Language in Cambodia

Cambodia's official language is Cambodian or Khmer. This language belongs to the Mon-Khmer (Austro-Asiatic) language family, which can be sometimes confusing and difficult for Westerners to learn. Other languages spoken are Vietnamese and South Chinese dialects. Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious arenas, through the vehicles of Hinduism and Buddhism, have considerably influenced Khmer. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the Mon-Khmer family, predating Mon and by a significant margin Vietnamese. As a result of geographic proximity, the Khmer language has affected, and also been affected by, Thai, Lao, Vietnamese and Cham, all of which are languages in peninsular Southeast Asia. Khmer has its own script, an abugida known in Khmer as Aksar Khmer. Khmer differs from neighbouring languages such as Thai, Lao and Vietnamese in that it is not a tonal language. All the dialects of Khmer are mutually intelligible. Battambang is spoken in northern Cambodia, Northern Khmer or Khmer Surin spoken by ethnic Khmer native to Northeast Thailand, Khmer Krom, or Southern Khmer spoken by the indigenous Khmer population of the Mekong Delta and Cardamom Kher, an archaic form spoken by a small population in the Cardamom Mountains of western Cambodia.