អក្សរខ្មែរ៖ ភាពខុសគ្នារវាងកំណែនានា

អក្សរក្រមខ្មែរ;
ប្រភេទ	អាប៊ូហ្គីដា
ភាសា	ខ្មែរ
រយៈកាល	រ. ៦១១–បច្ចុប្បន្ន
ប្រព័ន្ធមេ	អក្ខរក្រមមូលស៊ីណៃ អក្ខរក្រមផ្វឹននីស៊ី អក្ខរក្រមអរ៉ម់ ព្រាហ្មី បល្លវៈ អក្សរក្រមខ្មែរ; ; ; ; ;
ប្រព័ន្ធកូន	ថៃ; លាវ
ប្រព័ន្ធបងប្អូន	មន; អក្សរកវី
អ.ប.អ.១៥៩២៤	Khmr, 355
ទិសសំណេរ	ពីឆ្វេងទៅស្ដាំ
ឈ្មោះក្លែងឯកក្រម	Khmer
ចន្លោះគម្លាតឯកក្រម	U+1780–U+17FF, ; U+19E0–U+19FF
	អត្ថបទនេះមាននិម្មិត្តសញ្ញាសំឡេងអ.ស.អ.។ ដោយគ្មានការបំលែងសមស្របជួយលោកអ្នកអាចមើលឃើញ សញ្ញាសួរ ប្រអប់ រឺ និមិត្តសញ្ញាផ្សេងទៀតជំនួសឱ្យតួអក្សរឯកក្រមវិញ។

មើលប្រវត្តិបានរហ័ស

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ខ្លឹមសារដែលបានលុបចោល ខ្លឹមសារដែលបានសរសេរបន្ថែម

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កំណែនៅ ម៉ោង១១:៤៣ ថ្ងៃអាទិត្យ ទី២០ ខែសីហា ឆ្នាំ២០២៣

អក្សរខ្មែរ ឬ អក្ខរក្រមខ្មែរ គឺជាអក្សរអាប៊ូហ្គូដា ប្រើសម្រាប់សរសេរភាសាខ្មែរ ដែលជាភាសាផ្លូវការរបស់កម្ពុជា ។ វាក៏ប្រើសម្រាប់សរសេរភាសាបាលីនៅពិធីបុណ្យព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនារបស់កម្ពុជានិងថៃផងដែរ។

វាត្រូវបានប្រែប្រួលពីស្គ្រីប Pallava ជាអក្ខរក្រមនៃហ្គ្រេនតាដែលបានមកពីអក្សរ Brahmi ដែលត្រូវបានគេប្រើនៅភាគខាងត្បូងប្រទេសឥណ្ឌានិងអាស៊ីអាគ្នេយ៍ក្នុងអំឡុងពេលសតវត្សទី ៥ និងទី ៦។ សិលាចារឹកចាស់ជាងគេ ដែលអាចកំណត់បានជាភាសាខ្មែរត្រូវបានរកឃើញនៅ ស្រុកអង្គរបុរី ខេត្តតាកែវនៅភាគខាងត្បូងរាជធានីភ្នំពេញ និងមានកាលបរិច្ឆេទចារក្នុងអំឡុងឆ្នាំ ៦១១។ បច្ចុប្បន្ន អក្សរខ្មែរសម័យទំនើបមានភាពខុសគ្នាពីទំរង់គំរូ ដែលគេរកឃើញនៅលើសិលាចារឹកនៃប្រាសាទអង្គរ។ អក្សរថៃ និងឡាវត្រូវបានកម្លាយចេញពីទំរង់ចាស់នៃអក្សរខ្មែរ។

ព្យញ្ជនៈ

ទោះបីជាអក្សរក្រមខ្មែរទំនើបប្រើតែ ៣៣ ព្យញ្ជនៈក៏ដោយ អក្សរខ្មែរមានព្យញ្ជនៈ ៣៥ តួ ដែល ២ ទៀតលែងប្រើទៀតហើយ។ រាល់ព្យញ្ជនៈនីមួយៗមាន សូរសម្លេងស្រះស្រាប់: សូរអ /ɑː/ សូរអ៊ /ɔː/សមមូលគ្នាពយនីមួយៗត្រូវបាននិយាយថាជាកម្មសិទ្ធិរបស់ស៊េរីមួយឬស៊េរី o ។ ស៊េរីព្យាង្គកំណត់ការបញ្ចេញសម្លេងនៃនិមិត្តសញ្ញាស្រៈស្រអាប់ដែលអាចភ្ជាប់ទៅវាហើយនៅក្នុងទីតាំងមួយចំនួនសម្លេងរបស់ស្រះដែលមានស្រាប់ត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញសម្លេងដោយខ្លួនឯង។ ស៊េរីទាំងពីរតំណាងដើមឡើយសំលេងឥតសំលេងនិងសំលេងដែលរៀងៗខ្លួន (ហើយនៅតែសំដៅទៅភាសាអង់គ្លេស) ។ ការផ្លាស់ប្តូរសម្លេងនៅកំឡុងសម័យកាលមជ្ឈឹមរងផលប៉ះពាល់ពីព្យាង្គដោយគ្មានសំលេងហើយការផ្លាស់ប្តូរទាំងនេះត្រូវបានរក្សាទុកទោះបីជាការបកប្រែជាភាសាខ្មែរបាត់បង់។

