Khmer script facts for kids

Khmer script is the writing system used to write the Khmer, or Cambodian, language. The script is an abugida. It was the writing system that Thai and Lao are based on. However, Thai and Lao added tone markers to better suit their own languages, since Thai and Lao are tonal, while Khmer is not.

One key feature that Khmer has, while Thai and Lao do not, is that consonant letters have subscript forms. Subscript forms are forms of consonant letters that are written underneath other letters. Similar to how different letters in the Latin alphabet have capital or lowercase forms that look different from each other, consonants in Khmer have standard and subscript forms. These are used to write consonant strings. For example, in the word Khmer (ខ្មែរ), the "kh + m" consonant string is written as ខ្ម. By themselves, the consonants that make up the "kh + m" cluster would be written as ខ and ម, but since the "m" consonant is the second part of a consonant string, it is written differently under the first consonant in the cluster ខ. So ្ម is the subscript form of ម.

Images for kids

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  Ancient Khmer script engraved on stone.

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  An inscription in Khmer script, at the temple of Lolei

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  Âksâr khâm (អក្សរខម), or Akson khom (อักษรขอม), an antique style of the Khmer script as written in Uttaradit, Thailand. In this picture, although it was written with Khmer script, all texts in this manuscript are in Thai languages.

See also

In Spanish: Alfabeto camboyano para niños