Editing Khmer language (section)

==Writing system==
{{Main|Khmer script}}
[[File:Be Cambodian Embassy 03.jpg|thumb|right|An example of modern Khmer script at the Cambodian Embassy in [[Berlin]]]]

Khmer is written with the Khmer script, an [[abugida]] developed from the [[Pallava script]] of India before the 7th century when the first known inscription appeared.<ref name="OMNI">{{Cite web |url=http://www.omniglot.com/writing/khmer.htm |title=Khmer Alphabet at Omniglot.com |access-date=2007-02-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120213191456/http://www.omniglot.com/writing/khmer.htm |archive-date=2012-02-13 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Written left-to-right with vowel signs that can be placed after, before, above or below the consonant they follow, the Khmer script is similar in appearance and usage to [[Thai script|Thai]] and [[Lao script|Lao]], both of which were based on the Khmer system. The Khmer script is also distantly related to the [[Mon–Burmese script]].<ref name="OMNI" /> Within Cambodia, literacy in the Khmer alphabet is estimated at 77.6%.<ref name=UNCel>{{Cite web |url=http://www.un.org.kh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=469:celebration-of-international-literacy-day-2011-supporting-cambodias-development-efforts&catid=43:latest-press-releases&Itemid=76 |title=United Nations in Cambodia "Celebration of International Literacy Day, 2011" |access-date=2012-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111027202954/http://www.un.org.kh/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=469:celebration-of-international-literacy-day-2011-supporting-cambodias-development-efforts&catid=43:latest-press-releases&Itemid=76 |archive-date=2011-10-27 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Consonant symbols in Khmer are divided into two groups, or series. The first series carries the inherent vowel {{IPA|[ɑː]}} while the second series carries the inherent vowel {{IPA|[ɔː]}}. The Khmer names of the series, {{IPA|[akʰoːsaʔ]}} ('voiceless') and {{IPA|[kʰoːsaʔ]}} ('voiced'), respectively, indicate that the second series consonants were used to represent the voiced phonemes of Old Khmer. As the voicing of stops was lost, however, the contrast shifted to the phonation of the attached vowels, which, in turn, evolved into a simple difference of vowel quality, often by [[Vowel breaking|diphthongization]].<ref name=ELL /> This process has resulted in the Khmer alphabet having two symbols for most consonant phonemes and each vowel symbol having two possible readings, depending on the series of the initial consonant:<ref name="HUFF" />
{|
|-
| {{lang|km|ត}} + {{lang|km| ា}}
| = {{lang|km|តា}}
| {{IPA|[taː]}}
| 'grandfather'
|-
| {{lang|km|ទ}} + {{lang|km| ា}}
| = {{lang|km|ទា}}
| {{IPA|[tiə]}}
| 'duck'
|}