɔːɗəj rŏəp̚ ʔaːn kniə ciə ɓɑːŋ pʔoun/. |
See also
- Hem Chieu
- Kambojan
- Khmer literature
- Romanization of Khmer
References and notes
- ^ a b Khmer at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024)
Northern Khmer at Ethnologue (27th ed., 2024) - ^ "National Council of Khmer Language". nckl.rac.gov.kh. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
- ^ Laurie Bauer, 2007, The Linguistics Student's Handbook, Edinburgh
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7286-0218-2.
- ^ a b c Diffloth, Gerard & Zide, Norman. Austroasiatic Languages Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ Thomas, David (1964). "A survey of Austroasiatic and Mon-Khmer comparative studies". The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 1: 149–163. Retrieved 19 June 2012.
- ^ a b Sidwell, Paul (2009a). The Austroasiatic Central Riverine Hypothesis. Keynote address, SEALS, XIX.
- ^ Diffloth, Gérard (2005). "The contribution of linguistic palaeontology and Austroasiatic". in Laurent Sagart, Roger Blench and Alicia Sanchez-Mazas, eds. The Peopling of East Asia: Putting Together Archaeology, Linguistics and Genetics. 77–80. London: Routledge Curzon.
- ISBN 0-85883-570-3
- ^ Central Khmer at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Northern Khmer at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
- ^ Sidwell, Paul (2006). "Khmer/Cambodian". Mon-Khmer.com. Australian National University. Archived from the original (lecture) on 2011-01-19. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-520-21349-4.
- (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ a b Sidwell, Paul (2009). Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 76. Munich: Lincom Europa.
- ^ Ferlus, Michel (1992). "Essai de phonétique historique du khmer (du milieu du premier millénaire de notre ère à l'époque actuelle)". Mon–Khmer Studies. 2 (6): 7–28.
- ^ ISBN 0-300-01314-0
- ^ Olivier, Bernon de (1988). Cholticha, Bamroongraks; Wilaiwan, Khanittanan; Laddawan, Permch (eds.). "Khmer of Surin: Lexical Remarks" (PDF). The International Symposium on Language and Linguistics. Bangkok, Thailand: Thammasat University: 258–262. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ Thomas, David (1990). "On the 'language' status of Northern Khmer". JLC. 9 (1): 98–106.
- ^ Phonetic variation of final trill and final palatals in Khmer dialects of Thailand Suwilai, Premsrirat; Mahidol University; Mon-Khmer Studies 24:1–26; pg 1
- ^ ISBN 978-0-226-76288-3.
- ^ Unrepresented Peoples and Nations Organization Khmer Krom Profile Retrieved 19 June 2012
- ^ Thach, Ngoc Minh. Monosyllablization in Kiengiang Khmer. University of Ho Chi Minh City.
- ^ Try, Tuon; Chambers, Marcus (2006). "Situation Analysis" (PDF). Stung Treng Province Cambodia, IUCN, MRC, UNDP: 45–46. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 20 January 2016.[permanent dead link]
- ^ a b Sak-Humphry, Channy. The Syntax of Nouns and Noun Phrases in Dated Pre-Angkorian Inscriptions. Mon Khmer Studies 22: 1–26.
- ^ a b Jacobs, Judith (1993). "The deliberate use of foreign vocabulary by the Khmer: changing fashions, methods, and sources" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on Jun 30, 2023.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8248-3298-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-0813309262.
- ^ a b Sasagawa, Hideo (2015). "The Establishment of the National Language in Twentieth-Century Cambodia: Debates on Orthography and Coinage" (PDF). Southeast Asian Studies. 4 (1). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d Minegishi, M (2006). "Khmer". In Keith Brown (ed.). Encyclopedia of Language and Linguistics (2 ed.). Elsevier. pp. 4981–4984.
- ^ Jacob, JM (2002). "The Structure of the Word in Old Khmer". In VI Braginskiĭ (ed.). Classical Civilizations of South-East Asia: Key Papers from SOAS. Routledge.
- ^ International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, OUP 2003, p. 356.
- ^ Minegishi, Makoto (1986). "On Takeo Dialects of Khmer: Phonology and World List" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- ^ Wayland, Ratree. "An Acoustic Study of Battambang Khmer Vowels." The Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 28. (1998): 43–62.
- ^ Jacob, Judith M (1976). "An Examination of the Vowels and final Consonants in Correspondences between pre-Angkor and modern Khmer" (PDF). Pacific Linguistics. 42 (19): 27–34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Phonetic and Phonological Analysis of Khmer" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-19. Retrieved 2012-02-21.
- ^ ISBN 978-0877275213.
- ^ Nacaskul, Karnchana (1978). "The syllabic and morphological structure of Cambodian words" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 7: 187. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ Schiller, Eric (1994). "Khmer Nominalizing and Causitivizing Infixes" (PDF). University of Chicago. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 2008-12-04.
