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Sinhala (Siṁhala) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan (Eḷu) word is Sīhala. The name is a derivative of siṁha, the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. [12] The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island.
The Sinhalese people (Sinhala: සිංහල ජනතාව, romanized: Sinhala Janathāva), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people are an Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. [15][16] They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of the Sri Lankan population and number more ...
The main languages spoken in Sri Lanka are Sinhala and Tamil. Several languages are spoken in Sri Lanka within the Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, and Austronesian families. Sri Lanka accords official status to Sinhala and Tamil, with English as a recognised language. The languages spoken on the island nation are deeply influenced by the various ...
The Sinhala script (Sinhala: සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව, romanized: Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāva), also known as Sinhalese script, is a writing system used by the Sinhalese people and most Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to write the Sinhala language as well as the liturgical languages Pali and Sanskrit. [3]
Sinhala words of Portuguese origin came about during the period of Portuguese colonial rule in Sri Lanka between 1505–1658. This period saw rapid absorption of many Portuguese words into the local language brought about by the interaction between Portuguese colonials and the Sinhalese people, mainly in the coastal areas of the island.
These are the main ways Tamil words are incorporated into the Sinhala lexicon with different endings: With an /a/ added to Tamil words ending in /m/ and other consonants (e.g. pālam > pālama). With a /ya/ or /va/ added to words ending in vowels (e.g. araḷi > araliya). With the Tamil ending /ai/ represented as /ē/, commonly spelt /aya/.
Sinhala idioms (Sinhala: රූඩි, rūḍi) and colloquial expressions that are widely used to communicate figuratively, as with any other developed language.This page also contains a list of old and popular Sinhala proverbs, which are known as prastā piruḷu (ප්රස්තා පිරුළු) in Sinhala.
Sinhala input methods are ways of writing the Sinhala language, spoken primarily in Sri Lanka, using a computer. Sinhala input methods can be broadly classified into two main groups: ones based on typewriter keyboard layouts, and ones that are meant to be typed on QWERTY keyboards using an input method , known as "Singlish".