Khmer Letter Kha

It marks a consonant in Khmer spelling. Its common Latin transliteration is kh; by itself, it names a letter rather than a word.

Khmer writing grew from Brahmi traditions in South India; early Southeast Asian forms show strong links to Pallava script. The earliest known inscription in the Cambodian language, at Angkor Borei, dates to 611 A.D.—a milestone in written Khmer history, not a date for this individual letter. Khmer writing recorded Old Khmer and Sanskrit in stone inscriptions, including temple foundations and royal records.

How do Khmer vowel signs work after ខ?

Its consonant series changes how some vowel signs sound. Khmer consonants belong to two series, commonly labeled â and ô in Latin transliteration. ខ is in the â-series, so some vowel signs attached to it have a different reading than they do after an ô-series consonant.

Khmer spelling changed through Old Khmer, Angkor-period Khmer, Middle Khmer, and modern Khmer. Middle Khmer spelling became more complex and less standardized; modern Khmer still uses the two series to guide readings of dependent vowel signs.

How do I type ខ?

Follow your Khmer keyboard layout's mapping and spelling order. The Keyman Khmer Angkor desktop layout documented in 2022 maps X to ខ; other Khmer layouts may assign a different key.

In Khmer Unicode text, enter the base consonant first, then coeng (the marker for a subscript consonant), the subscript consonant, and any vowel or final signs. A split vowel can display partly to the left even though it follows the consonant in input; an incorrect order can produce a dotted circle.

In ខ្មែរ (“Khmer”), enter ខ, coeng, ម, ែ, then រ. This encodes the subscript consonant before the split vowel, even though part of the vowel displays on the left.