Cham language

Cham
ꨌꩌ چام
'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 (245,000)[2] Eastern Cham (180,000)[3]
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 (Cham: ꨌꩌ, Jawi: چام) 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 491,448 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 late 4th century AD. It has several dialects, with Eastern Cham (Phan Rang Cham) and Western Cham being the main ones. The Cham script, derived from the ancient Indic script, is still used for ceremonial and religious purposes.