Khmer has two types of vowels: Dependent Vowels and Independent Vowels.
Dependent Vowels ៖
The Chuon Nat dictionary, a classic reference for Khmer, lists 20 vowels:
| A-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អា |
a |
| អិ |
e |
| អី |
èï |
| អឹ |
œ |
| អឺ |
eu |
| អុ |
ó |
| អូ |
au |
| អួ |
uo |
| អើ |
ae |
| អឿ |
ùe |
| អៀ |
îe |
| អេ |
ế |
| អែ |
ê |
| អៃ |
ăï |
| អោ |
ao |
| អៅ |
aw |
| អុំ |
óm |
| អំ |
ấm |
| អាំ |
ăm |
| អះ |
ăh' |
|
| O-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អ៊ា |
ea |
| អ៊ិ |
í |
| អ៊ី |
i |
| អ៊ឹ |
ú |
| អ៊ឺ |
ù |
| អ៊ុ |
oú |
| អ៊ូ |
ou |
| អ៊ួ |
uo |
| អ៊ើ |
eu |
| អ៊ឿ |
ùe |
| អ៊ៀ |
îe |
| អ៊េ |
é |
| អ៊ែ |
è |
| អ៊ៃ |
éi |
| អ៊ោ |
ô |
| អ៊ៅ |
ow |
| អ៊ុំ |
oúm |
| អ៊ំ |
om |
| អ៊ាំ |
óăm |
| អ៊ះ |
éăh' |
|
Nevertheless, the modern Khmer system taught in schools lists three more vowels, raising the number to 23. These vowels are also included in the keyboard:
| A-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អុះ |
óh' |
| អេះ |
ếh' |
| អោះ |
âoh' |
|
| O-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អ៊ុះ |
oúh' |
| អ៊េះ |
íh' |
| អ៊ោះ |
ôh' |
|
There are other combinations that following the same criteria (combining a vowel with the REAHMUK mark) could also be considered as vowels, but they are not considered as such by any source, so they are not included in the keyboard. They have to be written with two keystrokes. They are:
| A-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អីះ |
|
| អឹះ |
|
| អែះ |
|
|
| O-series |
|---|
| Dependent Vowels | Transliteration |
|---|
| អ៊ីះ |
|
| អ៊ឹះ |
|
| អ៊ែះ |
|
|
Indepentent Vowels៖
Modern Khmer has 14 independent vowels:
| No. | Independent Vowels | Transliteration | Examples |
|---|
| 1 |
ឥ |
អិ (e) អ៊ិ (í) អី (èï) |
ឥន្ទ(en) ឥសូរ(í sau) ឥឡូវ(èïlauv) |
| 2 |
ឦ |
អី (èï) អ៊ី (i) |
ឦសូរ(èï sau) ឦសាន(i san) |
| 3 |
ឧ |
អុ (ó) អ៊ុ (oú) |
ឧក្រិដ្ឋ(ó kred) ឧណ្ហ(oún) |
| 4 |
ឩ |
ŭ |
|
| 5 |
ឪ |
អូវ (au) |
ឪឡឹក(auvlœk) |
| 6 |
ឰ |
អៃ (ăï) |
ឰដ៏(ăïdâ) |
| 7 |
ឫ |
rŏú (រឹ) |
ឫក(rúk) |
| 8 |
ឬ |
rù (រឺ) |
|
| 9 |
ឭ |
លឹ (lú) |
រឭក (rolúk) |
| 10 |
ឮ |
លឺ (lù) |
ឮជ័យ (lùchéy) |
| 11 |
ឯ |
អែ (ê) អេ (ế) |
ឯង (êng) ឯវំ (ếvâng) |
| 12 |
ឱ |
អោ (ao) |
ឱកាស (aokas) |
| 13 |
ឲ |
អោ (ao) |
ឲ្យ (aoy) |
| 14 |
ឳ |
âu |
|
Reference Book:
