Cham language

Cham
Pronunciation	[cam]
Spoken in	Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, China (Hainan Island), various countries with recent immigrants
Region	Southeast Asia
Native speakers	395,000  (2002–2006)
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Nuclear Malayo-Polynesian Malayo-Sumbawan Chamic Coastal Cham
Writing system	Cham alphabet (Vietnam), Arabic (Cambodia)
Official status
Regulated by	No official regulation
Language codes
ISO 639-3	either: cja – Western Cham cjm – Eastern Cham

Cham is the language of the Cham people of Southeast Asia, and formerly the language of the kingdom of Champa in central Vietnam. A member of the Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian family, it is spoken by 100,000 people in Vietnam and up to 220,000 people in Cambodia (1992 estimate). There are also small populations of speakers in Thailand and Malaysia. Other Chamic languages are spoken in Vietnam (Raglai, Rhade, Jarai, Chru, H'roi) and on the Chinese island of Hainan (Tsat). Cham is related to the Malayo-Polynesian languages of Indonesia, Malaysia, Madagascar, and the Philippines. It once had a much wider extent and possibly much larger number of speakers as it was the primary language of the Champa empire.

See also

• Cham script

Further reading

• Anthony Grant, Paul Sidwell, Australian National University. Pacific Linguistics (2005). Chamic and beyond: studies in mainland Austronesian languages (illustrated ed.). Pacific Linguistics, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. ISBN 0858835614. http://books.google.com/books?id=WH0OAAAAYAAJ. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• Graham Thurgood (1999). From ancient Cham to modern dialects: two thousand years of language contact and change : with an appendix of Chamic reconstructions and loanwords. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0824821319. http://books.google.com/books?id=MBGYb84A7SAC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• Etienne Aymonier, Antoine Cabaton (1906). Dictionnaire čam-français. Volume 7 of Publications de l'École française d'Extrême-Orient. E. Leroux. http://books.google.com/books?id=SSAoAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• Etienne Aymonier (1889). Grammaire de la langue chame. Imprimerie coloniale. http://books.google.com/books?id=fQgDAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false. Retrieved 2011-05-15. 
• Aymonier, Etienne and Antoine Cabaton (1906). Dictionnaire Cam-Français. Paris: Leroux.
• Blood, D. L., & Blood, D. (1977). East Cham language. Vietnam data microfiche series, no. VD 51-72. Huntington Beach, Calif: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Blood, D. L. (1977). A romanization of the Cham language in relation to the Cham script. Vietnam data microfiche series, no. VD51-17. Dallas: Summer Institute of Linguistics.
• Moussay, Gerard (1971). Dictionnaire Cam-Vietnamien-Français. Phan Rang: Centre Culturel Cam.
• Thurgood, G. (1999). From ancient Cham to modern dialects: two thousand years of language contact and change. Oceanic linguistics special publication, no. 28. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press. ISBN 0824821319

External links

• Entry for Cambodian Cham at Rosetta Project
• Entry for Eastern Cham at Rosetta Project
• Entry for Hainan Cham at Rosetta Project