Editing Khmer script (section)

== Dictionary order ==

For the purpose of [[alphabetical order|dictionary ordering]]<ref>Different dictionaries use slightly different orderings; the system presented here is that used in the official ''Cambodian Dictionary'', as described by Huffman (1970), p. 305.</ref> of words, main consonants, subscript consonants and dependent vowels are all significant; and when they appear in combination, they are considered in the order in which they would be spoken (main consonant, subscript, vowel). The order of the [[#Consonants|consonants]] and of the [[#Dependent vowels|dependent vowels]] is the order in which they appear in the above tables. A syllable written without any dependent vowel is treated as if it contained a vowel character that precedes all the visible dependent vowels.

As mentioned above, the four [[#Modification by diacritics|configurations with diacritics]] exemplified in the syllables {{lang|km|អុំ អំ អាំ អះ}} are treated as dependent vowels in their own right, and come in that order at the end of the list of dependent vowels. Other configurations with the ''reăhmŭkh'' [[#Diacritics|diacritic]] are ordered as if that diacritic were a final consonant coming after all other consonants. Words with the ''bânták'' and ''sâmyoŭk sânhnhéa'' diacritics are ordered directly after identically spelled words without the diacritics.

Vowels precede consonants in the ordering, so a combination of main and subscript consonants comes after any instance in which the same main consonant appears unsubscripted before a vowel.

Words spelled with an [[#Independent vowels|independent vowel]] whose sound begins with a glottal stop follow after words spelled with the equivalent combination of {{lang|km|អ}} ''’â'' plus dependent vowel. Words spelled with an independent vowel whose sound begins {{IPA|[r]}} or {{IPA|[l]}} follow after all words beginning with the consonants {{lang|km|រ}} ''rô'' and {{lang|km|ល}} ''lô'' respectively.

Words spelled with a consonant modified by a diacritic follow words spelled with the same consonant and dependent vowel symbol but without the diacritic. {{dubious|date=July 2016}} {{citation needed|date=July 2016}} However, words spelled with {{lang|km|ប៉ }} (a ''bâ'' converted to a ''p'' sound by a diacritic) follow all words with unmodified {{lang|km|ប}} ''bâ'' (without diacritic and without subscript). {{dubious|date=July 2016}} {{citation needed|date=July 2016}} Sometimes words in which {{lang|km|ប}} is pronounced ''p'' are ordered as if the letter were written {{lang|km|ប៉}}.