Khmer

Learn Khmer at UW! The Jackson School offers Khmer language courses at beginning, intermediate, and advanced levels. In the time schedule they are listed under JSIS E International Studies Language Courses.

Khmer is the official language of Cambodia, and is spoken by many people in Southeast Thailand and Southern Vietnam. Khmer is part of the Austroasiatic language family and is one of the oldest languages of Southeast Asia. Modern Khmer’s ancestor Old Khmer was the language used in the ancient Khmer Empire, and Old Khmer inscriptions from as far back as the 7th century are found throughout Southeast Asia. Khmer’s longevity has caused it to influence regional languages, thus, many Khmer words are found in other Southeast Asian languages. Unlike many neighboring languages, Khmer is not tonal.

Instructor

Luoth Yin is the Jackson School’s Khmer instructor.

Related Faculty and Research

Anthropologist and CSEAD faculty member Jenna Grant is a Cambodia specialist.