Khmer letter ca

It writes a consonant within Khmer spelling.

The Khmer letter ca, ច, contributes a consonant to a word. For example, ច begins ចិញ្ចើម, the Khmer word for “eyebrow.”

Khmer script belongs to the South Asian Brahmi family; early inscriptions resemble Pallava, a South Indian script. The exact line of descent remains unsettled as of 2026. K.557/600 from Angkor Borei, dated 611 CE, is the earliest dated Cambodian inscription: Old Khmer with Sanskrit loanwords, engraved in Early Pallava script. Its grants of land, animals, rice fields, and dependents to deities show writing at work in legal and religious life. Thai and Lao also descend from Brahmi; Thai script was adapted from Khmer in the 13th century, but script history does not establish one-to-one letter matches.

How do I type ច?

Use a Khmer Unicode keyboard and select ច.

The key position depends on the active layout.

Why does ច appear below another letter?

COENG plus ច forms a subscript consonant.

Enter a base consonant, then COENG (្), then ច; that is the logical order even though shaping software places ច below its base. A full-size Khmer consonant can carry a default vowel; the subscript form joins the cluster without that separate vowel between the two letters.

Without a valid base before a Khmer combining sign, shaping software may display a dotted circle; a font without that fallback can show a box.