The Khmer Language

The Khmer language is spoken by about 16 million people, mostly in the country of Cambodia where it is the official language. It is an Austroasiatic language but has many influences from Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers. It also has influences from Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese as they were neighboring languages for centuries. Unlike these other languages though, it is not a tonal language. Most of the people in Cambodia speak the Central Khmer. The other spoken dialects are the Norther Khmer spoken in the southern side of Northeast Thailand and Southern Khmer, spoken in the region of the Cardamom mountains in Southwestern Cambodia.