Is Thai harder than Khmer?

There are more polysyllabic words than in Thai, that come from ancient Indian languages. They also seem to be harder to pronounce despite the lack of tones. Khmer is still a syllable-based language, but the syllables are more complicated than those in Chinese, Thai, or Vietnamese.

Is Cambodian and Thai mutually intelligible?

Khmer dialects, although mutually intelligible, are sometimes quite marked. Standard Cambodian Khmer is mutually intelligible with the others but a Khmer Krom speaker from Vietnam, for instance, may have great difficulty communicating with a Khmer native of Sisaket Province in Thailand.

Is Thai similar to?

Thai is the most spoken of over 60 languages of Thailand by both number of native and overall speakers. Over half of its vocabulary is derived from or borrowed from Pali, Sanskrit, Mon and Old Khmer. It is a tonal and analytic language, similar to Chinese and Vietnamese….Thai language.

Does Cambodian have tones?

No, Khmer is not currently tonal in the same way as Chinese or Vietnamese. However, there are interesting phenomena in the language that could indicate that tonalization can occur in the future. Khmer belongs to the Mon-Khmer branch of Austroasiatic language family.

How many Khmer characters are there?

33
Originally there were 35 consonant characters, but modern Khmer uses only 33. Each character represents a consonant sound together with an inherent vowel, either â or ô; in many cases, in the absence of another vowel mark, the inherent vowel is to be pronounced after the consonant.

What language do Cambodians speak in Thailand?

Ethnic Khmer living in Thailand, in Vietnam, and in Laos speak dialects of Khmer that are more or less intelligible to Khmer speakers from Cambodia. Minority languages present in Cambodia include Vietnamese, Cham (and other Austronesian languages), and the languages of the various hill tribes.

What do Thailand and Cambodia have in common?

The two countries share the same historical roots dating back to the old Khmer civilization, which manifest in their similar languages, cultures, and socio-ethnic features. In fact, the Thai royal language is derived from Khmer words and the two languages still retain the same Pali-Sanskrit roots.

Are the numbers in the Lao language from Khmer?

Certainly the numbers were lifted directly from Khmer. The language and its script are closely related to the Lao language and script. Most literate Lao are able to read and understand Thai, as more than half of the Thai vocabulary, grammar, intonation, vowels and so forth are common with the Lao language.

What is the difference between Khmer and Thai writing?

While the oldest known inscription in the Khmer language dates from 611 CE, inscriptions in Thai writing began to appear around 1292 CE. Notable features include: It is an abugida script, in which the implicit vowel is a short /a/ in a syllable without final consonant and a short /o/ in a syllable with final consonant.