Cham language

Spoken in

• Austronesian Malayo - Polynesian language Malayo - Polynesian languages ​​West Malayo - Sumbawa Cham - Achin

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Different: cja for the Western Cham cjm for Eastern Cham

The Cham language is today the language of the Cham; she used to be the main language in the Hindu kingdom of Champa ( 2nd century to 1471 ). Cham is unique in that it is contrary to the other Austronesian language spoken predominantly on the Asian mainland and not on the numerous islands and archipelagos.

Cham is spoken by about 100,000 speakers in Vietnam and 220,000 speakers in Cambodia. There are also smaller companies in Thailand, Malaysia and the Chinese island of Hainan. The Cham related languages ​​are spoken in different countries of Asia mainland and the island of Hainan:

Font

The Cham use two different fonts. In Vietnam, the old Cham script is used while in Cambodia by the majority of write -age the Arabic script used.

Special

Cham is a language that is spoken very differently by female and male speakers. Men of the Cham who can read and write traditional, use the vocabulary of the older Cham language while women speak a " modern" form of Cham, as they are usually not trained to read and write.

History

See: Kingdom of Champa

After losing to the Vietnamese in 1471, many Cham migrated into the country of Southeast Asia that were the origin of the Cambodian Society of Cham and today represent the largest group of speakers of Cham. They are mainly fishermen on the rivers of Vietnam and Cambodia.

The Cham took over since the 14th century progressive Islam, but also today only little contact with other Muslim groups. Vietnamese groups mix Islam with Hinduism and worship many gods, among them Po Adam (Adam) and Po Hawa (Eve).