Cham Cham or CHAM may refer to: Ethnicities and languages *Chams, people in Vietnam and Cambodia **Cham language, the language of the Cham people ***Cham script *** Cham (Unicode block), a block of Unicode characters of the Cham script * Cham Albani ...

has the oldest literary history of any

Austronesian language The Austronesian languages ( ) are a language family widely spoken throughout Maritime Southeast Asia, parts of Mainland Southeast Asia, Madagascar, the islands of the Pacific Ocean and Taiwan (by Taiwanese indigenous peoples). They are spoken b ...

. The Dong Yen Chau inscription, written in Old Cham, dates from the late 4th century AD.

Cham Script

The Cham people had their own script, known as the

Cham script The Cham script (Cham language, Cham: ) is a Brahmic scripts, Brahmic abugida used to write Cham language, Cham, an Austronesian languages, Austronesian language spoken by some 245,000 Chams in Vietnam and Cambodia. It is written horizontally ...

, which was used for inscriptions on temple walls, steles, and other surfaces. This script is descended from the ancient

Indic scripts The Brahmic scripts, also known as Indic scripts, are a family of abugida writing systems. They are used throughout South Asia, Southeast Asia and parts of East Asia. They are descended from the Brahmi script of ancient India and are used b ...

and is one of the distinguishing features of Cham culture. It has been used for religious and ceremonial purposes.

Inscriptions

Many Old Cham inscriptions have been found on archaeological sites in the areas that were once part of the

Champa kingdom Champa (Cham: ꨌꩌꨛꨩ, چمڤا; ; 占城 or 占婆) was a collection of independent Cham polities that extended across the coast of what is present-day central and southern Vietnam from approximately the 2nd century CE until 1832. ...

. These inscriptions provide valuable insights into the history, religion, and society of the Champa people. Some of the inscriptions are written in the Cham script, and others are in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

Cultural and religious

Old Cham originated from Proto-Chamic languages, however under cultural influence from

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, it was greatly influenced by

. Old Cham was closely tied to the cultural and

religious practice Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural, trans ...

s of the Champa Kingdom. Inscriptions often contain information about religious rituals, temple dedications, and the deeds of rulers. Sanskrit, as well as Old Cham, was used in religious texts and inscriptions. In addition, the names of Champa principalities such as: Indrapura,

Amaravati Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...

Vijaya Vijaya may refer to: Places * Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam * Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India People * Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...

, Kauthara, Panduranga are

words of Sanskrit origin.

Transition and decline

As the Champa kingdom faced external pressures and eventual annexation by the expanding Vietnamese state, the use of the Old Cham language declined. The language underwent changes and adaptations, and the Cham people became increasingly influenced by the dominant culture of the region.

Modern times

While the Old Cham language is not commonly spoken in its original form today, elements of it have survived in the contemporary Cham language, which is still spoken by Cham communities in

Cambodia Cambodia, officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. It is bordered by Thailand to the northwest, Laos to the north, and Vietnam to the east, and has a coastline ...

and

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

. Efforts are made to preserve and revitalize the Cham language, and the Cham script is still used for certain ceremonial and religious purposes.

References

Languages attested from the 4th century Austronesian languages {{austronesian-lang-stub