Type Khmer with the Standard Unicode Layout
Khmer (ខ្មែរ) carries one of the largest alphabets in daily use, and this tool spreads the whole of it across a single grid: base consonants and their stacked subscript forms, the dependent and independent vowels, the coeng that binds letters into clusters, the Khmer numerals, and the riel mark. Click the keys with a mouse, tap them on a touchscreen, or type on your physical keyboard — a live counter tracks your text, and one button copies the result into whatever you are working in.
Who Reaches for a Khmer Keyboard
Khmer is the official language of Cambodia and the mother tongue of roughly seventeen million people, alongside Khmer Krom communities in southern Vietnam and Khmer speakers in northeastern Thailand. The need for an on-screen version tends to show up in ordinary situations: a borrowed computer with no Khmer input, a laptop set to English, or a phone whose keyboard fights you on clusters.
Family Across Borders
Students and Readers
Work in Cambodia
The NiDA Layout, Key by Key
Every key holds two characters — a base glyph on its own, and a second glyph when you hold Shift. That doubling is how a writing system this large fits onto a familiar QWERTY-shaped grid.
Consonants and Their Two Series
The base consonants sit across the letter rows: ក on the K key, ស on S, ម on M, រ on R. Khmer sorts its consonants into two series — an a-series and an o-series — and the series a letter belongs to decides how a following vowel is pronounced. Handily, many shifted pairs give the o-series partner of the base letter: K types ក (ka) and Shift+K types គ (ko); X types ខ and Shift+X types ឃ.
Stacking Clusters with the Coeng ្
The single most important key for Khmer is the coeng, ្, which lives on the J key. Khmer writes a consonant cluster by tucking a subscript form beneath the base letter, and the coeng is the instruction that says "draw the next consonant as a subscript." Type the base letter, press J for ្, then press the consonant you want stacked. So ស្រ is S, J, R — and the name of the language itself, ខ្មែរ, is X for ខ, J for ្, M for ម, Shift+E for ែ, then R for រ. The subscript slides into place beneath the base on its own.
Vowel Signs, Independent Vowels, and Diacritics
Dependent vowel signs — the marks that hang on a consonant — gather on the top and home rows: ិ and ី on I, ុ and ូ on U, ា on A, េ and ែ on E. Type the consonant first, then the vowel — K then A gives កា. Independent vowels, which open a syllable by themselves, run along the right edge of the number row and the bracket keys: ឥ, ឦ, ឧ, ឪ, plus ឬ on Shift+R. Sign marks round out pronunciation — the nikahit ំ on Shift+M, the reahmuk ះ on Shift+H, and the bantoc ់ on the apostrophe key.
Digits, the Riel Sign, and Sentence Marks
The number row types Khmer numerals unshifted — 1 gives ១, 2 gives ២, 3 gives ៣ — while Shift on those keys reaches symbols rather than Latin figures. The riel currency symbol ៛ is Shift+4, so ៛២០០០០ is Shift+4 then 2-0-0-0-0. Sentences close with the khan ។ on the period key, and ៗ on Shift+2 repeats the word before it. Khmer uses guillemets « » — on the top-left key — as quotation marks, and the doubled bariyoosan ៕ on Shift+comma closes a section.
- The Khmer script is an abugida descended from the Brahmi writing of southern India, related to Thai and Lao letterforms.
- Its consonants inherit a built-in vowel, which is why so many keys are consonants and comparatively few are standalone vowels.
- Khmer is often cited as having the largest alphabet of any living language — exactly why an on-screen grid saves so much hunting.
How to Build a Khmer Word, Step by Step
Place Your Cursor
Click into the text area, or just start tapping the on-screen keys. Physical typing and mouse or touch clicks feed the same output box, so you can switch between them mid-word.
Type the Base Consonant
To spell ខ្មែរ, press X to lay down ខ, the first consonant of the word.
Add the Coeng, Then the Subscript
Press J for the coeng ្, then M. Khmer stacks ម beneath ខ automatically, giving ខ្ម.
Attach the Vowel and Finish
Press Shift+E for the vowel ែ, then R for រ. The word now reads ខ្មែរ — Khmer.
Copy or Clear
Press Copy to send everything to the clipboard, or Clear to empty the box. Backspace removes one character at a time if you need to fix a stray subscript.
Khmer Typing Questions
How do I stack a subscript consonant?
Type the base consonant, press J for the coeng ្, then the consonant you want stacked. The coeng tells the script to render the next letter as a subscript beneath the first — that is how clusters like ស្ត and ង្ក are written.
Where is the riel currency symbol?
The riel sign ៛ is on Shift+4. The unshifted number keys give Khmer numerals, so a price such as ៛៥០០០ is Shift+4 followed by 5-0-0-0.
Why doesn't Khmer put spaces between words?
Khmer runs words together within a sentence and uses a space to separate phrases or clauses instead. Add a space where a natural pause falls, and close a full sentence with the khan ។ on the period key rather than a Latin full stop.
How do I type Khmer numerals instead of 1, 2, 3?
Press the number row without Shift: 1 gives ១, 2 gives ២, and so on through ០ on the 0 key. Shift on those same keys reaches punctuation and sign marks, not the Latin digits.
What's the difference between the vowels on the letter keys and the ones on Shift?
The vowel signs on the letter rows — ា, ិ, ុ — are dependent, so they attach to a consonant you type first. The independent vowels reached with Shift and the bracket keys — ឥ, ឪ — stand on their own at the start of a syllable.
Can I use this on a phone?
Yes. The layout scales to touchscreens — tap the keys instead of clicking. Because Khmer relies on subscript stacking that some mobile keyboards handle awkwardly, this grid can make it easier to get the coeng and vowel order exactly right.
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