View source for Sinhala language

{{EngvarB|date=October 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2015}}
{{Infobox language
|name=Sinhalese
|image=Word Sinhala in Yasarath font.svg
|nativename={{lang|si|සිංහල}} ''{{IAST|sinhala}}''
|region= [[Sri Lanka]]
|speakers = {{sigfig|15.6|2}} million
|date     = 2007
|ref      = e18
|speakers2=4 million [[second language]] (1997)
|familycolor=Indo-European
|fam2=[[Indo-Iranian languages|Indo-Iranian]]
|fam3=[[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
|fam4=[[Indo-Aryan languages#Southern Zone languages|Southern Zone]]
|fam5=[[Indo-Aryan languages#Insular Indic|Insular Indic]]
|ancestor=[[Elu]]
|dia1=[[Vedda language|Vedda]] (perhaps a creole)
|script=[[Sinhala alphabet]]<br/>[[Sinhalese Braille]] ([[Bharati Braille]])
|nation= [[Sri Lanka]]
|iso1=si
|iso2=sin
|iso3=sin
|lingua=59-ABB-a
|glotto=sinh1246
|glottorefname=Sinhala
|notice=Indic
|notice2=IPA
}}

'''Sinhalese''' ({{IPAc-en|s|ɪ|n|ə|ˈ|l|iː|z}}), known natively as '''Sinhala''' ({{lang-si|සිංහල}}; ''siṁhala'' {{IPA-si|ˈsiŋɦələ|}}),<ref>Laurie Bauer, 2007, ''The Linguistics Student's Handbook'', Edinburgh</ref> is the native language of the [[Sinhalese people]], who make up the largest ethnic group in [[Sri Lanka]], numbering about 16 million.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=pop42&gp=Activities&tpl=3|title=Census of Population and Housing 2011|website=www.statistics.gov.lk|access-date=2017-04-06}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-04-04|title=Sinhalese people|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Sinhalese_people&oldid=773873107|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sin|title=Sinhala|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2017-04-06}}</ref> Sinhalese is also spoken as a second language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about four million.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/PDF/Population/p9p11%20Speaking.pdf |title=Census of Population and Housing 2001 |publisher=Statistics.gov.lk |accessdate=16 November 2013}}</ref> It belongs to the [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan branch]] of the [[Indo-European languages]].<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-04-04|title=Sinhalese people|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Sinhalese_people&oldid=773873107|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}}</ref> Sinhalese is written using the [[Sinhalese alphabet|Sinhalese script]], which is one of the [[Brahmic scripts]], a descendant of the ancient Indian [[Brahmi script]] closely related to the [[Kadamba alphabet]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcQSAAAAMAAJ|title=History of the Evolution of the Sinhala Alphabet|last=Jayarajan|first=Paul M.|date=1976-01-01|publisher=Colombo Apothecaries' Company, Limited|language=en}}</ref>

Sinhalese is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka. Sinhalese, along with [[Pali]], played a major role in the development of [[Theravada]] Buddhist literature.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=2017-04-04|title=Sinhalese people|url=https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Sinhalese_people&oldid=773873107|journal=Wikipedia|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ethnologue.com/language/sin|title=Sinhala|work=Ethnologue|access-date=2017-04-06}}</ref>

The oldest Sinhalese Prakrit inscriptions found are from the third to second century BCE following the [[Buddhism in Sri Lanka#Introduction of Buddhism|arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka]],<ref>{{cite book|last=Danesh Jain, George Cardona|title=Indo-Aryan Languages|publisher=Routledge|page=847}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sinhala/1.1#History|title=Introduction ~ හැඳින්වීම - Wikibooks, open books for an open world|website=en.wikibooks.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-06}}</ref> the oldest extant literary works date from the ninth century. The closest relative of Sinhalese is the [[Maldivian language]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Sinhala/1.1#History|title=Introduction ~ හැඳින්වීම - Wikibooks, open books for an open world|website=en.wikibooks.org|language=en|access-date=2017-04-06}}</ref>

