Things to know about Cambodian
Cambodian is the official language of Cambodia, and is also sometimes known as Khmer.
Typing Cambodian Characters
Cambodian text is written from left to right, like English, but uses a very different set of characters. The Cambodian writing system uses a syllabic alphabet, meaning that each character represents a consonant sound followed by an inherent vowel sound, which can be changed by adding diacritic marks. Vowels can also be written as independent characters. In addition, each consonant has a subscript form that can be attached to other characters to form consonant clusters. These subscript consonants are sometimes called "consonant feet" or "coeng consonants".
To type Cambodian characters:
- Position your cursor somewhere where you can type, and verify that the virtual keyboard layout is set to Cambodian (Khmer).
- Locate the character you want on the virtual keyboard, then click on it or press the corresponding key on your physical keyboard. Notes:
- Additional characters are available by holding down the Shift key, by holding down the Ctrl and Alt keys at the same time, and by holding down the Shift, Ctrl, and Alt keys at the same time. One other character is available by clicking
beside the virtual keyboard. If you do not see the character you want when the virtual keyboard first appears, try these options.
- To type a consonant cluster, type the first consonant, press the Space bar, then type the next consonant. The second consonant will appear under the first in its smaller, subscript form. A third consonant can be added the same way if necessary.
- To type a diacritic mark, first type the consonant or consonant cluster to which it will be attached, then type the mark itself.
Using Transliterated Cambodian Content
You may have some transliterated Cambodian content in addition to content which uses the actual Cambodian characters. Transliterated content can help you master vocabulary and pronunciation before tackling a new writing system.
You do not have to type actual Cambodian characters in transliterated Cambodian content. You can type the transliterations anywhere typed answers are required.
The transliterated Cambodian content may use a variety of special characters to indicate certain sounds. To type these characters, type the base character for the letter you want, then select the special character from the set of characters which appears. See Typing accents or special characters for details.