ភាសា (Khmer)
Where does "ភាសា" come from?
The Khmer word 'ភាសា' meaning 'language' traces its origins to the Sanskrit term 'bhāṣā', which evolved from the root 'bhāṣ' meaning 'to speak'. This term was later borrowed into Pali as 'bhāsā' before entering Khmer. The ultimate roots of the word remain a subject of historical debate among linguists, with theories linking the original concept of 'to speak' to ancient Proto-Indo-European forms associated with either 'sound' or 'divine law'. The influence of this Sanskrit root is widespread, visible in cognates across many Asian languages including Thai, Lao, Indonesian, and Hindi.
Full etymology tree
- ភាសា (Khmer), 'language'
- inherited bhāsā (Pali), 'language'
- inherited भाषा (bhāṣā) (Sanskrit), 'speech, language (especially common, vernacular or vulgar speech, as opposed to Vedic or in later times to Sanskrit, as the refined speech)'
- derived भाष् (bhāṣ) (Sanskrit), 'to speak, talk, say, tell'
- inherited भाषा (bhāṣā) (Sanskrit), 'speech, language (especially common, vernacular or vulgar speech, as opposed to Vedic or in later times to Sanskrit, as the refined speech)'
- inherited bhāsā (Pali), 'language'
Ancestors
- bhāsā (Pali)
- भाषा (Sanskrit)
Cognates and doublets
- ভাষা (Bengali)
- ભાષા (Gujarati)
- भाषा (Hindi)
- bahasa (Indonesian)
- basa (Javanese)
- ಭಾಷೆ (Kannada)
- ພາສາ (Lao)
- bahasa (Malay)
- ഭാഷ (Malayalam)
- भाषा (Marathi)
- ਭਾਸ਼ਾ (Punjabi)
- భాష (Telugu)
Descendants and derived words
- ភាសាសាស្ត្រ (Khmer)
- អំបូរភាសា (Khmer)
Updated August 2026
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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris