Alternate Names: Cambodian Cham, Cham, New Cham, Tjam
Dialects: None known. Cannot communicate with Eastern Cham , of central Viet Nam. Lexical similarity: 84% with Eastern Cham , of Vietnam (Pawley 2010), 69% with Jarai , of northeast Cambodia.
Genealogy:
Demographics: 204,000 in Cambodia (2008 census). Population total all countries: 246,990. 0 monolinguals. Ethnic population: 400,000.
Language Use: All domains. All ages. Positive attitudes. 100% also use Central Khmer [khm].
Language Development: Literacy rate in L1: 30%. Literacy rate in L2: 50% in Khmer [khm]. Many children learn to read Cham using Arabic-based script in madrassah schools. In one sect, most people over age 50 can read using the ancient Cham script called Kakha. Radio programs. Dictionary.
Writing System: Arabic, Cham, Latin
Nation of Origin: Cambodia
Other Comments: Small ethnic groups from Cambodia settled in Thailand but no longer speak Cham (Bradley 2007). Muslim (Sunni).