ព្យញ្ជនៈនីមួយៗដែលមានករណីលើកលែងមួយក៏មានទម្រង់អក្សរតូច។ ទាំងនេះក៏អាចត្រូវបានគេហៅថា "ឧបរងរង" ។ ឃ្លាជាភាសាខ្មែរគឺជើងអក្សរ cheung âksârមានន័យថា "ជើងនៃលិខិតមួយ" ។ ព្យញ្ជនៈ subscript ភាគច្រើនស្រដៀងទៅនឹងនិមិត្តសញ្ញាពហុន័យដែលត្រូវគ្នាប៉ុន្តែក្នុងសំណុំបែបបទតូចជាងនិងងាយស្រួលដែលអាចធ្វើទៅបានបើទោះបីជាមានករណីមួយចំនួនមិនដូចគ្នាក៏ដោយ។ ព្យញ្ជនៈក្តាររងច្រើនបំផុតត្រូវបានសរសេរដោយផ្ទាល់នៅក្រោមពយផ្សេងទៀតបើទោះបីជាអក្សរតូច r លេចឡើងនៅខាងឆ្វេងខណៈដែលមួយចំនួនទៀតមានធាតុកើនឡើងដែលលេចឡើងទៅខាងស្ដាំ។ អក្សរតូចៗត្រូវបានគេប្រើជាលាយលក្ខណសំយោគព្យញ្ជនៈ (ព្យញ្ជនៈអានបន្តបន្ទាប់ក្នុងពាក្យមួយគ្មានសំលេងស្រៈរវាងពួកគេ) ។ ចង្កោមជាភាសាខ្មែរតាមធម្មតាមានពន្យាពីរប៉ុន្តែទោះបីជាម្តងម្កាលនៅកណ្តាលពាក្យមួយនឹងមានបី។ ព្យញ្ជនៈដំបូងនៅក្នុងចង្កោមត្រូវបានគេសរសេរដោយប្រើនិមិត្តសញ្ញាសំភារៈសំខាន់ដោយទីពីរ (ទីបីនិងទីបីប្រសិនបើមាន) ភ្ជាប់ទៅវាតាមទំរង់តូចៗ។ អក្សរតូចៗត្រូវបានគេប្រើដើម្បីសរសេរព្យញ្ជនៈចុងក្រោយផងដែរ។ នៅក្នុងភាសាខ្មែរសម័យទំនើបនេះអាចត្រូវបានធ្វើរួចស្រេចទៅលើដោយប្រើពាក្យខ្លះដែលបញ្ចប់ដោយ -y ឬ - ដូចជាដូចជា aôy។

ពយនិងទម្រង់អក្សរតូចរបស់វាត្រូវបានរាយនៅក្នុងតារាងខាងក្រោម។ តម្លៃ phonetic ជាទូទៅត្រូវបានផ្តល់ដោយប្រើអក្ខរក្រមសូរស័ព្ទអន្ដរជាតិ (IPA); ការប្រែប្រួលត្រូវបានពិពណ៌នាខាងក្រោមតារាង។ ប្រព័ន្ធសម្លេងត្រូវបានពិពណ៌នាលំអិតនៅតាមសម្លេងខ្មែរ។ ឈ្មោះដែលនិយាយនៃតួអក្សរព្យញ្ជនៈនីមួយៗគឺតម្លៃរបស់វារួមគ្នាជាមួយស្រះដែលមានស្រាប់របស់វា។ ការសរសេរតាមសូរស័ព្ទត្រូវបានផ្តល់ឱ្យដោយប្រើប្រព័ន្ធ UNGEGN សម្រាប់ប្រព័ន្ធផ្សេងទៀតមើលឃើញភាសារ៉ូម៉ាំងខ្មែរ។

