Khmer , or Cambodian, is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. One of the more prominent Austroasiatic languages with speakers in the tens of millions, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language. Khmer has been considerably influenced by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through the vehicles of Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the Mon-Khmer family, predating Mon and by a significant margin Vietnamese. As a result of geographic proximity, the Khmer language has affected, and also been affected by, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese and Cham which all form a sprachbund in peninsular Southeast Asia.
Khmer has its own script, an abugida known in Khmer as Aksar Khmer.
Khmer differs from neighboring languages such as Thai, Lao and Vietnamese in that it is not a tonal language. All its main dialects that are mutually intelligible:
* Battambang, spoken in northern Cambodia.
* Phnom Penh, the capital dialect and is also spoken in surrounding provinces.
* Northern Khmer, also known as Khmer Surin, spoken by ethnic Khmer native to Northeast Thailand
* Khmer Krom or Southern Khmer, spoken by the indigenous Khmer population of the Mekong Delta.
* Cardamom Khmer, an archaic form spoken by a small population in the Cardamom Mountains of western Cambodia.
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Following Duch’s verdict and sentencing, issued Monday, the EU immediately announced a contribution of $2.6 million to the tribunal.
Preah Vihear temple remains at the center of an ongoing border dispute between Cambodia and Thailand.
Thailand has re-raised objections to the World Heritage status of Preah Vihear temple on the northern border.
More than 70 percent of the 10,000 people living in this commune, Koh Chi Verng, are fishermen.
Duch was the first to be tried under the new court, which formed in 2006 after years of wrangling between the government and the UN.
Victims of the Khmer Rouge say they should be granted more compensation than was handed over by the Khmer Rouge tribunal on Monday.
All the performances will match the dual influences of both Buddhism and Hinduism in the “Gods of Angkor” exhibition.
Just more than 10 percent of Cambodian high schoolers graduate, according to statistics at the forum.
During his 77-day proceedings, Duch admitted to heading Toul Sleng, a top secret detention centre for the worst "enemies" of the state.
While the Freer and Sackler galleries showcase rare Khmer bronzes in an ongoing exhibition, traditional Khmer silks are also on display.
A pagoda that was at the center of a peeping-tom scandal has reopened in Phnom Penh, but it has seen few worshippers.
The US only recently restarted direct aid to Cambodia, following a withdrawal after the 1997 coup.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court ordered the National Assembly to take approximately 4.2 million riel, or $2,000, from her paycheck.
Adhoc investigators say at least 26 prisoners have died across the country in the first six months of the year.
The 93-minute film has won 16 awards in the US and other foreign countries, including the Special Jury Prize at Sundance.
Suon Bun Rith is now at a summer fellowship program at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington.
Cambodia has a widespread problem with illnesses related to diarrhea, which include infections from parasites and microbes.
A trial is expected in March 2011.
Sex workers are facing unlawful arrests and abuse by police and other authorities in government detention, says Human Rights Watch.
The UN-backed court is expected to release the verdict on July 26, following court proceedings that began in March 2009.
Strauss-Kahn also advised increasing trade within Asian countries, so as not to rely on the West for consumers.
Hun Sen promised to be the leader of the country in both 2013 and 2018 general elections.
The meeting was to discuss a draft law to bolster protections against pesticides and other dangerous chemicals.
Earlier this month, the newspaper ran a story to mark the July 5 anniversary of the 1997 coup.
The Youth Resource Development Program hopes to improve students, to make them better thinkers and more attractive in the job market.
In Geneva, Pillay’s spokesman, Rupert Colville, said the verdict was not warranted.
The IMF predicts Asia will become the largest economic region in the world over the next two decades.
Officials now say the images he took are moving from person to person via their cell phones and Bluetooth technology.
About 200 guests from the US State Department, Cambodian diplomatic corps, US government agencies and Congress joined the dinner.
The exchange is also wrestling with which currency to use—dollar or riel.
The Khmer alphabet is descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India by way of the Pallava script, which was used in southern India and South East Asia during the 5th and 6th Centuries AD. The oldest dated inscription in Khmer, found at Angkor Borei in Takev Province south of Phnom Penh, dates from 611 AD.
The Khmer alphabet closely resembles the Thai and Lao alphabets, which were developed from it.
Notable features
* This is syllabic alphabet in which each consonant has two forms, one with an inherent /a/ (first series) and one with an inherent /o/ (second series)
* Vowels are indicated using either separate letters or diacritics, which written above, below, in front of, after or around consonants. The pronunciation of the vowels depends on whether a consonant they are attached to is of the first or second series.
* All consonants have a subscript form which is used to write the second consonant of a cluster.
* In a Khmer text there are no spaces between words, instead spaces indicate the end of a clause or sentence.
* Inspite of efforts to standardise written Khmer, many words have more than one accepted spelling.
Khmer (Cambodian), a member of the Mon-Khmer group of Austro-Asiatic languages, spoken by about 8 million people in Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, China, France and the USA. Khmer shares many features and much vocabulary with Thai as a result of centuries of two-way borrowing. There are also borrowings from Sanskrit, Pali, French and Chinese in Khmer.