page_title: Cham script
section_title: Structure
hierarchical_section_title: Cham script / Structure
context_page_description: The Cham script is a Brahmic abugida used to write Cham, an Austronesian language spoken by some 245,000 Chams in Vietnam and Cambodia. It is written horizontally left to right, as in English.
context_section_description: Similar to other abugidas, the consonants of Cham have the inherent vowel. Dependent vowel diacritics are used to modify the inherent vowel. Since Cham does not have virāma, special characters should be used for pure consonants. This practice is similar to the chillu consonants of the Malayalam script.
  Most consonant letters, such as [b], [t], or [p], includes an inherent vowel [a] which does not need to be written. The nasal stops, [m], [n], [ɲ], and [ŋ] (the latter two transliterated ny and ng in the Latin alphabet) are exceptions, and have an inherent vowel [ɨ] (transliterated â). A diacritic called kai, which does not occur with the other consonants, is added below a nasal consonant to write the [a] vowel.
  Cham words contain vowel and consonant-vowel (V and CV) syllables, apart from the last, which may also be CVC. There are a few characters for final consonants in the Cham script; other consonants merely extend a longer tail on the right side to indicate the absence of a final vowel.
caption: The Eastern Cham script. Nasal consonants are shown both unmarked and with the diacritic kai. The vowel diacritics are shown next to a circle, which indicates their position relative to any of the consonants.
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