Le rôle du Sanskrit dans le développement de la langue khmère [Sanskrit and The Development of Khmer Language]

Epigraphist Chhom Kunthea ឆោម គន្ធា (b. 1980) became the first Cambodia-born Sanskritist at international academic level after presenting her doctoral thesis at Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes (Paris) in 2016. She started to specialize in Sanskrit and epigraphy thanks to her BA tutor, the linguist Dr. Sylvain Vogel.

An alumna of Royal University of Fine Arts with various scholarship assignements in India, and a former student under the guidance of linguist Saveros Pou, Kunthea has been working for the Apsara Authority since 2008, specializing in deciphering stone inscriptions from the ancient Khmer Empire. Her research focuses mainly on the development of Old Khmer language which was in close contact with Sanskrit from the 6^th to the 14^th century CE.

In additon her epigraphical research, she teaches Sanskrit grammar and Sanskrit inscriptions from Ancient Cambodia at the Faculty of Archaeology, Royal University of Fine Arts, Phnom Penh. A founding member of the DHARMA Project, Kunthea Chhom has also headed the Preah Norodom Sihanouk — Angkor Museum in Siem Reap, a joint establishment between Apsara Authority and Sophia University (Tokyo) opened in 2008. 

Chhom Kunthea’s insights on inscriptions of Cambodia in Sanskrit and Khmer have opened numerous hypotheses for further research, for instance her take on the coining of the term Kambuja in the 8^th century, linking the country of the Khmer people to a mythical Shivaite ascet as a reference of prestige.

Read Kunthea Chhom’s autobiographical essay in IIAS Newsletter, vol. 81, Autumn 2018.

Publications

[under construction]

1. Inscriptions of Koh Ker I, Publications of the Hungarian Southeast Asian Research Institute 1 (series editor: Zsuzsanna Renner), 2011, 334 p.
2. [with Mathieu Guérin] ​“Le périple de Khim et Nov de Stung Treng à Attopeu en 1883, récit d’exploration cambodgien du XIXe siècle”, Péninsule 69 – 2, 2014, p 163.
3. Le rôle du sanskrit dans le développement de la langue khmère: Une étude épigraphique du VIe au XIVe siècle, Phnom Penh, Sāstrā Publishing House, 2018, 750 p. ISBN-13 : 978−99963−92−03−0
4. [with Arlo Griffiths] ​“A problematic inscription (K. 1237)”, Udaya 19, 2019: 3 – 22.
5. “Le mythe de Kambu chez les Khmers : une pratique sanskritique”, in Pierre-Sylvain Filliozat & Michel Zink eds., Mythes d’origine dans les civilisations de l’Asie, Paris, Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres, 2021, p 201 – 14.
   

Translations

• [tr. FR>KH] វេយ្យាករណ៍ភាសាសំស្ក្រឹតថ្នាក់មូលដ្ឋាន [A Concise Elementary Grammar of the Sanskrit Language] by Jan Gonda, Utrecht University, published by Buddhist Institute, Phnom Penh 2020, ISBN-13: 978−99950−50−11−5.

Communications

• ធាតុផ្សំសំស្ក្រឹតក្នុងភាសាខែ្មរចាស់ [Sanskrit Elements in Old Khmer], RUFA-Yosothor, 28 June 2019.
• សាកល្បងមើលសិលាចារឹកកម្ពុជាតាមក្រសែភ្នែកមនុស្សសម័យចាស់ [Looking at Cambodian inscriptions through the eyes of people of yore], Apsara National Authority Center, 18 Aug. 2019, Part I & Part II.
• វប្បធម៌សំស្រ្កឹត និងការសិក្សានៅសម័យមុនអង្គរ និងសម័យអង្គរ [The Culture of Sanskrit and the Studies in the Pre-Angkor and Angkor periods], Apsara National Authority Center, 27 Aug. 2019, Part I & Part II.
• [with Im Sok Rithy]: ព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនានិងមន្ទីរព្យាបាលរោគក្នុងរាជព្រះបាទជយវម៌្មនទី៧ [Buddhism and Hospitals during the reign of Jayavarman VII], Apsara National Authority Center, 13 Sept. 2019, Part I & Part II.
• សិលាចារឹកនៃរាជ្យព្រះបាទជ័យវម៌្មទី១ នៅដែនដីសណ្ដទន្លេមេគង្គ [Inscriptions of the reign of King Jayavarman I in the Mekong Delta], Live stream by the National Museum of Cambodia, 26 Jan. 2024.
• សិលាចារឹកប្រាសាទអង្គរវត្ត [The Inscriptions of Angkor Wat Temple], Apsara National Authority Center, 31 Aug. 2025.