Khmer language

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Khmer ( kə-MAIR; ខ្មែរ, UNGEGN: Khmêr [kʰmae] ) is an Austroasiatic language spoken natively by the Khmer people and is an official language and national language of Cambodia. The language is also widely spoken by Khmer people in Eastern Thailand and Isan, Thailand, as well as in the Southeastern and Mekong regions of Vietnam. Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of Chenla and Angkor. The vast majority of Khmer speakers speak Central Khmer, the dialect of the central plain where the Khmer are most heavily concentrated. Within Cambodia, regional accents exist in remote areas but these are regarded as varieties of Central Khmer. Two exceptions are the speech of the capital, Phnom Penh, and that of the Khmer Khe in Stung Treng province, both of which differ sufficiently from Central Khmer to be considered separate dialects of Khmer...

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