Editing Khmer script (section)

{{Short description|Abugida script for the Khmer language}}
{{Infobox Writing system
|name      = Khmer
|altname   = Cambodian
|official script = [[Cambodia]]<ref name="constitution">{{cite web |title=Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia |url=https://pressocm.gov.kh/en/archives/9539 |website=Office of the Council of Ministers|publisher=អង្គ់ភាពព័ត៌មាន និងប្រតិកម្មរហ័ស |access-date=26 September 2020}}</ref>
|languages = {{hlist|[[Khmer language|Khmer]]|[[Sanskrit]]|[[Pali]]|[[Jarai language|Jarai]]|[[Northern Khmer dialect|Northern Khmer]]}}
|type      = [[Abugida]]
|time      = {{circa|611}} – present<ref>{{cite book| title=South-East Asia: languages and literatures : a select guide | first=Patricia | last=Herbert |author2=Anthony Crothers Milner  | pages=51–52 | year= 1989| isbn=0-8248-1267-0| publisher=[[University of Hawaii Press]]}}</ref>
| fam1        = [[Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian]]
| fam2        = [[Proto-Sinaitic]]
| fam3        = [[Phoenician script|Phoenician]]
| fam4        = [[Aramaic script|Aramaic]]
| fam5        = [[Brahmi script]]
|fam6      = [[Tamil-Brahmi]]
|fam7      = [[Pallava script|Pallava]]
|sisters   = [[Old Mon script|Old Mon]], [[Cham script|Cham]], [[Kawi script|Kawi]], [[Grantha script|Grantha]], [[Tamil script|Tamil]]
|children  =[[Sukhothai script|Sukhothai]], [[Khom Thai script|Khom Thai]], [[Lai Tay script|Lai Tay]]
|unicode   = {{ublist |class=nowrap |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1780.pdf U+1780–U+17FF] {{smaller|Khmer}} |[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U19E0.pdf U+19E0–U+19FF] {{smaller|Khmer Symbols}}}}
|iso15924=Khmr
|sample    = Khmer_sample_script.svg
|caption   = {{transliteration|km|Âkkhârôkrâm Khmêr}} ("Khmer script") written in Khmer script
}}
{{Contains special characters|Khmer}}
{{brahmic}}
{{alphabet}}

'''Khmer script''' ({{langx|km|អក្សរខ្មែរ}}, {{transliteration|km|Âksâr Khmêr}} {{IPA|km|ʔaksɑː kʰmae|}})<ref name="Huffman">Huffman, Franklin. 1970. ''Cambodian System of Writing and Beginning Reader''. [[Yale University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-300-01314-0}}.</ref> is an [[abugida]] (alphasyllabary) script used to write the [[Khmer language]], the official language of [[Cambodia]]. It is also used to write [[Pali]] in the Buddhist liturgy of Cambodia and [[Thailand]].

Khmer is written from [[left to right]]. Words within the same sentence or phrase are generally run together with no [[space (punctuation)|space]]s between them. [[Consonant cluster]]s within a word are "stacked", with the second (and occasionally third) consonant being written in reduced form under the main consonant. Originally there were 35 consonant characters, but modern Khmer uses only 33. Each character represents a consonant sound together with an [[inherent vowel]], either ''â'' or ''ô''; in many cases, in the absence of another vowel mark, the inherent vowel is to be pronounced after the consonant.

There are some independent [[vowel]] characters, but vowel sounds are more commonly represented as dependent vowels, additional marks accompanying a consonant character, and indicating what vowel sound is to be pronounced after that consonant (or consonant cluster). Most dependent vowels have two different pronunciations, depending in most cases on the inherent vowel of the consonant to which they are added. There are also a number of [[diacritic]]s used to indicate further modifications in pronunciation. The script also includes its own [[numerical digit|numerals]] and [[punctuation mark]]s.