Western Khmer, also known as Cardamom Khmer or Chanthaburi Khmer, is the dialect of the

Khmer language Khmer (; , ) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people, and the official and national language of Cambodia. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, thro ...

spoken by the

Khmer people The Khmer people ( km, ជនជាតិខ្មែរ, ) are a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Cambodia. They comprise over 90% of Cambodia's population of 17 million.

native to the

Cardamom Mountains The Cardamom Mountains ( km, ជួរភ្នំក្រវាញ, ; th, ทิวเขาบรรทัด, ), or the Krâvanh Mountains, is a mountain range in the south west of Cambodia and Eastern Thailand. The majority of the range ...

on both sides of the border between western

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

and eastern

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

( Chanthaburi Province). Developing in an historically isolated region, Western Khmer is the only dialect of modern Khmer to conserve the

Middle Khmer Middle Khmer is the historical stage of the Khmer language as it existed between the 14th and 18th centuries, spanning the period between Old Khmer and the modern language. The beginning of the Middle Khmer period roughly coincides with the fall ...

phonation The term phonation has slightly different meanings depending on the subfield of phonetics. Among some phoneticians, ''phonation'' is the process by which the vocal folds produce certain sounds through quasi-periodic vibration. This is the defin ...

contrast of

breathy voice Breathy voice (also called murmured voice, whispery voice, soughing and susurration) is a phonation in which the vocal folds vibrate, as they do in normal (modal) voicing, but are adjusted to let more air escape which produces a sighing-like ...

versus modal voice that has been all but lost in the other dialects.Wayland & Jongman
Chanthaburi Vowels: Phonetic and Phonemic Analyses
Mon-Khmer Studies 31:65-82Acoustic correlates of breathy and clear vowels: the case of Khmer
Journal of Phonetics 31 (2003). pp 181-201

Phonology

Consonants

Vowels

References