How did Sanskrit influence languages in Southeast Asia?

Sanskrit significantly influenced Southeast Asian civilizations through the spread of Hinduism and Buddhism, acting as a primary vehicle for religious, literary, and political development. Its influence manifested in several key ways:12

• Literary and Religious Scholarship: In regions such as Cambodia and Indonesia, Sanskrit became the language of sacred Hindu and Buddhist texts. Scholars of Sanskrit were integrated into royal courts, where they produced local literature and helped valorize the power of monarchs through Hindu rituals and concepts of statehood.132
• Loanwords: Sanskrit provided a vast vocabulary of loanwords to many Southeast Asian languages. For example, about half of the vocabulary in Old Javanese texts is of Sanskrit origin. Languages such as Thai, Lao, Malay, and even those in the Philippines incorporated numerous Sanskrit terms to enrich their literary and formal registers.456
• Writing Systems: Sanskrit and the broader Indian tradition were instrumental in the development of Southeast Asian scripts. The South Indian variety of the Brahmi script served as the ancestor for many regional writing systems, including those used for Khmer, Old Javanese (Kavi), Thai, and Cham.278
• Cultural Narratives: The great Hindu epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, were introduced via Sanskrit, becoming deeply embedded in local cultures through storytelling, dance, and temple art.12