== Etymology ==
{{main|Names of Sri Lanka#Sinhala}}
''Sinhala'' ({{IAST|Siṃhāla}}) is a [[Sanskrit]] term; the corresponding [[Middle Indo-Aryan languages|Middle Indo-Aryan]] ([[Elu|Eḷu]]) word is ''Sīhala''.
The name is a derivation from ''{{IAST|[[:wikt:सिंह|siṃha]]}}'', the Sanskrit word for "lion"<ref>{{Cite journal| last=Caldwell | first=Robert | author-link=Robert Caldwell | title=A comparative grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages | publisher=Trübner & Co. | place=London|year=1875|page=86}}</ref> 
''{{IAST|Siṃhāla}}'' is attested as a Sanskrit name of the island of in the ''[[Bhagavata Purana]]''. The name is sometimes glossed as "abode of lions", and attributed to a supposed former abundance of [[lion]]s on the island.<ref>{{cite journal|title=Chinese Account of Ceylon|journal=The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia|date=1836|volume=20|page=30}}</ref>

== History ==
According to the chronicle ''[[Mahavamsa]]'', written in [[Pali]], Prince Vijaya and his entourage merged with two [[exotic tribes of ancient India]] present in [[Lanka]], the [[Yaksha|Yakkha]] and [[Naga people (Lanka)|Naga peoples]]. In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India ([[Kalinga (historical kingdom)|Kalinga]], [[Magadha]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.lankalibrary.com/books/sinhala_history.htm |title=WWW Virtual Library Sri Lanka : Sri Lanka: A Short History of Sinhala Language |publisher=Lankalibrary.com |date= |accessdate=16 November 2013}}</ref> which led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits.{{Citation needed|date=April 2009}}

=== Stages of historical development ===
The development of the Sinhalese language is divided into four periods:
* [[Elu|Sinhalese Prakrit]] (until 3rd century CE)
* Proto-Sinhalese (3rd – 7th century CE)
* Medieval Sinhalese (7th – 12th century CE)
* Modern Sinhalese (12th century&nbsp;– present)

=== Phonetic development ===
The most important phonetic developments of the Sinhalese language include
* the loss of the [[aspirated consonant|aspiration]] distinction (e.g. ''kanavā'' "to eat" corresponds to Sanskrit ''khādati'', Hindi ''khānā'')
* the loss of a [[vowel length]] distinction; long vowels in the modern language are due to [[loanword]]s (e.g. ''vibāgaya'' "exam" < Sanskrit ''vibhāga'') and [[sandhi]], either after [[elision]] of [[Intervocalic consonant]]s (e.g. ''dānavā'' "to put" < ''damanavā'') or in originally [[Compound (linguistics)|compound]] words.
* the simplification of [[consonant cluster]]s and [[Gemination|geminate consonants]] into geminates and single consonants respectively (e.g. Sanskrit ''viṣṭā'' "time" > Sinhalese Prakrit ''viṭṭa'' > Modern Sinhalese ''viṭa'')
* development of {{IPA|/j/}} to {{IPA|/d/}} (e.g. ''däla'' "web" corresponds to Sanskrit ''jāla'')

=== Western vs. Eastern Prakrit features ===
An example for a Western feature in Sinhalese is the retention of initial {{IPA|/v/}} which developed into {{IPA|/b/}} in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit ''viṃśati'' "twenty", Sinhalese ''visi-'', Hindi ''bīs''). An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary [[Doublet (linguistics)|doublets]], e.g. the words ''mässā'' ("fly") and ''mäkkā'' ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit ''makṣikā'' but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words ''macchiā'' and ''makkhikā'' (as in [[Pali]]).