ព្យញ្ជនៈ	ជើងព្យញ្ជនៈ	Full value (with inherent vowel)		Consonant value
ព្យញ្ជនៈ	ជើងព្យញ្ជនៈ	IPA	UN	IPA	UN
ក	្ក	[kɑː]	kâ	[k]	k
ខ	្ខ	[kʰɑː]	khâ	[kʰ]	kh
គ	្គ	[kɔː]	kô	[k]	k
ឃ	្ឃ	[kʰɔː]	khô	[kʰ]	kh
ង	្ង	[ŋɔː]	ngô	[ŋ]	ng
ច	្ច	[tçɑː]	châ	[tç]	ch
ឆ	្ឆ	[tʃʰɑː]	chhâ	[tʃʰ]	chh
ជ	្ជ	[tçɔː]	chô	[tç]	ch
ឈ	្ឈ	[tʃʰɔː]	chhô	[tʃʰ]	chh
ញ	្ញ	[ɲɔː]	nhô	[ɲ]	nh
ដ	្ដ	[ɗɑː]	dâ	[ɗ]	d
ឋ	្ឋ	[tʰɑː]	thâ	[tʰ]	th
ឌ	្ឌ	[ɗɔː]	dô	[ɗ]	d
ឍ	្ឍ	[tʰɔː]	thô	[tʰ]	th
ណ	្ណ	[nɑː]	nâ	[n]	n
ត	្ត	[tɑː]	tâ	[t]	t
ថ	្ថ	[tʰɑː]	thâ	[tʰ]	th
ទ	្ទ	[tɔː]	tô	[t]	t
ធ	្ធ	[tʰɔː]	thô	[tʰ]	th
ន	្ន	[nɔː]	nô	[n]	n
ប	្ប	[ɓɑː]	bâ	[ɓ], [p]	b, p
ផ	្ផ	[pʰɑː]	phâ	[pʰ]	ph
ព	្ព	[pɔː]	pô	[p]	p
ភ	្ភ	[pʰɔː]	phô	[pʰ]	ph
ម	្ម	[mɔː]	mô	[m]	m
យ	្យ	[jɔː]	yô	[j]	y
រ	្រ	[rɔː]	rô	[r]	r
ល	្ល	[lɔː]	lô	[l]	l
វ	្វ	[ʋɔː]	vô	[ʋ]	v
ឝ	្ឝ	Obsolete; historically used for palatal s
ឞ	្ឞ	Obsolete; historically used for retroflex s
ស	្ស	[sɑː]	sâ	[s]	s
ហ	្ហ	[hɑː]	hâ	[h]	h
ឡ	none^[២]	[lɑː]	lâ	[l]	l
អ	្អ	[ʔɑː]	’â	[ʔ]	’

The letter bâ appears in somewhat modified form (e.g. បា) when combined with certain dependent vowels (see Ligkhatures).

The letter ញ nhô 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 that ដ dâ and ត tâ have the same subscript form. In initial clusters this subscript is always pronounced [d], but in medial positions it is [d] in some words and [t] in others.

The series ដ dâ, ឋ thâ, ឌ dô, ឍ thô, ណ nâ originally represented retroflex 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 of ន nô for convenience (all other nasal consonants are o-series).

បំរែបំរួលនៅក្នុងការបញ្ចេញសំឡេង

អក្សរសំបុតៈ (kh-, chh-, th-, ph-) ត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញជាមួយនឹងសេចក្តីប្រាថ្នាមុនពេលស្រៈមួយ។  វាក៏មានសេចក្តីប្រាថ្នាតិចជាមួយនឹងសម្លេង k, ch, t និង p មុនពេលពយមួយចំនួនប៉ុន្តែនេះគឺដោយមិនគិតពីថាតើវាត្រូវបានសរសេរដោយអក្សរដែលបង្ហាញពីសេចក្តីប្រាថ្នានោះទេ។

ពាក្យជាភាសាខ្មែរមិនអាចបញ្ចប់ដោយព្យញ្ជនៈលើសពីមួយទេដូច្នេះព្យញ្ជនៈក្រោមនៅចុងពាក្យ (ដែលបង្ហាញឡើងសម្រាប់ហេតុផល orthomatic) មិនត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញទេថ្វីបើវាអាចត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញនៅពេលពាក្យដូចគ្នាចាប់ផ្តើមបរិវេណ។

នៅក្នុងពាក្យខ្លះនិមិត្តសញ្ញាពហុវចនៈតែមួយតំណាងទាំងព្យញ្ចាចុងក្រោយនៃព្យាង្គមួយនិងព្យញ្ជនៈដំបូងនៃបន្ទាប់។

