Sociolinguistic Survey of the Khmer Khe in Cambodia

This paper reports the findings of a sociolinguistic survey conducted among the Khmer Khe people in Cambodia in 2009. The data collection was conducted by staff of the International Cooperation of Cambodia and the findings are compiled and presented by researchers at Payap University in Chiang Mai Thailand. Researchers visited three Khe villages in Stung Treng province. It was reported that the Khe language shows only slight variations from village to village, and that comprehension is possible between all Khe varieties. Khe is found to be very closely related to Cambodia's national language (with lexical similarity above 90%). Khe continues to be spoken in daily life by all generations, so it is not believed that Khe speakers are currently shifting to use of another language. However, bilingualism is high with the national language and also with Lao and there is widespread acceptance of the national language. Therefore, it is not recommended at this time that vernacular langauge materials be developed in Khmer Khe.