Khmer (/kmɛər/, /kəˈmɛər/; ភាសាខ្មែរ, Phéasa Khmê [pʰiəˈsaː kʰmae], or more formally ខេមរភាសា, Khémrăphéasa [kʰeːmraʔ pʰiəˈsaː]) is an Austroasiatic language spoken by the Khmer people and the official language of Cambodia. With approximately 16 million speakers, it is the second most widely spoken Austroasiatic language (after Vietnamese). Khmer has been influenced considerably by Sanskrit and Pali, especially in the royal and religious registers, through Hinduism and Buddhism. It is also the earliest recorded and earliest written language of the Mon–Khmer family, predating Mon and Vietnamese, due to Old Khmer being the language of the historical empires of Chenla, Angkor and, presumably, their earlier predecessor state, Funan.