អក្សរ b b តំណាងតែɓមុនពេលស្រៈប៉ុណ្ណោះ។  នៅពេលចុងបញ្ចប់ឬបន្តដោយព្យញ្ជនៈអុហ្វសិតវាត្រូវបានគេសន្មតថា [p] (ហើយក្នុងករណីដែលវាត្រូវបានបន្តដោយព្យញ្ជនៈរងវាក៏ត្រូវបានសរសេរជារ៉ូម៉ាំងដែលមាននៅក្នុងប្រព័ន្ធអង្គការសហប្រជាជាតិ) ។  ចំពោះការកែប្រែទៅ p ដោយប្រើវណ្ណយុត្តិសូមមើលពយបន្ថែម។  អក្សរដែលតំណាងឱ្យ / p / នៅក្នុងស្គ្រីបសូចនាករក៏តែងតែរក្សាទុកសំឡេង [p] នៅក្នុងពាក្យជាក់លាក់ដែលខ្ចីពីសំស្ក្រឹតនិងប៉ាលី។

អក្សរ d d និងដុដូត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញនៅពេល [ចុងក្រោយ] ។  អក្សរតូចត្រូវបានគេបញ្ចេញសម្លេងពី [d] នៅទីតាំងដើមក្នុងចុងបញ្ចប់នៃព្យាង្គទន់ដោយច្រមុះ។

នៅចុងបញ្ចប់អក្សរដែលតំណាងឱ្យសំឡេង [k] (k-, kh-) ត្រូវបានគេសំគាល់ថាជាចំនុច Glottal stop [ʔ] បន្ទាប់ពីស្រៈ [ɑː] [aː] [iə] [ɨə] [uə]  [អ។ ], [ĕ], [θ] ។  លិខិតស្នើរដិបរដុបនៅស្ងៀមនៅពេលដែលវគ្គផ្តាច់ព្រ័ត្រ (នៅក្នុងគ្រាមភាសាភាគច្រើនមើលភាសាខ្មែរភាគខាងជើង) ។  អក្សរ s s នៅពេលដែលត្រូវបានបញ្ចេញសម្លេង / h / (ដែលស្ថិតនៅទីតាំងនេះ [ç]) ។

ព្យញ្ជនៈបន្ថែមកែប្រែ

ប្រព័ន្ធសរសេរអក្សរខ្មែររួមបញ្ចូលពន្យាបន្ថែមដែលប្រើក្នុងពាក្យកម្ចីមួយចំនួនជាពិសេសពីភាសាបារាំងនិងថៃ។ ទាំងនេះភាគច្រើនតំណាងឱ្យសំឡេងដែលមិនកើតឡើងនៅក្នុងពាក្យដើមកំណើតឬសម្រាប់អក្សរដើមដែលត្រូវបានដាក់កម្រិតទៅមួយនៃស៊េរីស្រៈពីរ។ ភាគច្រើននៃពួកគេគឺជា digraphs, បង្កើតឡើងដោយជង់ អក្សរតូចក្រោមអក្សរហហ, ដោយមានដឺក្រេដឺក្រេបន្ថែមទៀតប្រសិនបើបានទាមទារដើម្បីផ្លាស់ប្តូរ ស្រៈជាប់នឹង ž ។ តួអង្គសម្រាប់pâ, ទោះជាយ៉ាងណាត្រូវបានបង្កើតឡើងដោយការដាក់ musĕkâtônd ("ធ្មេញកណ្តុរ") វណ្ណយុត្តិលើតួអក្សរ Bâ។

ព្យញ្ជនៈបន្ថែម	បរិយាយ	Full value (with inherent vowel)		Consonant value		Notes
ព្យញ្ជនៈបន្ថែម	បរិយាយ	IPA	UN^{[ត្រូវការអំណះអំណាង]}	IPA	UN^{[ត្រូវការអំណះអំណាង]}	Notes
ហ្គ	hâ + kô	[gɑː]	gâ	[g]	g	Example: ហ្គាស, [gas] ('gas')
ហ្គ៊	hâ + kô + diacritic	[gɔː]	gô	[g]	g
ហ្ន	hâ + nô	[nɑː]	nâ	[n]	n	Example: ហ្នាំង or ហ្ន័ង, [naŋ] ('shadow play' from Thai: หนัง)
ប៉	bâ + diacritic	[pɑː]	pâ	[p]	p	Example: ប៉ាក់, [pak] (to 'embroider'), ប៉័ង, [paŋ] ('bread')
ហ្ម	hâ + mô	[mɑː]	mâ	[m]	m	Example: គ្រូហ្ម, [kruː mɑː] ('shaman', from Thai: หมอ)
ហ្ល	hâ + lô	[lɑː]	lâ	[l]	l	Example: ហ្លួង, [luəŋ] ('king', from Thai: หลวง)
ហ្វ	hâ + vô	[fɑː], [ʋɑː]	fâ, vâ	[f], [ʋ]	f, v	Pronounced [ʋ] in ហ្វង់, [ʋɑŋ] ('clear') and [f] in កាហ្វេ, [kaafeɛ] ('coffee')
ហ្វ៊	hâ + vô + diacritic	[fɔː], [ʋɔː]	fô, vô	[f], [ʋ]	f, v	Example: ហ្វ៊ីល, [fiːl] ('film')
ហ្ស	hâ + sâ	[ʒɑː], [zɑː]	žâ, zâ	[ʒ], [z]	ž, z	Example: ហ្សាស, [ʒas] ('jazz')
ហ្ស៊	hâ + sâ + diacritic	[ʒɔː], [zɔː]	žô, zô	[ʒ], [z]	ž, z	Example: ហ្ស៊ីប, [ʒiːp] ('jeep')

