Khmer or
Cambodian (natively , or more formally ) is the language of the
Khmer people and the
official language of
Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken
Austroasiatic language (after
Vietnamese). Khmer has been influenced considerably by
Sanskrit and
Pali, especially in the royal and religious
registers, through
Hinduism and
Buddhism. The more colloquial registers have influenced, and have been influenced by,
Thai,
Lao,
Vietnamese, and
Cham, all of which, due to geographical proximity and long-term cultural contact, form a
sprachbund in peninsular
Southeast Asia. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the
Mon–Khmer family, predating
Mon and by a significant margin Vietnamese, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of
Chenla,
Angkor and, presumably, their earlier predecessor state,
Funan.