Khmer Vowels 1: sra a



The first Khmer vowel is called 'sra a' and it is written to the right of the consonant. It has two basic sounds. After an 'A-series' consonant it has a long 'a' sound which is like the 'a' in 'car'. After an 'O-series' consonant it sounds like the 'ea' in 'ear'.


Khmer Vowels 2: sra e





The second Khmer vowel is called 'sra e' and it is written on top of the consonant. It is usually romanised as 'e' when it attaches to an A-series consonant or 'i' when it attaches to an O-series consonant. It is found in many common words such as និង (and) and មិន (not).


Khmer vowels 3: sra ei







The third Khmer vowel is called 'sra ei' and it is written on top of the consonant. It is usually romanised as 'ei' or 'ey'. It is found in many common words such as ស្រី (girl) and បី (three).


Khmer vowels 4: sra oe








The fourth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra oe' and it is written on top of the consonant. It is usually romanised as 'oe' or 'ue'. It is found in many common words such as ទឹក (water) and ឪឡឹក (melon).


Khmer vowels 5: sra eu








The fifth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra eu' and it is written on top of the consonant. It is romanised as 'eu' after an A-series consonant or 'ueu' after an O-series consonant.

It is found in many common words such as ឈឺ (chheu - sick, hurt) and គឺ (keu - to be, is). On the colouring page you also have ពន្លឺ (ponleu - light).


Khmer vowels 6: sra o










The sixth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra o' and it is written below the consonant. It is romanised as 'o' after an A-series consonant or 'u' after an O-series consonant.

On the colouring page you have តុ (tok - table) and also កុក (kok - a type of heron or egret).


Khmer vowels 7: sra ou








The seventh Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra ou' and it is written under the consonant. It is romanised as 'ou' after an A-series consonant or 'u' after an O-series consonant.

On the colouring page you have ថូ (thou - vase) and ទូក (tuk - boat). It is also in common words such as ដូង (doung - coconut) and ម៉ូតូ (moto).


Khmer vowels 8: sra uo









The eighth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra uo' and it is written under the consonant. It is usually romanised as 'uo' after either an A-series consonant or an O-series consonant. You might also see it romanised 'ua'.

It is found in many common words such as សួរ (suor - ask) and គួរ (kuor - should). On the colouring page you have មួក (muok - hat/helmet) and ញញួរ (nhonhuor - hammer).


Khmer vowels 9: sra aeu











The ninth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra aeu' and it has one part placed to the left of the consonant and one part above. It is usually romanised as 'aeu' after an A-series consonant or 'eu' after an O-series consonant.

It is found in many common words such as យើង (yeung - we) and ដើរ (daeu - walk). On the colouring page you have ស្បែកជើង (sbaek jeung - shoe) and ក្រពើ (krapeu - crocodile).


Khmer vowels 10: sra oea













The tenth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra oea' and it has one part placed to the left of the consonant and one part to the right. It is officially romanised as 'oea' but you might see it written in other ways too.

It is found in a few words such as រឿង (roeang - story) and លឿង (loeang - yellow) as well as លឿន (loean - quick).


Khmer vowels 11: sra ie












The eleventh Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra ie' and it has one part placed to the left of the consonant and one part to the right. It is officially romanised as 'ie' though you might see 'ea' too.

It is found in many common words such as ទៀត (tiet- more) and រៀន (rien - learn). On the colouring page you have សៀវភៅ (siev phov - book) and ច្រៀង (chrieng - sing).


Khmer vowels 12: sra é














The twelfth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra é' and it is placed on the left of the consonant that it attaches to. It is officially romanised as 'e' or 'é'.

It is found in many common words such as គេង (kéng - sleep) and ចេក (chék - banana).


Khmer vowels 13: sra ae














The thirteenth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra ae' and it is placed to the left of the consonant that it attaches to. It is officially romanised as 'ae' before an A-series consonant and 'eae' before an O-series consonant although in practice you may see it written in many ways. Often for simplicity it is just romanised as 'e'.

It is found in many common words such as ពែង (peaeng - cup) and គ្រែ (kreae - bed).


Khmer vowels 14: sra ai














The fourteenth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra ai' and it is placed to the left of the consonant that it is attached to. It is officially romanised as 'ai' after an A-series consonant or 'ey' after an O-series consonant.

It is found in many common words such as ដៃ (dai - hand) and ថ្លៃ (thlai - expensive).


Khmer vowels 15: sra ao
















The fifteenth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra ao' and it is formed of two elements that are placed to the left and right of the consonant. It is officially romanised as 'ao' after an A-series consonant or 'ou' after an O-series consonant.

It is found in words such as គោ (kou - cow) and តោ (tao - lion).


Khmer vowels 16: sra au














The sixteenth Khmer dependent vowel is called 'sra au' and it is formed of two elements that are placed to the left and right of the consonant. It is officially romanised as 'au' after an A-series consonant or 'ov' after an O-series consonant.

It is found in many common words such as នៅ (nov - to stay) and ទៅ (tov - to go).


Khmer vowels 17: nikkohet
















The sign 'nikkohet' (និគ្គហិត) is written as a small circle over a consonant or over a 'sra a'. It is technically a diacritic but it works like a dependent vowel. It adds a final 'm' sound and is usually romanised as om, um, am or oam.

It is found in many common words such as កុំ (kom - don't) and ធំ (thom - big).


Khmer vowels 18: reahmukh










The sign 'reahmukh' (រះមុខ) consists of two small circles written to the right of a consonant or dependent vowel. It is technically a diacritic but it works the same way as a dependent vowel. It changes the vowel sound and adds a final 'h' sound.

It is found in many common words such as នេះ (neh - this) and នោះ (nuh - that).