ស្រះពេញតួ

Most Khmer vowel sounds are written using dependent, or diacritical, vowel symbols, known in Khmer as ស្រៈនិស្ស័យ srăk nissăy or ស្រៈផ្សំ srăk 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 in weak 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 and fricatives are dominant over sonorants. 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 also ហ្ hâ) 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 an ellipse as a dummy consonant symbol, and in combination with the a-series letter អ ’â. The IPA values given are representative of dialects from the northwest and central plains regions, specifically from the Battambang area, upon which Standard Khmer is based. Vowel pronunciation varies widely in other dialects such as Northern Khmer, where diphthongs are leveled, and Western Khmer, in which breathy voice and modal voice phonations are still contrastive.

ស្រះពេញតួ	ឧទាហរណ៍	IPA^[៣]		UN		Notes
ស្រះពេញតួ	ឧទាហរណ៍	a-series	o-series	a-series	o-series	Notes
(none)	អ	[ɑː]	[ɔː]	â	ô	See Modification by diacritics and Consonants with no dependent vowel.
ា	អា	[aː]	[iə]	a	éa	See Modification by diacritics.
ិ	អិ	[ə], [e]	[ɨ], [i]	ĕ	ĭ	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 យ yô to sound [iː]. (See also Modification by diacritics.)
ី	អី	[əj]	[iː]	ei	i
ឹ	អឹ	[ə]	[œ]	œ̆
ឺ	អឺ	[əː]	[œː]	œ
ុ	អុ	[o]	[u]	ŏ	m	See Modification 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 តុ tŏk ("table") (but the vowel is silent when final in certain words).
ូ	អូ	[ou]	[uː]	o	u	Becomes [əw]/[ɨw] before a final វ vô.
ួ	អួ	[uə]		uŏ
ើ	អើ	[aə]	[əː]	aeu	eu	See Modification by diacritics.
ឿ	អឿ	[ɨə]		œă
ៀ	អៀ	[iə]		iĕ
េ	អេ	[ei]	[eː]	é		Becomes [ə]/[ɨ] before palatals (or in the a-series, [a] before [c] in some words). Pronounced [ae]/[ɛː] in some words. See also Modification by diacritics.
ែ	អែ	[ae]	[ɛː]	ê		See Modification by diacritics.
ៃ	អៃ	[aj]	[ɨj]	ai	ey
ោ	អោ	[ao]	[oː]	aô	oŭ	See Modification by diacritics.
ៅ	អៅ	[aw]	[ɨw]	au	ŏu

Modification by diacritics

The addition of some of the Khmer diacritics can modify the length and value of inherent or dependent vowels.

The following table shows combinations with the nĭkkôhĕt and reăhmŭkh diacritics, representing final [m] and [h]. They are shown with the a-series consonant អ ’â.

Combination	IPA		UN		Notes
Combination	a-series	o-series	a-series	o-series	Notes
អុំ	[om]	[um]	oŭ	ŭm
អំ	[ɑm]	[um]	âm	um	The word ធំ "big" is pronounced [tʰom] (but [tʰum] in some dialects).
អាំ	[am]	[ŏəm]	ăm	ŏâm	When followed by ង ngô, becomes [aŋ]/[eəŋ] ăng/eăng.
អះ	[aʰ]	[ĕəʰ]	ăh	eăh
អិះ	[eʰ]	[iʰ]	ĕh	ĭh
អុះ	[oʰ]	[uʰ]	ŏh	ŭh
អេះ	[eʰ]	[iʰ]	éh
អោះ	[ɑʰ]	[ŭəʰ]	aôh	ŏăh	The word នោះ "that" is 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 the reăhmŭkh are អើះ (or អឹះ), pronounced [əh], and អែះ, pronounced [eh]. The word ចា៎ះ "yes" (used by women) is pronounced [caːh].

