Editing Khmer language (section)

==Geographic distribution and dialects==
[[File:Approximate Location of Khmer Dialects.png|thumb|The approximate locations where various dialects of Khmer are spoken]]
Khmer is spoken by some 13&nbsp;million people in [[Cambodia]], where it is the official language. It is also a second language for most of the minority groups and indigenous hill tribes there. Additionally there are a million speakers of Khmer native to southern [[Vietnam]] (1999 census)<ref>{{e18|khm|Central Khmer}}</ref> and 1.4&nbsp;million in northeast [[Thailand]] (2006).<ref>{{e18|kxm|Northern Khmer}}</ref>

Khmer [[dialect]]s, although mutually intelligible, are sometimes quite marked. Notable variations are found in speakers from [[Phnom Penh]] (Cambodia's capital city), the rural [[Battambang Province|Battambang]] area, the areas of Northeast Thailand adjacent to Cambodia such as [[Surin province]], the [[Cardamom Mountains]], and southern Vietnam.<ref name="SIDWELL">{{cite web|last1=Sidwell|first1=Paul|title=Khmer/Cambodian|website=Mon-Khmer.com|publisher=Australian National University|access-date=6 February 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110119044006/http://people.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/Khmer-Cambodian.html|archive-date=2011-01-19|format=lecture|url=http://people.anu.edu.au/~u9907217/languages/Khmer-Cambodian.html|date=2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Khmer American: Identity and Moral Education in a Diasporic Community |author= Nancy Joan Smith-Hefner|year=1999|publisher=University of California|isbn=978-0-520-21349-4}}</ref><ref name="JoP">{{cite journal|last1=Wayland|first1=Ratree|last2=Jongman|first2=Allard|title=Acoustic correlates of breathy and clear vowels: the case of Khmer|journal=Journal of Phonetics|date=2003|volume=31|issue=2|pages=181–201|url=https://kuppl.ku.edu/sites/kuppl.drupal.ku.edu/files/images/general/jongman/Wayland%20%26%20Jongman%2003.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://kuppl.ku.edu/sites/kuppl.drupal.ku.edu/files/images/general/jongman/Wayland%20%26%20Jongman%2003.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=6 February 2016|doi=10.1016/s0095-4470(02)00086-4}}</ref> The dialects form a [[dialect continuum|continuum]] running roughly north to south. Standard Cambodian Khmer is mutually intelligible with the others but a [[Khmer Krom]] speaker from Vietnam, for instance, may have great difficulty communicating with a Khmer native of [[Sisaket Province]] in Thailand.

The following is a classification scheme showing the development of the modern Khmer dialects.<ref name="Sidwell2009">Sidwell, Paul (2009). ''Classifying the Austroasiatic languages: history and state of the art''. LINCOM studies in Asian linguistics, 76. Munich: Lincom Europa.</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ferlus | first1 = Michel | year = 1992 | title = Essai de phonétique historique du khmer (du milieu du premier millénaire de notre ère à l'époque actuelle) | journal = [[Mon-Khmer Studies]] | volume = 2 | issue = 6| pages = 7–28 |url = https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00927221v2/document}}</ref>

{{tree list}}
* [[Middle Khmer]]
** Cardamom (Western) Khmer
** Central Khmer
*** Surin (Northern) Khmer
*** Standard Khmer and related dialects (including Khmer Krom)
{{tree list/end}}

[[File:Chantara 20210210 khm.webm|thumb|A speaker of the Phnom Penh dialect of Khmer]]
'''Standard Khmer''', or '''Central Khmer''', the language as taught in Cambodian schools and used by the media, is based on the dialect spoken throughout the [[Geography of Cambodia#Central plain|Central Plain]],<ref name="HUFF" /> a region encompassed by the northwest and central provinces.

'''[[Northern Khmer dialect|Northern Khmer]]''' (called {{transliteration|km|Khmer Surin}} in Khmer) refers to the dialects spoken by many in several border provinces of present-day northeast Thailand. After the fall of the Khmer Empire in the early 15th century, the Dongrek Mountains served as a natural border leaving the Khmer north of the mountains under the sphere of influence of the Kingdom of [[Lan Xang]]. The conquests of Cambodia by [[Naresuan]] the Great for [[Ayutthaya Kingdom|Ayutthaya]] furthered their political and economic isolation from Cambodia proper, leading to a dialect that developed relatively independently from the midpoint of the Middle Khmer period.<ref name="Bernon">{{cite journal|last1=Olivier|first1=Bernon de|editor1-last=Cholticha|editor1-first=Bamroongraks|editor2-last=Wilaiwan|editor2-first=Khanittanan|editor3-last=Laddawan|editor3-first=Permch|title=Khmer of Surin: Lexical Remarks|journal=The International Symposium on Language and Linguistics|date=1988|pages=258–262|url=http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/bernon1988khmer.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/bernon1988khmer.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=6 February 2016|location=Bangkok, Thailand: Thammasat University}}</ref>

