CAMBODIA, December 20, 2016 (by Hanna Hawkins, Cambodia Daily): Chhom Kunthea became Cambodia’s first Sanskritist on Friday after receiving a doctorate for her research on the impact the ancient Indian language- on the Khmer language. It is widely accepted that the country’s primary language could not have developed effectively without interacting with Sanskrit, which is believed to have arrived on Cambodia’s shores with Indian merchants sometime around year one on the Gregorian calendar. The language was used for written records during the Khmer Empire for more than 1,000 years, researchers believe.
Lois de Menil, the former chair of the Center for Khmer Studies, which provided financial support for Ms. Kunthea’s studies, said knowledge of Sanskrit was crucial to learning more about Cambodia’s distant past. “A major portion of Cambodia’s ancient history, as recorded on stone inscriptions and in documents, is in Sanskrit because of the enormous influence of Indian culture on Khmer civilization in past centuries,” she said in an email. At the time Ms. Kunthea began her studies, Sanskrit was not taught at any Cambodian universities, she noted, meaning: “No Cambodian students could therefore access this central component of Cambodia’s historical heritage.”