=== Pre-1815 Sinhalese literature ===
During the career of [[Christopher Reynolds (linguist)|Christopher Reynolds]] as a Sinhalese lecturer at the [[SOAS, University of London]], he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature: the Sri Lankan government awarded him the [[Sri Lanka Ranjana]] medal for this. He wrote the 377-page ''An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815'', selected by the [[UNESCO]] National Commission of Ceylon<ref>''UNESCO Collection of Representative Works, Sinhalese Series'', George Allen and Unwin Limited, London 1970 http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=4090792</ref>

== Ecology ==

=== Substratum influence in Sinhalese ===
According to Geiger, Sinhalese has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the [[Vedda language]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Gair|1998|page=4}}</ref> Sinhalese has many words that are only found in Sinhalese, or shared between Sinhalese and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Common examples are ''kola'' for leaf in Sinhalese and Vedda, ''dola'' for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhalese. Other common words are ''rera'' for wild duck, and ''gala'' for stones (in [[toponyms]] used throughout the island).<ref name=v230>{{Harvnb|Van Driem|2002|page=230}}</ref> There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhalese, such as ''olluva'' for head, ''kakula'' for leg, ''bella'' for neck and ''kalava'' for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka.<ref name=I45>{{Harvnb|Indrapala|2007|page=45}}</ref> The author of the oldest Sinhalese grammar, ''Sidatsangarava'', written in the 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhalese. The grammar lists ''naramba'' (to see) and ''kolamba'' (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. ''Kolamba'' is the source of the name of the commercial capital [[Colombo]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Indrapala|2007|page=70}}</ref><ref>{{Harvnb|Gair|1998|page=5}}</ref>

=== Influences from neighbouring languages ===
In addition to many [[List of Sinhala words of Tamil origin|Tamil loanwords]], several phonetic and grammatical features present in neighbouring [[Dravidian languages]], setting today's spoken Sinhalese apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan siblings, bear witness to the close interactions with Dravidian speakers. However, formal Sinhalese is more similar to Pali and medieval Sinhalese. Some of the features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are –
* the distinction between short e, o and long ē, ō
* the loss of aspiration
* [[Branching (linguistics)|left-branching syntax]]
* the use of the [[attributive verb]] of ''kiyana'' "to say" as a subordinating [[conjunction (grammar)|conjunction]] with the meanings "that" and "if", e.g.:

{| class="wikitable"
|{{Lang|si|ඒක}}
|{{Lang|si|අළුත්}}
|{{Lang|si|කියලා}}
|{{Lang|si|මම}}
|{{Lang|si|දන්නවා}}
|-
| ēka ||aḷut
| kiyalā || mama ||dannavā
|-
| it || new || having-said || I || know
|}
"I know that it is new."

{| class="wikitable"
|{{Lang|si|ඒක}}
|{{Lang|si|අළුත්ද}}
|{{Lang|si|කියලා}}
|{{Lang|si|මම}}
|{{Lang|si|දන්නේ}}
|{{Lang|si|නැහැ}}
|-
| ēka ||aḷut-da
| kiyalā || mama || dannē || nähä
|-
| it || new-? || having-said || I || know-EMP || not
|}
"I do not know whether it is new."

=== Foreign influence ===
As a result of centuries of colonial rule, modern Sinhalese contains some [[List of Portuguese words in Sinhala|Portuguese]], [[List of Dutch words in Sinhala|Dutch]] and [[List of Sinhala words of English origin|English loanwords]].

=== Influences on other languages ===
[[Macanese Patois]] or Macau Creole (known as ''Patuá'' to its speakers) is a [[creole language]] derived mainly from [[Malay language|Malay]], Sinhalese, [[Cantonese]], and [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], which was originally spoken by the [[Macanese people]] of the [[Kingdom of Portugal|Portuguese]] colony of [[Macau]]. It is now spoken by a few families in Macau and in the Macanese [[diaspora]].

The language developed first mainly among the descendants of Portuguese settlers who often married women from [[Malacca]] and [[Sri Lanka]] rather than from neighbouring [[China]], so the language had strong Malay and Sinhalese influence from the beginning.

