Language Learning: Sinhala
In this month’s edition of language learning we explore Sinhala. Sometimes called Sinhalese, this language is primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka. This Indo-Aryan language is written in Sinhala script, related to the Grantha script of South India.
Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested to as early as the 5th century BC. The word Sinhala itself is a Sanskrit word, meaning lion people. This phrase comes from a Sinhalese myth surrounding the first King of the Sinhalese people, King Vijaya the Conqueror.
The written and the spoken versions of the Sinhala language differ in many ways. While the written language is used for all written endeavors, it is also spoken at formal events. The spoken language is used primarily as a language for communication, is used in day to day speech, and is not considered to be as prestigious as the written language. Religious sermons, university lectures, political speeches, and personal letters occupy an intermediate space where features from both spoken and written Sinhala are used together, and choices about which to include give different impressions of the text.
As a result of centuries of colonial rule and interaction, modern Sinhala contains many Portuguese, Dutch, and English loanwords. Sinhala is spoken by about 16 million people, the majority of whom live in Sri Lanka. The language enjoys official language status alongside Tamil, ensuring its continued use in government administration and legal documents.
CETRA has provided Sinhala interpreters for clients, as well as many other languages. For more information on our language services, please contact us or email info@cetra.com.
Source: https://effectivelanguagelearning.com/language-guide/sinhala-language/
