Learning Khmer
Please note: All information given on these pages is for general informational purposes only and is not legally binding. In case of any discrepancies, the information provided by the Studienbüro (Student Services Office) always takes precedence!
The Khmer language, also known as Cambodian, is the official and lingua franca of the Kingdom of Cambodia and belongs to the Austroasiatic language family. It has been influenced by Buddhism and Hinduism through Sanskrit and Pali. The earliest written documents date back to the 6th to 7th centuries. It is spoken by over 18 million Cambodians both inside and outside of Cambodia. Several million Khmer-speaking minorities live in neighboring countries, such as eastern Thailand, southern Vietnam, and southern Laos.
The Khmer language has its own script, consisting of 33 consonants, 24 vowels, and 14 initial vowels. Unlike the languages of neighboring countries like Thai, Lao, and Vietnamese, Khmer is not a tonal language.
Khmer grammar is simple. The verbs remain unchanged, whether in singular or plural. The word order in a Khmer sentence is subject-verb-object. Verbs are always in their base form.
Our Khmer language courses are open throughout the university to students of various disciplines. Participants of "Introduction to Khmer (Khmer A)" do not need to have any prior Khmer langugage skills, while participants of "Introduction to Khmer (Khmer B)" of course are required to master those Khmer langugage skills which are taught in "Introduction to Khmer (Khmer A)".
