Western Khmer dialect

Western Khmer, also known as Cardamom Khmer or Chanthaburi Khmer, is the dialect of the Khmer language spoken by the Khmer people native to the Cardamom Mountains on both sides of the border between western Cambodia (Pailin Province) and eastern Central Thailand (Chanthaburi Province). Developing in an historically isolated region, Western Khmer is the only dialect of modern Khmer to conserve the Middle Khmer phonation contrast of breathy voice versus modal voice that has been all but lost in the other dialects.Wayland & Jongman. Chanthaburi Vowels: Phonetic and Phonemic Analyses, Mon-Khmer Studies 31:65-82Acoustic correlates of breathy and clear vowels: the case of Khmer . Journal of Phonetics 31 (2003). pp 181-201

Phonology Consonants Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal Plosive Voiced plosive Nasal Liquid Fricative () Approximant

in loan words

Vowels + Clear Vowels Front Central Back short long short long short long Close Close-mid Open-mid Open

+ Breathy Vowels Front Central Back short long short long short long Close Close-mid Open-mid Open

References