about the khmer alphabet

The Khmer orthography (orthography is the term in linguistics for a writing system) is among the most complicated alphabets in the world, although it is certainly much simpler than a system like Chinese, in which each word or syllable is represented with a unique character. (Because it assigns characters to words rather than to sounds, Chinese is a morphographic, not an alphabetic, system.) For a brief description of Khmer, view this short PDF document entitled Khmer Orthography.

Only a decade ago, none of the minority languages in Cambodia had official alphabets. The Khmer script was the only game in town. The reasons for this deficiency were no doubt numerous - the reluctance of the Cambodian government to allow its "pure" alphabet to be used for merely tribal languages; the lack of interest or perceived need among leaders in minority language communities; the limited access to remote areas afforded to outsiders; and surely the list could continue - and would, if I had the present inclination to spend more time finding out!

In the 1990s, the linguistic situation in Cambodia began to change. Linguists came to work with remote people groups, and Christian communities sprang up, increasing the need for reading and writing among these groups.

In the early 2000s, two minority languages in Cambodia were given government-approved, Khmer-based scripts: the Tampuan and the Krung. The Tampuan orthography was developed by J.D. Crowley of EMU International. The Krung was done by the Kellers of SIL. In both cases, the political battle to recieve official recognition of the alphabets was as time-consuming as the effort to develop the scripts.

Any future alphabets for minority languages in Cambodia will also be based on the Khmer script, facilitating bi-lingual education for minority groups by giving them in their first language a bridge to reading and writing their second, Khmer.