This has resulted in a distinct accent influenced by the surrounding tonal languages [[Isan language|Lao]] and [[Thai language|Thai]], lexical differences, and phonemic differences in both vowels and distribution of consonants. Syllable-final {{IPA|/r/}}, which has become silent in other dialects of Khmer, is still pronounced in Northern Khmer. Some linguists classify Northern Khmer as a separate but closely related language rather than a dialect.<ref name=Thomas>{{cite journal | last1 = Thomas | first1 = David | year = 1990 | title = On the 'language' status of Northern Khmer | journal = JLC | volume = 9 | issue = 1| pages = 98–106 }}</ref><ref name=SUW>[http://www.sealang.net/archives/mks/pdf/24:1-26.pdf Phonetic variation of final trill and final palatals in Khmer dialects of Thailand] Suwilai, Premsrirat; Mahidol University; ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'' 24:1–26; pg 1</ref>

'''[[Western Khmer]]''', also called Cardamom Khmer or Chanthaburi Khmer, is spoken by a very small, isolated population in the [[Cardamom Mountains|Cardamom mountain]] range extending from western Cambodia into eastern [[Central Thailand]]. Although little studied, this variety is unique in that it maintains a definite system of [[Register (phonology)|vocal register]] that has all but disappeared in other dialects of modern Khmer.<ref name="DiffZide" />

'''Phnom Penh Khmer''' is spoken in the capital and surrounding areas. This dialect is characterized by merging or complete [[elision]] of syllables, which speakers from other regions consider a "relaxed" pronunciation. For instance, "Phnom Penh" is sometimes shortened to "m'Penh". Another characteristic of Phnom Penh speech is observed in words with an "r" either as an initial consonant or as the second member of a [[consonant cluster]] (as in the English word "bread"). The "r", [[Alveolar trill|trilled]] or [[Alveolar tap|flapped]] in other dialects, is either pronounced as a [[uvular trill]] or not pronounced at all.<ref name="Smalley">{{cite book|title=Linguistic Diversity and National Unity: Language Ecology in Thailand |author= William Allen A. Smalley|year=1994|publisher=University of Chicago|isbn=978-0-226-76288-3}}</ref>

This alters the quality of any preceding consonant, causing a harder, more emphasized pronunciation. Another unique result is that the syllable is spoken with a low-rising or "dipping" [[Tone (linguistics)|tone]] much like the "hỏi" tone in [[Vietnamese language|Vietnamese]]. For example, some people pronounce {{lang|km|ត្រី}} {{IPA|[trəj]}} ('fish') as {{IPA|[tʰəj]}}: the {{IPA|[r]}} is dropped and the vowel begins by dipping much lower in tone than standard speech and then rises, effectively doubling its length. Another example is the word {{lang|km|រៀន}} {{IPA|[riən]}} ('study'), which is pronounced {{IPA|[ʀiən]}}, with the uvular "r" and the same intonation described above.<ref name="Smalley" />

'''[[Khmer Krom]]''' or '''Southern Khmer''' is spoken by the indigenous Khmer population of the [[Mekong Delta]], formerly controlled by the Khmer Empire but part of Vietnam since 1698. Khmers are persecuted by the Vietnamese government for using their native language and, since the 1950s, have been forced to take Vietnamese names.<ref name=UNPC>Unrepresented Peoples and Nations Organization [http://www.unpo.org/members/7887 Khmer Krom Profile] Retrieved 19 June 2012</ref> Consequently, very little research has been published regarding this dialect. It has been generally influenced by Vietnamese for three centuries and accordingly displays a pronounced accent, tendency toward monosyllabic words and lexical differences from Standard Khmer.<ref>Thach, Ngoc Minh. [https://web.archive.org/web/20120621002017/http://ip-173-201-189-182.ip.secureserver.net/archives/mks/pdf/29:81-95.pdf Monosyllablization in Kiengiang Khmer]. University of Ho Chi Minh City.</ref>

'''[[Khmer Khe language|Khmer Khe]]''' is spoken in the [[Tonlé San|Se San]], [[Srepok River|Srepok]] and [[Kong River|Sekong]] river valleys of [[Sesan District|Sesan]] and [[Siem Pang District|Siem Pang]] districts in [[Stung Treng Province]]. Following the decline of Angkor, the Khmer abandoned their northern territories, which the Lao then settled. In the 17th century, Chey Chetha XI led a Khmer force into Stung Treng to retake the area. The Khmer Khe living in this area of Stung Treng in modern times are presumed to be the descendants of this group. Their dialect is thought to resemble that of pre-modern Siem Reap.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Try|first1=Tuon|last2=Chambers|first2=Marcus|title=Situation Analysis|journal=Stung Treng Province Cambodia, IUCN, MRC, UNDP|date=2006|pages=45–46|url=http://cmsdata.iucn.org.iucn.vm.iway.ch/downloads/cambodia_situation_analysis_stung_treng_province_camboida_english_pdf_1.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/http://cmsdata.iucn.org.iucn.vm.iway.ch/downloads/cambodia_situation_analysis_stung_treng_province_camboida_english_pdf_1.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-09 |url-status=live|access-date=20 January 2016}}{{dead link|date=December 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>