සිංහල

Sinhala

Indo-Aryan

FamilyIndo-Aryan Speakers~17M ScriptSinhala CountriesSri Lanka Official inSri Lanka Vitalitysafe ISO 639-3sin

Sinhala (සිංහල) is the predominant language of Sri Lanka, with ~17M speakers (~75% of the population), an Insular Indo-Aryan language that developed in isolation from the mainland for over two millennia after the legendary 5th-c. BCE migration of Prince Vijaya. Long-standing influence from Pali (the canonical language of Theravada Buddhism) and Sanskrit, with substantial Dravidian (Tamil, Malayalam) loanwords from prolonged contact. The 2300+ year literary tradition begins with the Sigiriya graffiti (8th-10th c. CE) and continues through medieval Buddhist commentary literature. Uses the distinctive rounded Sinhala abugida derived from Brahmi via Grantha, with vowel diacritics arranged around consonant glyphs. Co-official with Tamil since the 1987 13th Amendment.

Where it is spoken

20 core words in Sinhala

Water

වතුර

/ʋatuɾə/

Fire

ගින්න

/ɡɪnːə/

Sun

ඉර

/ɪɾə/

Moon

හඳ

/handə/

Mother

අම්මා

/əmːaː/

Father

තාත්තා

/taːtːaː/

Eat

කනවා

/kənəʋaː/

Drink

බොනවා

/bonəʋaː/

Love

ආදරය

/aːdəɾəjə/

Heart

හදවත

/ɦədəʋətə/

Tree

ගස

/ɡəsə/

House

ගෙදර

/ɡedəɾə/

Dog

බල්ලා

/bəlːaː/

Cat

පූසා

/puːsaː/

Hand

අත

/ətə/

Eye

ඇස

/æsə/

Hello

ආයුබෝවන්

/aːjuboːʋən/

Thank you

ස්තූතියි

/stuːtɪjɪ/

One

එක

/ekə/

Good

හොඳ

/ɦondə/

Words compared

Compared with related Indo-Aryan languages

Meaning SinhalaMalayalamOdiaLambadiGujaratiNeapolitanMarathi
Water වතුර /ʋatuɾə/ വെള്ളം /ʋeɭːəm/ ପାଣି /paːɳi/ पानी /paːniː/ પાણી /paːɳiː/ acqua /akkwə/ पाणी /paːɳiː/
Fire ගින්න /ɡɪnːə/ തീ /tiː/ ନିଆଁ /niãː/ आग /aːɡ/ આગ /aːɡ/ fuoco /fwɔkə/ अग्नी /əɡniː/
Sun ඉර /ɪɾə/ സൂര്യൻ /suːɾjən/ ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟ /suːɾjɔ/ सुरज /suɾədʒ/ સૂર્ય /suːɾjə/ sole /solə/ सूर्य /suːɾjə/
Moon හඳ /handə/ ചന്ദ്രൻ /tʃəndɾən/ ଚନ୍ଦ୍ର /tʃɔndɾɔ/ चांद /tʃãːd/ ચંદ્ર /tʃəndɾə/ luna /lunə/ चंद्र /tʃəndɾə/
Mother අම්මා /əmːaː/ അമ്മ /əmːə/ ମା /maː/ मा /maː/ મા /maː/ mamma /mammə/ आई /aːiː/
Father තාත්තා /taːtːaː/ അച്ഛൻ /ətʃːʰən/ ବାପା /baːpaː/ बाप /baːp/ પિતા /pɪtaː/ pate /patə/ वडील /ʋəɖiːl/
Eat කනවා /kənəʋaː/ കഴിക്കുക /kəɻɪkːukə/ ଖାଇବା /kʰaːɪbaː/ खा /kʰaː/ ખાવું /kʰaːʋũ/ mangià /mandʒa/ खाणे /kʰaːɳe/
Drink බොනවා /bonəʋaː/ കുടിക്കുക /kuɖɪkːukə/ ପିଇବା /piːɪbaː/ पी /piː/ પીવું /piːʋũ/ vevere /vevərə/ पिणे /pɪɳe/
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Word order compared

Compare with major world languages

मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
Sinhala
මම හෝටලයට මුහුණලා සාප්පුවක දුටු සූට් එක ඇඳ බැලීමට කැමතියි
أنا أريد أن أجرب بدلة رأيتها في محل مقابل الفندق
试穿 酒店 对面的 商店 看到的 那套西装
I want to try on a suit I saw ‌in a shop across from the hotel
Ich möchte einen Anzug anprobieren den ich in einem Geschäft gegenüber vom Hotel gesehen habe
私は ホテルの 向かいの お店 見た スーツを 試着 したいです
Я хочу примерить костюм который я увидел в магазине напротив отеля

Compare with closely-related languages

মই হোটেলৰ সন্মুখৰ দোকানত দেখা ছুটটো পিন্ধি চাব বিচাৰোঁ
আমি হোটেলের উল্টোদিকের দোকানে দেখা স্যুট পরে দেখতে চাই
હું હોટલની સામેની દુકાનમાં જોયેલો સૂટ પહેરી જોવા માગું છું
मैं होटल के सामने एक दुकान में देखा सूट को पहनकर देखना चाहता हूँ
Sinhala
මම හෝටලයට මුහුණලා සාප්පුවක දුටු සූට් එක ඇඳ බැලීමට කැමතියි

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