The Khmer or Cambodian language is spoken by approximately nine million people in Cambodia, and is understood by many in bordering countries. Written Khmer is based on the ancient Brahmi script of southern India. Arguably one of the oldest languages in Southeast Asia, Khmer inscriptions have been dated back to the 7th century AD. Although separate and distinct from its Thai, Lao and Burmese neighbours, Khmer shares with them the common roots of Sanskrit and Pali - a heritage of centuries of linguistic and cultural interaction and of their shared faith in Theravada Buddhism. More recently, many French words have entered the Khmer language during the colonial period, especially medical and technical terms.

Unlike the languages of neighbouring countries, Khmer is non tonal, meaning that there are no special intonations within words that alter their meaning. This may be a relief for travellers in the region who have been frustrated in their attempts at tonal languages such as Thai, Vietnamese and Lao. However, the lack of tones is easily offset by the complexity of the Khmer pro¬nunciation. There are 33 consonants, often paired in seemingly bizarre combinations, and some 24 vowels and diphthongs. Fur-ther complicating the language is the haphazard transliteration system left over from the days of French rule, which does not
reflect accurate pronunciation of Khmer words by English speakers.

On the positive side, Khmer grammar is very simple. There are no verb conjugations or gender inflections, no endings for single or plural, masculine or feminine. Adding a few words changes sentence tense to past, present or future.

A bit of Khmer will go a long way-no matter how rough it is. The Khmers sincerely appreciate any effort to learn their language and are very supportive of visitors who give it even a halfhearted try. You'll find that as your skill and vocabulary increase, so does your social standing: people go out of their way to compliment you, moto fares and prices at markets drop, and you may even win a few friends.

Though English is fast becoming Cambodia's second language, the Khmer still cling to the Francophone pronunciation of the Roman alphabet and most foreign words. This is helpful to remember when spelling Western words and names aloud; thus 'ay-bee-cee' becomes 'ah-bey-sey' and so on. French speakers will definitely have an advantage when addressing the older generation, as most educated Khmers studied French at some point during their schooling. Many household items retain their French names as well, especially those which were introduced to Cambodia by the French, such as robinet (tap, faucet) and ampoule (light bulb).
Recommend reading for those interested in further study of spoken and written Khmer are Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader, Modern Spoken Cambodian and any other books by Frank Huffman.

Dialects

Although the Khmer language as spoken in Phnom Penh is generally intelligible to Khmers nationwide, there are several distinct dialects in other areas of the country. Most notably, the Khmers of Takeo Province tend to modify or slur hard consonant/ vowel combinations, especially those that contain Y; thus bram (five) becomes pe-am, sraa (alcohol) becomes se-aa, and baraang (French/foreigner) becomes be-ang. In Siem Reap, sharp-eared travellers will notice a very Lao-sounding lilt to the local speech. Here, certain vowels are modified, such as poan (thousand), which becomes peuan, and kh'sia (pipe), which becomes kh'seua.

TRANSLITERATION

The transliteration system used in this chapter has been designed for basic com-munication rather than linguistic perfection. Several Khmer vowels, however, have no English equivalent, thus they can only be approximated by English spellings. Other words are written to convey the way they are pronounced and not necessarily according to the actual vowels used in the words. (Khmer place names in this book written in the Roman alphabet will follow their common or standard spellings.

PRONUNCIATION

The pronunciation guide below covers the trickier parts of the transliteration system used in this chapter. It uses the Roman alphabet to give the closest equivalent to the sounds of the Khmer language. The best way to improve your pronunciation is to listen carefully to native speakers.