ABSTRACT
Cambodian, or Modern Standard Khmer, is understood and used throughout Cambodia. Variants of Khmer that are considered to be mutually understandable are used by many speakers in communities outside Cambodia, including speakers in Thailand and in southern Vietnam. Although Khmer is an alphabetic language, there are characteristics of the writing system that depart from a strict alphabetic system and that have led some to characterize it as a syllabic system.
