Cham script
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| Cham | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type: | abugida | |
| Languages: | Cham language | |
| Time period: | ||
| ISO 15924 code: | Cham | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. See IPA chart for English for an English-based pronunciation key. | ||
The Cham alphabet is used to write Cham, an Austronesian language spoken by the Cham people in Vietnam and Cambodia. Cham has about 230,000 speakers.
The Cham alphabet is one of the first scripts to develop from the latter southern Brahmi alphabet called Vatteluttu of South India, beginning by 200 AD. Like all the Brahmic family, it is a syllabic alphabet, and is thus classed as an "abugida". It is written horizontally, and left to right, as in English.
The Cham now live in two isolated groups: Western Cham in Cambodia, and Eastern Cham in Vietnam. Each uses a distinct variety of the script, although the former are mostly Muslim and now prefer to use the Arabic alphabet. The latter are mostly Hindu, and still use their own alphabet. During French colonial times, both groups had to use the Latin alphabet.
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