=== Numerals ===
{{main|Sinhala numerals|}}
Sinhalese shares many features common to other [[Indo-European languages]]. Shared vocabulary includes the numbers up to ten.

== Accents and dialects ==
Sinhalese spoken in the [[Southern Province, Sri Lanka|Southern Province]] ([[Galle District|Galle]], [[Matara District|Matara]] and [[Hambantota District]]s) uses several words that are not found elsewhere in the country; this is also the case for the [[Central Province, Sri Lanka|Central]] and [[North Central Province, Sri Lanka|North-Central Provinces]] and south-eastern region ([[Uva Province]] and the surrounding area). For native speakers all dialects are mutually intelligible, and they might not even realise that the differences are significant.<ref>{{cite web|title=Sinhalese Language|url=http://www.alsglobal.net/languages/sinhalese.php|publisher=American Language Services|accessdate=20 August 2011}}</ref>

The language of the [[Vedda people]] resembles Sinhalese to a great extent, although it has a large number of words which cannot be traced to another language. The [[Rodiya]] use another dialect of Sinhalese. Rodiya used to be a caste in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka no longer recognizes castes.

== Diglossia ==
In Sinhalese there is distinctive [[diglossia]], as in many languages of South Asia. The [[literary language]] and the [[spoken language]] differ from each other in many aspects. The written language is used for all forms of [[Literature|literary texts]] but also orally at formal occasions (public speeches, TV and radio news broadcasts, etc.), whereas the spoken language is used as the language of communication in everyday life (see also [[Sinhala slang]] and [[colloquialism]]). As a rule the literary language uses more [[Sanskrit]]-based words.

The most important difference between the two varieties is the lack of [[Inflection|inflected]] [[verb]] forms in the spoken language.

The situation is analogous to one where [[Middle English|Middle]] or even [[Old English]] would be the written language in [[Great Britain]]. The children are taught the written language at school almost like a [[foreign language]].

Sinhalese also has diverse [[slang]]. Most slang words and terms were regarded as taboo and most were frowned upon as non-scholarly. However, nowadays Sinhalese slang words and terms, even the ones with sexual references, are commonly used among younger Sri Lankans.

== Writing system ==
[[File:Ayubowan.png|thumb|{{Lang|si|ආයුබෝවන්}} (''āyubōvan'') means "welcome", literally wishing one a long life]]
{{Main|Sinhalese alphabet|Sinhalese Braille}}
The [[Sinhalese alphabet]], ''Sinhala hodiya'', is based on the ancient [[Brahmi script]], as are most Indian scripts. The Sinhalese alphabet is closely related to [[South India]]n [[Grantha alphabet]] and [[Khmer alphabet]] taken the elements from the related [[Kadamba alphabet]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ancientscripts.com/sinhala.html|title=Ancient Scripts: Sinhala|website=www.ancientscripts.com|access-date=2016-04-07}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcQSAAAAMAAJ|title=History of the Evolution of the Sinhala Alphabet|last=Jayarajan|first=Paul M.|date=1976-01-01|publisher=Colombo Apothecaries' Company, Limited|language=en}}</ref>

The Sinhalese writing system is an [[abugida]], where the consonants are written with letters while the vowels are indicated with [[diacritic]]s (''pilla'') on those consonants, unlike English where both consonants and vowels are full letters, or Urdu where vowels need not be written at all. Also, when a diacritic is not used, an "inherent vowel", either {{IPA|/a/}} or {{IPA|/ə/}}, is understood, depending on the position of the consonant within the word. For example, the letter ක ''k'' on its own indicates ''ka'', either {{IPA|/ka/}} or {{IPA|/kə/}}. The various vowels are written කා ''kā'', කැ ''kä'', කෑ ''kǟ'' (after the consonant), කි ''ki'', කී ''kī'' (above the consonant), කු ''ku'', කූ ''kū'' (below the consonant), කෙ ''ke'', කේ ''kē'' (before the consonant), කො ''ko'', කෝ ''kō'' (surrounding the consonant). There are also a few diacritics for consonants, such as ''r''. For simple {{IPA|/k/}} without a vowel, a vowel-cancelling diacritic ([[virama]]) called ''hal kirīma'' is used: ක් ''k''. Several of these diacritics occur in two forms, which depend on the shape of the consonant letter. Vowels also have independent letters but these are only used at the beginning of words where there is no preceding consonant to add a diacritic to.