The bântăk (a small vertical line written over the final consonant of a syllable) has the following effects:

in a syllable with inherent â, the vowel is shortened to [ɑ], UN transcription á
in a syllable with inherent ô, the vowel is modified to [u] before a final labial, otherwise usually to [ŏə]; UN transcription ó
in a syllable with the a dependent vowel symbol () in the a-series, the vowel is shortened to [a], UN transcription ă
in a syllable with that vowel symbol in the o-series, the vowel is modified to [ŏə], UN transcription oă, or to [ĕə] eă before k, ng, h

The sanhyoŭk sannha is equivalent to the a dependent vowel with the bântăk. However, its o-series pronunciation becomes [ɨ] before final y, and [ɔə] before final (silent) r.

The yŭkôleăkpĭntŭ (pair of dots) represents [a] (a-series) or [ĕə] (o-series), followed by a glottal stop.

Consonants with no dependent vowel

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 a weak 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 the bantak 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 word ចង ("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 a bântăk 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 as សព្វ [sɑp] "every"), although in most such words it is the bântăk-reduced form of the vowel a that is heard, as in សព្ទ [sap] "noise". The word អ្នក "you, person" has the highly irregular pronunciation [nĕəʔ].

Consonants written as the final letter of word usually represent a word-final sound and are pronounced without any following vowel and, in the case of stops, with no audible release as in the examples above. However, in some words adopted from Pali and Sanskrit, 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 by ាក់. For example, according to rules for native Khmer words, សុភ ("good", "clean", "beautiful") would appear to be a single syllable, but, being derived from Pali subha, it is pronounced /soʔ pʰĕəʔ/.

Ligatures

Most consonants, including a few of the subscripts, form ligatures with the vowel a () and with all other dependent vowels that contain the same cane-like symbol. Most of these ligatures are easily recognizable; however, a few may not be, particularly those involving the letter ប bâ. This combines with the a vowel in the form បា, created to differentiate it from the consonant symbol ហ hâ and also from the ligature for ច châ with a (ចា).

Some more examples of ligatured symbols follow:

: bau /ɓaw/ Another example with ប bâ, forming a similar ligature to that described above. Here the vowel is not a itself, but another vowel (au) which contains the cane-like stroke of that vowel as a graphical element.

: chba /cɓaː/ Subscript consonants with ascending strokes above the baseline also form ligatures with the a vowel symbol.

: msau /msaw/ Another example of a subscript consonant forming a ligature, this time with the vowel au.

: tra /traː/ The subscript for រ rô is written to the left of the main consonant, in this case ត tâ, which here forms a ligature with a.

Independent vowels

Independent vowels are non-diacritical vowel characters that stand alone (i.e. without being attached to a consonant symbol). In Khmer they are called ស្រៈពេញតួ srăk pénhtuŏ, which means "complete vowels". They are used in some words to represent certain combinations of a vowel with an initial glottal stop or liquid. 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.^[៣] However, a few words in which they occur are used quite frequently; these include: ឥឡូវ [ʔəjləw] "now", ឪពុក [ʔəwpuk] "father", ឬ [rɨː] "or", ឮ [lɨː] "hear", ឲ្យ [ʔaoj] "give, let", ឯង [ʔaeŋ] "oneself, I, you", ឯណា [ʔaenaː] "where".

Independent vowel	IPA	UN
ឥ	[ʔə], [ʔɨ], [ʔəj]	ĕ
ឦ	[ʔəj]	ei
ឧ	[ʔo], [ʔu], [ʔao]	ŏ, ŭ
ឨ	Obsolete (equivalent to the sequence ឧក)^[៤]
ឩ	[ʔou], [ʔuː]	not given (ou in GD system)
ឪ	[ʔəw]	âu
ឫ	[ra~ru]	rœ̆
ឬ	[raː~ruː]	rœ
ឭ	[la~lu]	lœ̆
ឮ	[laː~luː]	lœ
ឯ	[ʔae], [ʔɛː], [ʔeː]	ê
ឰ	[ʔaj]	ai
ឱ, ឲ	[ʔao]	aô
ឳ	[ʔaw]	au

Independent vowel letters are named similarly to the dependent vowels, with the word ស្រៈ srăk [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 called [sraʔ ʔeʔ].^[៥]

Diacritics

The Khmer writing system contains several diacritics, used to indicate further modifications in pronunciation.

