Khom script (Ong Kommadam)

The script was invented by Ong Kommandam for conveying secret messages that could not be deciphered by the French or Siamese forces that had divided Laos.

Although the word Khom originally referred to the Khmer, it was later applied to related Austroasiatic peoples such as the Lao Theung, many of which had supported Ong Kammandam.

This onset-rime division is not readily accommodated in any of the existing typologies of scripts, though shared by Zhuyin Fuhao.

The script contains more than 300 characters, in order to fully encompass the rich morphology of the Bahnaric languages.

Although the shapes of the letters have a superficial resemblance to several writing systems in the area, it was not related to any of them.