Vowels

Consonants

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Vowels

Written by Heng Sovann

Monday, 24 August 2009 19:06

Khmer has two types of vowels: Dependent Vowels and Independent Vowels.

Dependent Vowels ៖

The Chuon Nat dictionary, a classic reference for Khmer, lists 20 vowels:

A-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អា	a
អិ	e
អី	èï
អឹ	œ
អឺ	eu
អុ	ó
អូ	au
អួ	uo
អើ	ae
អឿ	ùe
អៀ	îe
អេ	ế
អែ	ê
អៃ	ăï
អោ	ao
អៅ	aw
អុំ	óm
អំ	ấm
អាំ	ăm
អះ	ăh'

O-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អ៊ា	ea
អ៊ិ	í
អ៊ី	i
អ៊ឹ	ú
អ៊ឺ	ù
អ៊ុ	oú
អ៊ូ	ou
អ៊ួ	uo
អ៊ើ	eu
អ៊ឿ	ùe
អ៊ៀ	îe
អ៊េ	é
អ៊ែ	è
អ៊ៃ	éi
អ៊ោ	ô
អ៊ៅ	ow
អ៊ុំ	oúm
អ៊ំ	om
អ៊ាំ	óăm
អ៊ះ	éăh'

Nevertheless, the modern Khmer system taught in schools lists three more vowels, raising the number to 23. These vowels are also included in the keyboard:

A-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អុះ	óh'
អេះ	ếh'
អោះ	âh'

O-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អ៊ុះ	oúh'
អ៊េះ	íh'
អ៊ោះ	ôh'

There are other combinations that following the same criteria (combining a vowel with the REAHMUK mark) could also be considered as vowels, but they are not considered as such by any source, so they are not included in the keyboard. They have to be written with two keystrokes. They are:

A-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អីះ
អឹះ
អែះ

O-series
Dependent Vowels	Transliteration
អ៊ីះ
អ៊ឹះ
អ៊ែះ

Indepentent Vowels៖

Modern Khmer has 14 independent vowels:

No.	Independent Vowels	Transliteration	Examples
1	ឥ	អិ (e) អ៊ិ (í) អី (èï)	ឥន្ទ(en) ឥសូរ(í sau) ឥឡូវ(èïlauv)
2	ឦ	អី (èï) អ៊ី (i)	ឦសូរ(èï sau) ឦសាន(i san)
3	ឧ	អុ (ó) អ៊ុ (oú)	ឧក្រិដ្ឋ(ó kred) ឧណ្ហ(oún)
4	ឩ	ŭ
5	ឪ	អូវ (au)	ឪឡឹក(auvlœk)
6	ឰ	អៃ (ăï)	ឰដ៏(ăïdâ)
7	ឫ	rŏú (រឹ)	ឫក(rúk)
8	ឬ	rù (រឺ)
9	ឭ	លឹ (lú)	រឭក (rolúk)
10	ឮ	លឺ (lù)	ឮជ័យ (lùchéy)
11	ឯ	អែ (ê) អេ (ế)	ឯង (êng) ឯវំ (ếvâng)
12	ឱ	អោ (ao)	ឱកាស (aokas)
13	ឲ	អោ (ao)	ឲ្យ (aoy)
14	ឳ	âu