Khmer Alphabet
Learning the Khmer alphabet is very important because its structure is used in every day conversation. Without it, you will not be able to say words properly even if you know how to write those words. The better you pronounce a letter in a word, the more understood you will be in speaking the Khmer language.
Below is a table showing the Khmer alphabet and how it is pronounced in English, and finally examples of how those letters would sound if you place them in a word.
| Khmer Alphabet | Subscript | English Sound | Pronunciation Example |
ក | ្ក | kâ | as in casle |
ខ | ្ខ | khâ | as in Khmer |
គ | ្គ | kô | as in cool |
ឃ | ្ឃ | khô | as in khota |
ង | ្ង | ngô | as in mango |
ច | ្ច | châ | as in chat |
ឆ | ្ឆ | chhâ | as in charm |
ជ | ្ជ | chô | as in chop |
ឈ | ្ឈ | chhô | watch video below |
ញ | ្ញ | nhô | watch video below |
ដ | ្ដ | dâ | as in dark |
ឋ | ្ឋ | thâ | watch video below |
ឌ | ្ឌ | dô | as in door |
ឍ | ្ឍ | thô | watch video below |
ណ | ្ណ | nâ | as in night |
ត | ្ត | tâ | as in task |
ថ | ្ថ | thâ | watch video below |
ទ | ្ទ | tô | as in torsh |
ធ | ្ធ | thô | watch video below |
ន | ្ន | nô | as in north |
ប | ្ប | bâ | as in bath |
ផ | ្ផ | phâ | as in pharmacy |
ព | ្ព | pô | as in poll |
ភ | ្ភ | phô | as in photography |
ម | ្ម | mô | as in moth |
យ | ្យ | yô | as in yolk |
រ | ្រ | rô | as in raw |
ល | ្ល | lô | as in lock |
វ | ្វ | vô | as in vault |
ឝ | ្ឝ | shâ | as in sharp |
ឞ | ្ឞ | ssô | watch video below |
ស | ្ស | sâ | as in sand |
ហ | ្ហ | hâ | as in heart |
ឡ | ្ឡ * | lâ | as in loud |
អ | ្អ | qâ | watch video below |
| | | |
| | | |
| Digraph consonants | | UN romanization | |
ហ្គ | | gâ | as in guard |
ហ្គ៊ | | gô | as in goal |
ហ្ន | | nâ | as in now |
ប៉ | | pâ | as in pouch |
ហ្ម | | mâ | as in mild |
ហ្ល | | lâ | as in loud |
ហ្វ | | fâ, wâ | as in foul or wall |
ហ្វ៊ | | fô, wô | as in forest or work |
ហ្ស | | žâ, zâ | as in Zaire |
ហ្ស៊ | | žô, zô | as in zodiac |
| | | |
| Independent vowels | | UN romanization | |
| | | |
ឣ | | â | |
ឤ | | a | |
ឥ | | ĕ | |
ឦ | | ei | |
ឧ | | ŏ | |
ឨ | | | |
ឩ | | ŭ | |
ឪ | | ŏu | |
ឫ | | rœ̆ | |
ឬ | | rœ | |
ឭ | | lœ̆ | |
ឮ | | lœ | |
ឯ | | é | |
ឰ | | ai | |
ឱ, ឲ | | aô, aôy | |
ឳ | | âu | |
| | | |
| Dependent vowels | romanization a-series | romanization o-series | |
| | | |
អា | a | éa | |
អិ | ĕ | ĭ | |
អី | ei | i | |
អឹ | œ̆ | | |
អឺ | œ | | |
អុ | ŏ | ŭ | |
អូ | o | u | |
អួ | uŏ | | |
អើ | aeu | eu | |
អឿ | eua | | |
អៀ | iĕ | | |
អេ | é | | |
អែ | ê | | |
អៃ | ai | ey | |
អោ | aô | oŭ | |
អៅ | au | ŏu | |
| | | |
Khmer Pronunciation
You saw how a letter is written and might be pronounced, but there is nothing better than hearing the sound of the letters in a video or audio. Below you will be able to hear how the letters above are pronounced, just press the play button:
The alphabet and its pronunciation have a very important role in Khmer, therefore they need very special attention. Once you're done with the Cambodian alphabet, you might want to check the rest of our Khmer lessons here: Learn Khmer. Don't forget to bookmark this page.