Khmer is the official language of Cambodia and the most widely spoken member of the Austroasiatic language family. It is one of the oldest written languages in Southeast Asia, with inscriptions dating to the 7th century CE. The Khmer script, derived from the ancient Pallava script of southern India via the Brahmi tradition, is a distinctive abugida (alphasyllabary) used for over 1,300 years. The Khmer Empire (802–1431 CE), centred at Angkor, produced extraordinary monumental architecture and spread Khmer language and culture across mainland Southeast Asia. Khmer has a uniquely large vowel inventory and lacks tones, setting it apart from neighbouring Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese. The Khmer Rouge regime (1975–1979) caused catastrophic cultural and demographic damage, including to literate traditions, but the language has since been restored as a vibrant medium of education and national identity.
