SCRIPTA
IFront MatterIIIThe LettersVMechanicsVILineageVIIIn the World
I

Front Matter

Khmer Script

Developed from the Indian Pallava script in the 7th century, Khmer is one of the world's scripts with the most characters (74).

ក ខ គ ឃ ង ច ឆ ជ
Era
Medieval
Region
SE Asia
System
Abugida
Direction
Left to Right (LTR)
Signs
74
Status
Active
Developed from the Indian Pallava script in the 7th century, Khmer is one of the world's scripts with the most characters (74). The Angkor Wat inscriptions are the largest historical record carved in this script. During the Khmer Rouge genocide (1975–79), intellectuals and teachers were massacred, severely destroying the literate culture; UNESCO subsequently supported its restoration and revival.
III

The Letters

Signs · Unicode · Types
Sample GlyphsClick to copy
Unicode
Range 1U+1780–U+17FF
Total signs74
In Unicode146
Unicode Blocks
Khmer
1780 – 17FF
114 chars→
Khmer Symbols
19E0 – 19FF
32 chars→
Glyph evolution
Form change over time
Loading evolution data…
V

Reading Mechanics

Direction · Method
↔
Direction
Left to Right (LTR)
좌→우 (LTR)
α
System
Abugida
⌨
Input method
Direct Unicode input
Keyboard layout
Standard IME · input chart
Khmer Keyboard (Cambodia)
Official script of Cambodia. One of the longest alphabets. 33 consonants + 23 vowels.
ឆ
ត
ន
ម
អ
ប
ហ
ស
វ
ខ
ា
ិ
ី
ុ
ូ
ំ
េ
ែ
ោ
ផ
ដ
គ
ឃ
យ
ភ
ញ
ល
រ
space
⌫
💡 Khmer combines vowel signs above/below consonants. Has independent vowels and subscript consonants.
VI

The Lineage

Family · Descendants
Phylogeny
Descendants of hieroglyphs
Phylogeny
Related scripts
Ancestors · Descendants · Family

Ancestors

Brahmi Script

Same family

SundaneseBrahmi ScriptDevanagariBengali (Bangla)GujaratiGurmukhi (Punjabi)Tamil ScriptTelugu Script
VII

In the World

Usage · Reach

Languages

Khmer

Countries

Cambodia