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    Sinhala is the primary language of Sri Lanka, spoken by around 17 million people. It uses a syllabic alphabet derived from the ancient Brahmi script. Notable features of written Sinhala include the use of independent vowel letters and conjunct symbols combining consonants and nasals. Sinhala has a long literary history dating back to the 9th century AD. It is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka, along with Tamil.

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    Sinhala is the primary language of Sri Lanka, spoken by around 17 million people. It uses a syllabic alphabet derived from the ancient Brahmi script. Notable features of written Sinhala include the use of independent vowel letters and conjunct symbols combining consonants and nasals. Sinhala has a long literary history dating back to the 9th century AD. It is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka, along with Tamil.

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    521 views6 pages

    Sinhala Alphabet, Pronunciation and Language

    Uploaded by

    5Kev
    Sinhala is the primary language of Sri Lanka, spoken by around 17 million people. It uses a syllabic alphabet derived from the ancient Brahmi script. Notable features of written Sinhala include the use of independent vowel letters and conjunct symbols combining consonants and nasals. Sinhala has a long literary history dating back to the 9th century AD. It is one of two official languages of Sri Lanka, along with Tamil.

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    Home Writing systems Constructed scripts Languages Phrases Articles Search News

    About Contact

    Sinhala ( ංහල)   
    Sinhala is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by about 16 million Sinhalese people in Sri Lanka. It also used
    as a second language by another 3 million people belonging to other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, where it is one of the
    official and national languages, along with Tamil. There are also considerable numbers of Sinhala speakers in Singapore,
    Thailand, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

    Sinhala is also known as Sinhalese or Singhala - the latter version is


    closer to the pronunciation native name. The native name of the language
    is ංහල (Siṃhāla), which comes from Sanskrit and could be translated as
    Sinhala at a glance
    Native name: ංහල (Siṃhāla) [ˈsiŋɦələ]
    "lion-seizer", "lion-killer" or "lion blood", which refer to the legendary Linguistic affliation: Indo-European; Indo-Iranian; Indo-
    founder of the Sinhala people, Prince Vijaya, a descendant of Aryan; Southern Indo-Aryan; Insular Indo-Aryan
    Number of speakers: c.17 million
    Sinhabahu/Sīhabāhu ("Lion-arms"), the son of a princess of the Vanga
    Spoken in: Sri Lanka
    Kingdom and a lion. First written: 9th century AD
    Writing system: Sinhala alphabets
    Status: official and national language in Sri Lanka
    Sinhala alphabet
    The Sinhala alphabet, a descendent of the Brahmi script, started to
    appear in Prakrit inscriptions during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Both the alphabet and the language have changed
    considerably since then. The earliest surviving literature in Sinhala dates from the 9th century AD.

    The Sinhala alphabet is also used to write Pali and Sanskrit in Sri Lanka.

    Notable features
    Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet.
    Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.
    When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent letters.
    Prenasalized consonants, such as mb, nd, ṇd and ng, are formed by special conjunct symbols that combine the stop and
    the homorganic nasal.
    Conjunct symbols are used only when writing Sanskrit or Pali with the Sinhala alphabet.
    A subset of the letters, known as Eḷu hōḷdiya, was used to write classical Sinhala (Eḷu) - shown in blue below. Many extra
    letters were added to write Sanskrit and Pali loanwords.

    Vowels
    Vowel diacritics with ka

    Consonants

    Conjunct consonants
    Numerals

    These numerals are no longer used in written Sinhala, instead the Western-style numerals are used.

    Spreadsheet of the Sinhala alphabet (Excel, 56K)

    Sample text in Sinhala

    Transliteration
    Siyalu manuṣyayō nidahasva upata labā æta. Garutvayen hā ayitivāsikam samāna veti. Yukti ayukti piḷiban̆da hæn̆gīmen
    hā hṛda sākṣiyen yut ovun, ovunovunṭa sæḷakiya yuttē sahōdaratvaya piḷiban̆da hæn̆gīmeni.