- ^ ISBN 0-8132-0509-3
- ^ a b c Jacob, Judith M (1991). "A Diachronic Survey of some Khmer particles (7th to 17th centuries)" (PDF). Essays in Honour of HL Shorto. 1991: 193. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
- ^ Huffman, Franklin. 1967. An outline of Cambodian Grammar. PhD thesis, Cornell University.
- ^ ISBN 978-9027238160. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
- ^ ISBN 978-0197135563.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-415-10006-9.
- ^ Karnchana, Nacaskul (1978). "The syllabic and morphological structure of Cambodian words" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies Journal. 3: 183–200. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 October 2017. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- ^ ISBN 0-300-01315-9
- ^ East and Southeast Asian Languages: A First Look Archived 2012-11-20 at the Wayback Machine at Oxford University Press Online
- ISBN 978-9027276971.
- ^ a b Ehrman, Madeline Elizabeth; Kem, Sos; Lim, Hak Kheang (1974). Contemporary Cambodian: Grammatical Sketch. Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State.
- ^ Mori, K. (2007). Soichi, I. (ed.). "Khmer final particles phɔɔŋ & dae" (PDF). SEALS XIII Papers from the 13th Annual Meeting of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society 2003. Canberra, ACT: Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University: 139–149–6. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2022-10-09. Retrieved 6 February 2016.
- .
- ^ a b "Khmer Alphabet at Omniglot.com". Archived from the original on 2012-02-13. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
- ^ "United Nations in Cambodia "Celebration of International Literacy Day, 2011"". Archived from the original on 2011-10-27. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
Further reading
- Ferlus, Michel. (1992). Essai de phonétique historique du khmer (Du milieu du premier millénaire de notre ère à l'époque actuelle)", Mon–Khmer Studies XXI: 57–89)
- Headley, Robert and others. (1977). Cambodian-English Dictionary. Washington, Catholic University Press. ISBN 0-8132-0509-3
- Herington, Jennifer and Amy Ryan. (2013). Sociolinguistic Survey of the Khmer Khe in Cambodia Archived 2021-03-10 at the Wayback Machine. Chiang Mai: Linguistics Institute, Payap University.
- Huffman, F. E., Promchan, C., & Lambert, C.-R. T. (1970). Modern spoken Cambodian. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01315-9
- Huffman, F. E., Lambert, C.-R. T., & Im Proum. (1970). Cambodian system of writing and beginning reader with drills and glossary. Yale linguistic series. New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 0-300-01199-7
- Jacob, Judith. (1966). 'Some features of Khmer versification', in C. E. Bazell, J. C. Catford, M. A. K. Halliday, and R. H. Robins, eds., In Memory of J. R Firth, 227–41. London: Longman. [Includes discussion of the two series of syllables and their places in Khmer shymes]
- Jacob, Judith. (1974). A Concise Cambodian-English Dictionary. London, Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-713574-9
- Jacob, J. M. (1996). The traditional literature of Cambodia: a preliminary guide. London oriental series, v. 40. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-713612-5
- Jacob, J. M., & ISBN 0-7286-0218-0
- Keesee, A. P. K. (1996). An English-spoken Khmer dictionary: with romanized writing system, usage, and idioms, and notes on Khmer speech and grammar. London: Kegan Paul International. ISBN 0-7103-0514-1
- Meechan, M. (1992). Register in Khmer the laryngeal specification of pharyngeal expansion. Ottawa: National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada. ISBN 0-315-75016-2
- Sak-Humphry, C. (2002). Communicating in Khmer: an interactive intermediate level Khmer course. Manoa, Hawai'i: Center for Southeast Asian Studies, School of Hawaiian, Asian and Pacific Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa. OCLC: 56840636
- ISBN 0-415-10006-2
- Stewart, F., & May, S. (2004). In the shadow of Angkor: contemporary writing from Cambodia. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0-8248-2849-6
- Tonkin, D. (1991). The Cambodian alphabet: how to write the Khmer language. Bangkok: Trasvin Publications. ISBN 974-88670-2-1
External links
- Kheng.info—An online audio dictionary for learning Khmer, with thousands of native speaker recordings and text segmentation software.
- SEAlang Project: Mon–Khmer languages. The Khmeric Branch
- Khmer Swadesh vocabulary list (from Wiktionary's Swadesh-list appendix)
- Dictionary and SpellChecker open sourced and collaborative project based on Chuon Nath Khmer Dictionary
- How to install Khmer script on a Windows 7 computer
- How to install Khmer script on a Windows XP computer
- Khmer at UCLA Language Materials project
- Online Khmer & English dictionary
- Khmer Online Dictionaries
- Khmer audio lessons at Wikiotics
- http://unicode-table.com/en/sections/khmer/
- http://unicode-table.com/en/sections/khmer-symbols/