Cambodia Expats Online: Forum | News | Information | Blog

I've only seen Cham in actual use once: on a sign at Phnom Oudoung.

If you're unfamiliar with the language and script, here's what their writing looks like — https://www.omniglot.com/writing/cham.htm — and here's some info on it — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cham_alphabet.

The Cambodian variant of Cham is Western Cham, the Eastern Cham apparently being Vietnamese and relatively much more prevalent.

I haven't been to Kampong Cham, so I suspect this would be where you'd see clusters of it in actual use, primarily.

Anyone spotted it around PP? I know many Cham people live north up the Mekong in Kandal.

Any other examples of it you've spotted would be greatly appreciated, even if it's just a hazy memory and a location.

Never seen it outside a PhD dissertation.

jeez i can see why not many people write it

'There are two main varieties of Cham - Western Cham, spoken in Cambodia, and Eastern Cham, spoken in Vietnam. Speakers of the former tend to use the Arabic alphabet, while some speakers of the latter still use the Cham alphabet.'

https://www.omniglot.com/writing/cham.htm

You can see writing in the Cham villages, particularly at religious places such as mosques. I think it is Arabic.

There are Cham in many parts of Cambodia. In some places where there are only small numbers of Cham, I have heard them speaking Khmer. I have wondered if they only speak Khmer. Next time I am in one of those places I may ask them.

The Cham are very friendly, they also speak Khmer, and some learn English. Anyone meeting them can ask them.

explorer wrote: ↑Tue Oct 09, 2018 11:19 pm
You can see writing in the Cham villages, particularly at religious places such as mosques. I think it is Arabic.

That's what I've seen, too. They use Latin characters, Khmer, and Arabic.

Finding a Cham village in Cambodia where Cham — the script, not just the spoken language — is predominant, that's a holy grail of mine.

Kampoochie wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 12:55 am Finding a Cham village in Cambodia where Cham — the script, not just the spoken language — is predominant, that's a holy grail of mine.

I suggest ask them.

Maybe also look in or near Vietnam.

I was in a Cham village yesterday. I stopped and talked to people at a few houses. After talking to one girl, who was telling me about life in the village, I said, could I have a look? She said, yes, I will show you. A girl I had only met half an hour ago, took me on a guided tour.

The Cham are very friendly and helpful.

Dont hesitate to ask them.

explorer wrote: ↑Wed Oct 10, 2018 1:47 am I was in a Cham village yesterday. I stopped and talked to people at a few houses. After talking to one girl, who was telling me about life in the village, I said, could I have a look? She said, yes, I will show you. A girl I had only met half an hour ago, took me on a guided tour.

The Cham are very friendly and helpful.

Dont hesitate to ask them.

That is unusual? I have had Vietnamese and Khmer readily show me around as well.

My Khmer is pretty much only good for ordering food and really basic stuff.

I've asked many Khmer people about it and the typical answer is "They don't use that anymore," at best. Maybe they say that they use Arabic, Khmer, Latin. More often they're not sure what I'm talking about.

Just curious if anyone is like, "Yeah, I walk by it every day!"

Jamie_Lambo wrote: ↑Tue Oct 09, 2018 10:41 pm jeez i can see why not many people write it

Funny, I have the same reaction to.Khmer.