Western Khmer dialect

Last updated
Western Khmer
Cardamom Khmer
Chanthaburi Khmer
Native to Thailand, Cambodia
Region Cardamom Mountains
Austroasiatic
Language codes
ISO 639-3
khm-car
Glottolog None

Western Khmer, also known as Cardamom Khmer or Chanthaburi Khmer, is the dialect of the Khmer language spoken by the Khmer people native to the Cardamom Mountains on both sides of the border between western Cambodia (Pailin Province) and eastern Central Thailand (Chanthaburi Province). Developing in an historically isolated region, Western Khmer is the only dialect of modern Khmer to conserve the Middle Khmer phonation contrast of breathy voice versus modal voice that has been all but lost in the other dialects. [1] [2]

Contents

Phonology

Consonants

Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal
Plosive p (pʰ) t (tʰ) c (cʰ) k (kʰ) ʔ
Voiced plosive b d
Nasal m n ɲ ŋ
Liquid r
l
Fricative ( f ) s h
Approximant w j

(f) in loan words

Vowels

Clear Vowels [1]
Front Central Back
short long shortlongshortlong
Close
Close-mid e ə o
Open-mid ɛ ɛː
Open a ɒ ɒː
Breathy Vowels [1]
Front Central Back
short long shortlongshortlong
Close i̤ː ɨ̤ ɨ̤ː ṳː
Close-mid e̤ː ə̤ː o̤ː
Open-mid ɛ̤ː ɔ̤ː
Open

References