The complete alphabet consist of 60 letters, 18 for vowels and 42 for consonants. However, only 57 (16 vowels and 41 consonants) are required for writing colloquial spoken Sinhalese (''suddha Sinhala''). The rest indicate sounds that have gotten lost in the course of linguistic change, such as the aspirates, are restricted to [[Sanskrit]] and [[Pali]] loan words.

Sinhalese is written from left to right and the Sinhalese character set (the Sinhalese script) is only used for this one language.{{citation needed|date=September 2011}} The alphabetic sequence is similar to those of other Brahmic scripts:

:''a/ā ä/ǟ i/ī u/ū [ŗ] e/ē [ai] o/ō [au] k [kh] g [g] ṅ c [ch] j [jh] [ñ] ṭ [ṭa] ṭ [ṭh] ḍ [ḍh] ṇ t [th] d [dh] n p [ph] b [bh] m y r l v [ś ṣ] s h ḷ f''

== Phonology ==
[[File:Sinhalese vowel chart.svg|thumb|upright=1.13|Sinhalese vowel chart, from {{Harvcoltxt|Perera|Jones|1919|p=5}}]]
* The presence of so-called [[prenasalized consonant]]s. A very short [[Homorganic consonants|homorganic]] nasal is added before a [[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]] [[stop consonant]]. The nasal is syllabified with the onset of the following syllable, which means that the [[mora (linguistics)|moraic weight]] of the preceding syllable is left unchanged.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! colspan="2" |
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br />[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Retroflex consonant|Retroflex]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|m}} || {{IPA|n̪}} || {{IPA|ɳ}} || {{IPA|ɲ}} || {{IPA|ŋ}} ||
|-
! rowspan="3" | [[Stop consonant|Stop]] || <small>voiceless</small>
| {{IPA|p}} || {{IPA|t̪}} || {{IPA|ʈ}} || {{IPA|tʃ}} || {{IPA|k}} ||
|-
! <small>voiced</small>
| {{IPA|b}} || {{IPA|d̪}} || {{IPA|ɖ}} || {{IPA|dʒ}} || {{IPA|ɡ}} ||
|-
! <small>prenasalised</small>
| {{IPA|ᵐb}} || {{IPA|ⁿd̪}} || {{IPA|ᶯɖ}} || || {{IPA|ᵑɡ}} ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA|(f)}} || {{IPA|s}} || || {{IPA|(ʃ)}} || || {{IPA|h}}
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
| || {{IPA|r}} || ||  || ||
|-
! colspan="2" | [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA|ʋ}} || {{IPA|l}} || || {{IPA|j}} || ||
|}

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" | [[Front vowel|Front]]
! colspan="2" | [[Central vowel|Central]]
! colspan="2" | [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! <small>short</small>
! <small>long</small>
! <small>short</small>
! <small>long</small>
! <small>short</small>
! <small>long</small>
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA link|i̞|i}}
| {{IPA link|iː}}
|
|
| {{IPA link|u̞|u}}
| {{IPA link|uː}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA link|e̞|e}}
| {{IPA link|e̞|eː}}
| {{IPA link|ə}}
|
| {{IPA link|o̞|o}}
| {{IPA link|o̞|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA link|æ}}
| {{IPA link|æː}}
| {{IPA link|a}}
| {{IPA link|ä|aː}}
|
|
|}

== Morphology ==

=== Nominal morphology ===
The main features marked on Sinhalese nouns are case, number, definiteness and [[animacy]].