    Hear a recording of this text by Ajit Alles (අ අල )


    0:00 / 0:14

    Translation
    All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should
    act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
    (Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)

    Information about Sinhala | Phrases | Numbers | Tower of Babel | Learning materials

    Links
    Information about the Sinhala alphabet and language
    http://www.sinhalapage.com
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhala_language
    http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/bylanguage/sinhalachart.html
    http://www.sinhala-online.com

    Sinhala lessons and courses


    http://mylanguages.org/learn_sinhala.php
    http://fsi-https://www.livelingua.com/project/fsi/Sinhala/
    http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rTFAAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y

    Sinhala phrases
    http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=31976
    http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhalese-conversation.html?unicode=yes
    http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/sinhala-phrases.html
    http://www.languageshome.com/English-Sinhalese.htm
    http://www.the-backpacking-site.com/countries/sri_lanka-phrase.html

    Sinhala and Tamil word and letter puzzles


    http://panther.lk/toys/toys.asp?ToysCat=5

    The South Asian Literary Recordings Project - Sinhalese authors reading extracts from their work:
    http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/sinhalese.html

    Online Sinhala dictionaries


    http://www.sinhaladictionary.org
    http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhalese-dictionary.html
    http://www.lanka.info/dictionary/EnglishToSinhala.jsp
    http://dictionary.tamilcube.com/sinhala-dictionary.aspx
    http://www.freepcclinic.com/madura_online_dictionary.html
    Online Sinhala radio
    http://www.nilwalaradio.com
    http://www.miyurusara.com

    Online news in Sinhala


    http://www.lankadeepa.lk
    http://www.sinhala24news.com
    http://lankaenews.com/Sinhala/

    Free Sinhala fonts and software


    http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Sinhala.html
    http://ananmanan.lk/free_sinhala_fonts/
    http://www.wideshaseva.com/home/free_sinhala_fonts.html
    http://www.metta.lk/fonts/

    Convert romanized Sinhala to the Sinhala alphabet


    http://unicode.malindaprasad.com/

    More Sinhala links


    http://sites.google.com/site/soyouwanttolearnalanguage/sinhala

    Indo-Aryan languages
    Angika, Awadhi, Assamese, Bengali, Bhili, Bhojpuri, Bishnupriya Manipuri, Braj, Chakma, Chhattisgarhi, Dhivehi,
    Dhundari, Domari, Erromintxela, Fiji Hindi, Garhwali, Gujarati, Hajong, Halbi, Haryanvi, Hindi, Indus Kohistani, Jaunsari,
    Kalderash Romani, Kangri, Kannauji, Kashmiri, Khandeshi, Konkani, Kotia, Kullui, Kumaoni, Kutchi, Lambadi, Lovari
    Romani, Magahi, Mahasu Pahari, Maithili, Marathi, Marwari, Modi, Nepali, Odia, Palula, Parkari Koli, Punjabi, Rajasthani,
    Rangpuri, Rohingya, Romani, Sadri, Saraiki, Sarnámi Hindustani, Sindhi, Sinhala, Shina, Sirmauri, Sourashtra, Sugali,
    Sylheti, Tanchangya, Torwali, Urdu

    Syllabic alphabets / abugidas


    Ahom, Aima, Badaga, Balinese, Balti-A, Balti-B, Batak, Baybayin (Tagalog), Bengali, Bhaiksuki, Bhujimol, Bilang-bilang,
    Bima, Blackfoot, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese, Carrier, Chakma, Cham, Cree, Dehong Dai, Devanagari, Dham Lipi, Dhankari /
    Sirmauri, Ditema, Dives Akuru, Dogra, Ethiopic, Evēla Akuru, Fraser, Gond, Goykanadi, Grantha, Gujarati, Gunjala Gondi,
    Gupta, Gurmukhi, Hanifi, Hanuno'o, Ibalnan, Inuktitut, Jaunsari Takri, Javanese, Jenticha, Kaithi, Kadamba, Kamarupi,
    Kannada, Kawi, Kerinci, Kharosthi, Khema, Khe Phri, Khmer, Khojki, Khudabadi, Kirat Rai, Kōchi, Kulitan, Lampung,
    Lanna, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Lota Ende, Magar Akkha, Mahajani, Malayalam, Manpuri, Meroïtic,
    Masarm Gondi, Modi, Mon, Mongolian Horizontal Square Script, Multani, Nandinagari, Newa, Ojibwe, Odia, Pahawh
    Hmong, Pallava, Phags-pa, Purva Licchavi, Ranjana, Redjang, Sasak, Savara, Satera Jontal, Shan, Sharda, Siddham,
    Sinhala, Sorang Sompeng, Sourashtra, Soyombo, Sundanese, Syloti Nagri, Tagbanwa, Takri, Tamil, Tanchangya (Ka-Pat),
    Tani, Thaana, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan, Tigalari, Tikamuli, Tocharian, Tolong Siki, Vatteluttu, Warang Citi

    Page last modified: 23.04.21

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