Cham language

Cham
bạhsa Cam ꨌꩌ چم
'Cham' in Cham script
Pronunciation	[cam]
Native to	Cambodia and Vietnam
Region	Mainland Southeast Asia
Ethnicity	Cham
Native speakers	490,000 (2019)[1]
Language family	Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian Chamic Coastal Cham
Early forms	Proto-Chamic Old Cham
Dialects	Western Cham Eastern Cham
Writing system	Cham, Jawi (Arabic), Latin
Official status
Recognised minority language in	Vietnam  Cambodia
Language codes
ISO 639-3	Either: cja – Western Cham cjm – Eastern Cham
Glottolog	cham1328
ELP	Eastern Cham

Cham (bạhsa Cam; Cham: ꨌꩌ, Jawi: چم, Latin script: Cam) is a Malayo-Polynesian language of the Austronesian family, spoken by the Chams of Southeast Asia. It is spoken primarily in the territory of the former Kingdom of Champa, which spanned modern Southern Vietnam, as well as in Cambodia by a significant population which descends from refugees that fled during the decline and fall of Champa. The Western variety is spoken by 220,000 people in Cambodia and 25,000 people in Vietnam. As for the Eastern variety, there are about 73,000 speakers in Vietnam,^[2] for a total of approximately 490,000 speakers.^[1]

Cham belongs to the Chamic languages, which are spoken in parts of mainland Southeast Asia, Indonesia's Aceh Province, and on the island of Hainan. Cham is the oldest-attested Austronesian language, with the Đông Yên Châu inscription being verifiably dated to the 4th century AD. It has several dialects, with Eastern Cham (Phan Rang Cham; ꨌꩌ ꨚꨰ, Cam pai) and Western Cham (ꨌꩌ ꨚꨭꩉ, Cam pur) being the main ones. The Cham script, derived from the ancient Indic script, is still used for ceremonial and religious purposes. Cham language is also used together with the Malay variety, Mekong Delta Malay, especially by the Western Cham people who are mostly Sunni Muslims and are oriented towards Malaysia, especially Kedah and Kelantan.^[3]