Diacritic	Khmer name	Function
ំ	និគ្គហិត nĭkkôhĕt	The Pali niggahīta, related to the anusvara. A small circle written over a consonant or a following dependent vowel, it nasalizes the inherent or dependent vowel, with the addition of [m]; long vowels are also shortened. For details see Modification by diacritics.
ះ	រះមុខ reăhmŭkh "shining face"	Related to the visarga. A pair of small circles written after a consonant or a following dependent vowel, it modifies and adds final aspiration /h/ to the inherent or dependent vowel. For details see Modification by diacritics.
ៈ	យុគលពិន្ទុ yŭkôleăkpĭntŭ	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. See Modification by diacritics.
៉	មូសិកទន្ត musĕkâtônd "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 with ប bâ to convert it to a p sound (see Supplementary consonants).
៊	ត្រីសព្ទ treisâpt	A wavy line, written above a consonant, used to convert some a-series consonants (ស ហ ប អ) to o-series.
ុ	ក្បៀសក្រោម kbiĕh kraôm	Also known as បុកជើង bŏkcheung ("collision foot"); a vertical line written under a consonant, used in place of the diacritics treisâpt and musĕkâtônd when they would be impeded by superscript vowels.
់	បន្តក់ bântăk	A small vertical line written over the last consonant of a syllable, indicating shortening (and corresponding change in quality) of certain vowels. See Modification by diacritics.
៌	របាទ rôbat រេផៈ répheăk	This superscript diacritic occurs in Sanskrit loanwords and corresponds to the Devanagari diacritic repha. It originally represented an r sound (and is romanized as r in the UN system). Now, in most cases, the consonant above which it appears, and the diacritic itself, are unpronounced. Examples: ធម៌ /tʰɔː/ ("dharma"), កាណ៌ /kaː/ (from karṇa), សួគ៌ា /suǝrkie ~ suǝkie/ ("Svarga").
៍	ទណ្ឌឃាដ tôndâkhéat	Written over a final consonant to indicate that it is unpronounced. (Such unpronounced letters are still romanized in the UN system.)
៎	កាកបាទ kakâbat	Also known as a "crow's foot", used in writing to indicate the rising intonation of an exclamation or interjection; often placed on particles such as /na/, /nɑː/, /nɛː/, /ʋəːj/, and on ចា៎ះ /caːh/, a word for "yes" used by females.
៏	អស្តា âsda "number eight"	Used in a few words to show that a consonant with no dependent vowel is to be pronounced with its inherent vowel, rather than as a final consonant.
័	សំយោគសញ្ញា sanhyoŭk sannha	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; see Modification by diacritics.
៑	វិរាម vĭréam	A mostly obsolete diacritic, corresponding to the virama, which suppresses a consonant's inherent vowel.

Dictionary order

For the purpose of dictionary ordering^[៦] 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 the consonants and of the dependent 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 four configurations with diacritics exemplified in the syllables អុំ 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 the reăhmŭkh diacritic are ordered as if that diacritic were a final consonant coming after all other consonants. Words with the bântăk and sanhyoŭk sannha 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 an independent vowel whose sound begins with a glottal stop follow after words spelled with the equivalent combination of អ ’â plus dependent vowel. Words spelled with an independent vowel whose sound begins [r] or [l] follow after all words beginning with the consonants រ rô and ល lô 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. ^{[សង្ស័យ – ពិភាក្សា]} ^{[citation needed]} However, words spelled with ប៉ (a bâ converted to a p sound by a diacritic) follow all words with unmodified ប bâ (without diacritic and without subscript). ^{[សង្ស័យ – ពិភាក្សា]}

^{[citation needed]} Sometimes words in which ប is pronounced p are ordered as if the letter were written ប៉..

លេខ

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-style Arabic numerals are also used, but to a lesser extent.

លេខខ្មែរ	០	១	២	៣	៤	៥	៦	៧	៨	៩
លេខអារ៉ាប់	0	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9

In large numbers, groups of three digits are delimited with Western-style periods. The decimal point is represented by a comma. The Cambodian currency, the riel, is abbreviated using the symbol ៛ or simply the letter រ rô.

Spacing and punctuation

Spaces are not used between all words in written Khmer. Spaces are used within sentences in roughly the same places as commas might be in English, although they may also serve to set off certain items such as numbers and proper names.

Western-style punctuation marks are quite commonly used in modern Khmer writing, including French-style guillemets for quotation marks. However, traditional Khmer punctuation marks are also used; some of these are described in the following table.

Mark	Khmer name	Function
។	ខណ្ឌ khăn	Used as a period (the sign resembles an eighth rest in music writing). However, consecutive sentences on the same theme are often separated only by spaces.
៘	ល៉ៈ lăk	Equivalent to etc.
ៗ	លេខទោ lékhtoŭ ("figure two")	Duplication sign (similar in form to the Khmer numeral for 2). It indicates that the preceding word or phrase is to be repeated (duplicated), a common feature in Khmer syntax.
៕	បរិយោសាន bâriyaôsan	A period used to end an entire text or a chapter.
៚	គោមូត្រ koŭmot ("cow urine")	A period used at the end of poetic or religious texts.
៙	ភ្នែកមាន់ phnêkmoăn ("cock's eye")	A symbol (said to represent the elephant trunk of Ganesha) used at the start of poetic or religious texts.
៖	ចំណុចពីរគូស châmnŏch pi kus "two dots (and a) line"	Used similarly to a colon. (The middle line distinguishes this sign from a diacritic.)