==== Cases ====
Sinhalese distinguishes several cases. Next to the cross-linguistically rather common [[nominative]], [[accusative]], [[genitive]], [[dative]] and [[ablative]], there are also less common cases like the [[instrumental case|instrumental]]. The exact number of these cases depends on the exact definition of cases one wishes to employ. For instance, the endings for the animate instrumental and locative cases, ''atiŋ'' and ''laᵑgə'', are also independent words meaning "with the hand" and "near" respectively, which is why they are not regarded to be actual [[Affix|''case endings'']] by some scholars. Depending on how far an independent word has progressed on a [[grammaticalisation]] path, scholars will see it as a case marker or not.

The brackets with most of the vowel length symbols indicate the optional shortening of long vowels in certain [[Stress (linguistics)|unstressed]] syllables.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
!
! animate sg
! inanimate sg
! animate pl
! inanimate pl
|-
| [[Nominative case|NOM]]
| miniha(ː)
| potə
| minissu
| pot
|-
| [[Accusative case|ACC]]
| miniha(ː)və
| potə
| minissu(nvə)
| pot
|-
| [[Instrumental case|INSTR]]
| miniha(ː) atiŋ
| poteŋ
| minissu(n) atiŋ
| potvəliŋ
|-
| [[Dative case|DAT]]
| miniha(ː)ʈə
| potəʈə
| minissu(ɳ)ʈə
| potvələʈə
|-
| [[Ablative case|ABL]]
| miniha(ː)geŋ
| poteŋ
| minissu(n)geŋ
| potvaliŋ
|-
| [[Genitive case|GEN]]
| miniha(ː)ge(ː)
| pote(ː)
| minissu(ŋ)ge(ː)
| potvələ
|-
| [[Locative case|LOC]]
| miniha(ː) laᵑgə
| pote(ː)
| minissu(n) laᵑgə
| potvələ
|-
| [[Vocative case|VOC]]
| miniho(ː)
| -
| minissuneː
| -
|-
| ''Gloss''
| ''man''
| ''book''
| ''men''
| ''books''
|}

==== Number marking ====
In Sinhalese animate nouns, the plural is marked with ''-o(ː)'', a [[Gemination|long consonant]] plus ''-u'', or with ''-la(ː)''. Most inanimates mark the plural through [[disfix]]. [[Loanword]]s from English mark the singular with ''ekə'', and do not mark the plural. This can be interpreted as a [[singulative number]].

{| class="wikitable"
|-
| SG || ammaː || deviyaː || horaː || pothə || reddə || kanthoːruvə || sathiyə || bus ekə || paːrə
|-
| PL || amməla(ː) || deviyo(ː) || horu || poth || redi || kanthoːru || sathi || bus || paːrəval
|-
| ''Gloss'' || ''mother(s)''|| ''god(s)''|| ''thief(ves)''|| ''book(s)''|| ''cloth(es)''|| ''office(s)''|| ''week(s)''|| ''bus(ses)''||''street(s)''
|}

On the left hand side of the table, plurals are longer than singulars. On the right hand side, it is the other way round, with the exception of paːrə "street". Note that [+animate] lexemes are mostly in the classes on the left-hand side, while [-animate] lexemes are most often in the classes on the right hand.

==== Indefinite article ====
The indefinite article is ''-ek'' for animates and ''-ak'' for inanimates. The indefinite article exists only in the singular, where its absence marks definiteness. In the plural, (in)definiteness does not receive special marking.

