What languages are similar to Khmer (Cambodian)?

In terms of script, it is similar to South Indian languages (Tamil, Telugu, Kannada), Thai and Lao. It derived from the Pallava script, which in turn is descended from the ancient Brahmi script of India. The Khmer script was one of the earliest writing systems used in Southeast Asia. read more

Khmer language (or Cambodian as referred by foreigners) has evolved over 1000 years. It has been influenced by Sanskrit and Pali due to the royal and religious connection (Hinduism and Buddhism) and by, Thai, Lao and Vietnamese due to the geographical proximity and cultural contact. read more

Khmer orthographically writes <bhāsā> (it means 'language', a loanword from Sanskrit), but the word is pronounced [pʰiə̯sa], because "ph" is of a different consonant class than "s". Vietnamese consists of about 70 to 80% loanwords from Chinese. read more

Khmer Krom, or Southern Khmer, is the first language of the Khmer of Vietnam while the Khmer living in the remote Cardamom mountains speak a very conservative dialect that still displays features of the Middle Khmer language. Khmer is primarily an analytic, isolating language. There are no inflections, conjugations or case endings. read more

Khmer /kmɛər/ or Cambodian (natively ភាសាខ្មែរ, or more formally ខេមរភាសា ) is the language of the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language (after Vietnamese). read more