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 සිංහල (Siṃhāla), which comes from Sanskrit and could be translated as "lion-seizer", "lion-killer" or "lion blood", which refer to the legendary founder of the Sinhala people, Prince Vijaya, a descendant of Sinhabahu/Sīhabāhu ("Lion-arms"), the son of a princess of the Vanga Kingdom and a lion.
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.
These numerals are no longer used in written Sinhala, instead the Western-style numerals are used.
Spreadsheet of the Sinhala alphabet (Excel, 56K)
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 (අජිත් අලස්)
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 | Books about Sinhala on: Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk [affilate 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
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Page last modified: 14.04.24
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