=== Verbal morphology ===
Sinhalese distinguishes three conjugation classes.
Spoken Sinhalese does not mark person, number or gender on the verb (literary Sinhalese does). In other words, there is no subject–verb agreement.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
|
|1st class
|
|2nd class
|
|3rd class
|
|-
|
| verb
| verbal adjective
| verb
| verbal adjective
| verb
| verbal adjective
|-
| present (future)
| kanəvaː
| kanə
| arinəvaː
| arinə
| pipenəvaː
| pipenə
|-
| past
| kæːvaː
| kæːvə
| æriyaː
| æriyə
| pipunaː
| pipunə
|-
| anterior
| kaːlaː
| kaːpu
| ærəlaː
| ærəpu
| pipilaː
| pipicca
|-
| simultaneous
| kanə kanə / ka kaa(spoken)
| /
| arinə arinə / æra æra(spoken)
| /
| pipenə pipenə/ pipi pipi(spoken)
| /
|-
| infinitive
| kannə/kanḍə
| /
| arinnə/arinḍə
| /
| pipennə/pipenḍə
| /
|-
| emphatic form
| kanneː
| /
| arinneː
| /
| pipenneː
| /
|-
| gloss
| eat
| /
| open
| /
| blossom
| /
|}

== Syntax ==
* Left-branching language (see [[Branching (linguistics)|branching]]), which means that determining elements are usually put in front of what they determine (see example below).
* SOV ([[subject–object–verb]]) [[word order]], common to most left-branching languages.
* As a left-branching language, there are no prepositions, only postpositions (see [[Adposition]]). Example: "under the book" translates to {{lang|si|පොත යට}} {{IPA|/pot̪ə yaʈə/}}, literally "book under".
* There are almost no [[Conjunction (grammar)|conjunctions]] as English ''that'' or ''whether'', but only [[non-finite clause]]s that are formed by the means of [[participle]]s and [[verbal adjective]]s. Example: "The man who writes books" translates to {{lang|si|පොත් ලියන මිනිසා}} {{IPA|/pot̪ liənə miniha/}}, literally "books writing man".
* An exception to this is statements of quantity which usually stand behind what they define. Example: "the four flowers" translates to {{lang|si|මල් හතර}} {{IPA|/mal hat̪ərə/}}, literally "flowers four". On the other hand, it can be argued that the numeral is the head in this construction, and the flowers the modifier, so that a better English rendering would be "a floral foursome"
* Sinhalese has no [[Copula (linguistics)|copula]]: "I am rich" translates to {{lang|si|මම පොහොසත්}} {{IPA|/mamə poːsat̪/}}, literally "I rich". There are two [[existential verb]]s, which are used for [[locative predication]]s, but these verbs are not used for predications of class-membership or property-assignment, unlike English ''is''.

== Semantics ==
There is a four-way [[deictic]] system (which is rare): There are four demonstrative [[Word stem|stems]] (see [[demonstrative pronoun]]s) {{lang|si|මේ}} {{IPA|/meː/}} "here, close to the speaker", {{lang|si|ඕ}} {{IPA|/oː/}} "there, close to the person addressed", {{lang|si|අර}} {{IPA|/arə/}} "there, close to a third person, visible" and {{lang|si|ඒ}} {{IPA|/eː/}} "there, close to a third person, not visible".

=== Discourse ===
Sinhalese is a [[pro-drop language]]: Arguments of a sentence can be omitted when they can be inferred from context. This is true for [[Subject (grammar)|subject]]—as in Italian, for instance—but also objects and other parts of the sentence can be "dropped" in Sinhalese if they can be inferred. In that sense, Sinhalese can be called a "super pro-drop language", like [[Japanese language|Japanese]].

Example: The sentence {{lang|si|කොහෙද ගියේ}} {{IPA|[koɦed̪ə ɡie]}}, literally "where went", can mean "where did I/you/he/she/we... go".

