Language

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia and spoken by the majority of the people though there are many regional dialects. Its origins came from the Indian languages Sanskrit and Pali. Over time, Khmer has been influenced by Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, French and English. Unlike Chinese, Thai and Vietnamese, Khmer is a non-tonal language, which, along with a simple grammar structure, makes it relatively easy to learn.

The Khmer script is comprised of 33 consonants and 23 vowels and is written from left to right without spaces between words. The vowels are written above, below or to either side of the consonant.  Unfortunately, the transliteration of Khmer into the Roman alphabet has been problematic and inconsistent mainly because many sounds in the Khmer language have no English equivalent.