A hyphen (Khmer name សហសញ្ញា sâhâ sânhnha) 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, for example, between numbers to denote ranges or dates. Particular uses of Western-style periods include grouping of digits in large numbers (see Numerals hereinbefore) and denotation of abbreviations.

Styles

Several styles of Khmer writing are used for varying purposes. The two main styles are âksâr chriĕng (literally "slanted script") and âksâr mul ("round script").

Âksâr chriĕng (អក្សរជ្រៀង) refers to oblique letters. Entire bodies of text such as novels and other publications may be produced in âksâr chriĕng. Unlike in written English, oblique lettering does not represent any grammatical differences such as emphasis or quotation. Handwritten Khmer is often written in the oblique style.
Âksâr chhôr (អក្សរឈរ) or Âksâr tráng (អក្សរត្រង់) refers to upright or 'standing' letters, as opposed to oblique letters. Most modern Khmer typefaces are designed in this manner instead of being oblique, as text can be italicized by way of word processor commands and other computer applications to represent the oblique manner of âksâr chriĕng.
Âksâr khâm (អក្សរខម) is a style used in Pali palm-leaf manuscripts. It is characterized by sharper serifs and angles and retainment of some antique characteristics; notably in the consonant kâ (ក). This style is also for yantra tattoos and yantras on cloth, paper, or engravings on brass plates in Cambodia as well as in Thailand.
Âksâr mul (អក្សរមូល) is calligraphical style similar to âksâr khâm as it also retains some characters reminiscent of antique Khmer script. Its name in Khmer, lit. 'round script', refers to the bold and thick lettering style. It is used for titles and headings in Cambodian documents, books, or currency, on shop signs or banners. It is sometimes used to emphasize royal names or other important nouns with the surrounding text in a different style.

យូនីកូដ

The basic Khmer block was added to the Unicode 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, called Khmer Symbols, containing 32 signs used for writing lunar dates.

The Unicode block for basic Khmer characters is U+1780–U+17FF:

The first 35 characters are the consonant 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 consonant អ, written alone or with the a vowel). These are followed by the 15 independent 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 16 dependent vowel signs and the 12 diacritics (excluding the kbiĕh kraôm, which is identical in form to the ŏ 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, called ជើង ceung, 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 the punctuation marks listed hereinbefore; these are followed by the riel currency symbol, a rare sign corresponding to the Sanskrit avagraha, and a mostly obsolete version of the vĭréam diacritic. The U+17Ex series contains the Khmer numerals, and the U+17Fx series contains variants of the numerals used in divination lore.

The block with additional lunar date symbols is U+19E0–U+19FF:

The symbols at U+19E0 and U+19F0 represent the first and second "eighth month" in a lunar year containing a leap-month (see Khmer 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.

Notes

↑ Herbert, Patricia; Anthony Crothers Milner (1989). South-East Asia: languages and literatures : a select guide. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 51–52. ល.ស.ប.អ. 0-8248-1267-0.
↑ The letter ឡ lâ has no subscript form in standard orthography, but some fonts include one, as a form to be rendered if the character appears after the Khmer subscripting character (see under Unicode).
↑ ^៣,០ ^៣,១ Huffman, Franklin. 1970.
↑ Official Unicode Consortium code chart for Khmer (PDF)
↑ Huffman (1970), p. 29.
↑ Different dictionaries use slightly different orderings; the system presented here is that used in the official Cambodian Dictionary, as described by Huffman (1970), p. 305.

ឯកសារយោង

Dictionnaire Cambodgien, Vol I & II, 1967, L'institut Bouddhique (Khmer Language)
Jacob, Judith. 1974. A Concise Cambodian-English Dictionary. London, Oxford University Press.

តំណភ្ជាប់ អក្សរខ្មែរ

[1] Herbert, Patricia; Anthony Crothers Milner (1989). South-East Asia: languages and literatures : a select guide. University of Hawaii Press. pp. 51–52. ល.ស.ប.អ. 0-8248-1267-0.

[2] The letter ឡ lâ has no subscript form in standard orthography, but some fonts include one, as a form to be rendered if the character appears after the Khmer subscripting character (see under Unicode).

[Huffman-3] ៣,០ ^៣,១ Huffman, Franklin. 1970.

[Unicode-4] Official Unicode Consortium code chart for Khmer (PDF)

[5] Huffman (1970), p. 29.

[6] Different dictionaries use slightly different orderings; the system presented here is that used in the official Cambodian Dictionary, as described by Huffman (1970), p. 305.

[១]

[២]

[៣]

[៤]

[៥]

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