== See also ==
{{Portal|Sri Lanka|Languages}}
* [[Sinhala slang]]
* [[Sinhala Idioms and Proverbs]]
* [[Sinhala honorifics]]
* [[Sinhala keyboard]]
* [[Sinhalese people]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Bibliography ==
* Gair, James: ''Sinhala and Other South Asian Languages'', New York 1998.
*{{cite book | last = Indrapala | first = Karthigesu | title = The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils in Sri Lanka C. 300 BCE to C. 1200 CE| publisher = Vijitha Yapa | year = 2007 | location = Colombo | isbn = 978-955-1266-72-1|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last1=Perera|first1=H.S.|last2=Jones|first2=D.|year=1919|title=A colloquial Sinhalese reader in phonetic transcription|place=Manchester|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|url=https://archive.org/stream/colloquialsinhal00pererich|ref=harv}}
*{{cite book|last=Van Driem |first=George|title=Languages of the Himalayas: An Ethnolinguistic Handbook of the Greater Himalayan Region |publisher=Brill Academic Publishers |date=15 Jan 2002|isbn=90-04-10390-2|ref=harv}}

== Further reading ==
* {{cite book | last = Clough | first = B. | title = Sinhala English Dictionary | publisher = Asian Educational Services | location = New Delhi | edition = 2nd | year = 1997}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Gair | first1 = James | last2 = Paolillo | first2 = John C. | title = Sinhala | publisher = München | location = Newcastle | year = 1997}}
*{{cite book | last = Gair | first = James | title = Studies in South Asian Linguistics| publisher = Oxford University Press |year=1998 | location = [[New York City|New York]] | isbn = 0-19-509521-9|ref=harv}}
* {{cite book | last = Geiger | first = Wilhelm | title = A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language | publisher = Colombo | year = 1938}}
* {{cite book | last = Karunatillake | first = W.S. | title = An Introduction to Spoken Sinhala | publisher = Colombo | year = 1992}} [several new editions].
* {{Cite journal |last=Zubair |first=Cala Ann |title=Sexual violence and the creation of an empowered female voice |journal=[[Gender and Language]] |volume=9 |issue=2 |pages=279&ndash;317 |publisher=[[Equinox Publishing (London)|Equinox]] |doi=10.1558/genl.v9i2.17909 |year=2015 |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1558/genl.v9i2.17909 |ref=harv |postscript=.}} (''Article on the use of slang amongst Sinhalese Raggers.'')

== External links ==
{{wiktionary|सिंहल}}
{{InterWiki|code=si}}
{{Wiktionary|Sinhala}}
{{Wikivoyage|Sinhala phrasebook|Sinhala|a phrasebook}}
* [[Charles Henry Carter]]. [http://dsal.uchicago.edu/dictionaries/carter/ A Sinhalese-English dictionary.] Colombo: The "Ceylon Observer" Printing Works; London: Probsthain & Co., 1924.
* Simhala Sabdakosa Karyamsaya. [http://www.dictionary.gov.lk/ Sanksipta Simhala Sabdakosaya.] Kolamba : Samskrtika Katayutu Pilibanda Departamentuva, 2007-2009.
* [http://www.maduraonline.com/ Madura Online English-Sinhala Dictionary and Language Translator]
* [http://www.lanka.info/dictionary/EnglishToSinhala.jsp Kapruka Sinhala dictionary]
* [http://www.sinhaladictionary.org/ Sinhala dictionary resources online]
* [http://www.alooha.net/language_dictionary_English_eng_Sinhala_sin.html Sinhala Dictionary]
* [http://www.alooha.net/language_script_Sinh_sin.html Sinhala Script]
* [http://sinhala-online.com/ Sinhala dictionary (Beta)]
* [http://appstore.com/sinhalaforios Sinhala for iOS]
* [https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=sachith.com.dictionary.offline&hl=en Sinhala Dictionary for Android]
* [http://sublanka.com/ Sinhala Subtitles]

{{Sinhala language}}
{{Languages of Sri Lanka}}
{{Indo-Aryan languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sinhala Language}}
[[Category:Southern Indo-Aryan languages]]
[[Category:Fusional languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Subject–object–verb languages]]
[[Category:Sinhala language| ]]