{"id":79889,"date":"2018-08-07T22:05:34","date_gmt":"2018-08-08T04:05:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=79889"},"modified":"2018-08-07T13:26:38","modified_gmt":"2018-08-07T20:26:38","slug":"some-observations-on-sinhala-only-part-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/08\/07\/some-observations-on-sinhala-only-part-6\/","title":{"rendered":"SOME OBSERVATIONS ON \u201cSINHALA ONLY\u201d Part 6"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n

REVISED 7.8.18<\/p>\n

Sinhala has been in use for two and a half millennia, the language has a continuous recorded history of 2300 years. It has today entered the world of information technology with its own UNICODE, said J.B.Disanayake in his book \u2018Encyclopedia of Sinhala language and culture\u2019 (2 Ed 2017). The Sinhalese could achieve artistic and technological heights only because they were able to create a language that could express their thoughts with precision, efficiency, and imagination, he added.<\/p>\n

There is linguistic creativity in Sinhala, continued J.B.Disanayaka. There are several remarkable linguistic features in Sinhala, which make Sinhala a unique indo Aryan language. Sinhala writers\u00a0\u00a0 modified the brahmi script by adding two sets of new letters. Sinhala has two vowels and a set of four consonants, all of which are unique to Sinhala. This has made the Sinhala alphabet one of the most creative alphabets of the world. At the International World Character Conference, Seoul 2009 Sinhala was declared one of 16 creative alphabets. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Verbs in the Sinhala language,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 work in \u2018unusual ways\u2019, added Disanayaka. Every verb has a corresponding \u2018passive verb\u2019.<\/p>\n

Sinhala\u00a0\u00a0 language has played an important role in the preservation of Theravada Buddhism. The commentaries on Theravada Buddhism,\u00a0\u00a0 which would originally have been in Magadhi, were eventually to be found only in Sri Lanka, written in Sinhala. They were known as Helatuva and were held in great esteem in India.\u00a0 Secondly, the Tripitaka was written down for the first time, at Aluwihare, in\u00a0 Maghadi but in the Sinhala script. Thereafter the Magadhi language, in Sinhala script, became known as Pali.\u00a0 \u2018the written form of Magadhi as modified by the sinhala monks, was given the new name Pali\u2019 said Disanayaka. [1]<\/a> Since \u2018Pali\u2019 simply means \u2018text\u2019,\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 in my view, the correct name of \u2018Pali\u2019 still remains \u2018Magadhi.\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

J.B. Disanayaka divides Sinhala language and writing into five periods: Old Sinhala, Middle Sinhala, Classical Sinhala, Pre-modern Sinhala, and Modern Sinhala. Old Sinhala can be found in the period up to 2 AD and is best seen in the cave donation inscriptions. They are in brahmi script. Buddhist texts were written in Old Sinhala. Mahavamsa mentions three kinds of Helatuva, \u2018Maha atuva\u2019, \u2018Mahapasuru atuva\u2019 and \u2018Kurundivelli atuva\u2019. These have disappeared but quotations from them are given in Dampiya atuva getapadaya. In the Hela atuva \u2018lakuntaka\u2019 means \u2018short\u2019\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 and\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018rahado \u2018means \u2018pit, said Disanayaka, but we do not know how old Sinhala was spoken.<\/p>\n

Middle Sinhala\u2019 period is from 2 AD to 8 AD. Writings of this period can be seen in cave, rock, and slab inscriptions and in the Sigiri Graffiti. Sigiri Graffiti is an important source of information. This period saw the birth of two new vowels, a new set of\u00a0 consonants called ‘sannaka’ that have no equivalent in any\u00a0 other Indian language and the introduction of long vowels. The letter \u2018ja\u2019 was substituted for the earlier \u2018cha\u2019 in many words. . There are many examples of this in the Sigiri Graffiti. The language in the graffiti has many variants. This is a conspicuous feature in the graffiti. This indicates that Middle Sinhala was an intermediate stage of evolution between Old Sinhala and Classical Sinhala.<\/p>\n

A substantial body of Sinhala writing, both prose and poetry, developed in this period. There is reference to the ‘Dolos maha Kaveen’ during the reign of king Agbo II. (604-614). Their names are available, but not their writings. However, quotations from their works are used as illustrations for grammatical rules.<\/p>\n

Sigiri graffiti shows a unique poetic tradition found nowhere else in the world. It displays excellent poetic expression, by ordinary folk. There is skill in handling language. There are certain metrical limits when writing graffiti and within this limitation, words had to be chosen well and put together in the best order, observed Disanayaka.<\/p>\n

Classical Sinhala\u201d belongs to the period\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 9-15 century. This was a period full of literary activity. Classical Sinhala is the creation of an \u2018impressive array of Sinhala writers, monks, kings, and laymen.\u201d It was also the period of the long galpota of King Nissanka Malla. For the first time, Sinhala included words from Sanskrit, both loan and derived. There were hardly any Sanskrit words in the previous period. This innovation enriched the Sinhala vocabulary and created new language patterns. New letters were needed for the Sanskrit words, new strokes were created, and also two styles of writing, the poetic, and the regular style were developed.<\/p>\n

\u2018Pre modern Sinhala\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 covers the period 15-19th century. Sinhala took on a new role in this period. The Roman Catholic religion had arrived and Sinhala was used to teach the Roman Catholic religion to the natives. Sinhala words, such as \u2018deva\u2019 were used by the Roman Catholic priests, in explaining their religion. The Protestant Christian missionaries, who followed, used spoken Sinhala in their Sinhala Bible and also in their sermons. They had to convert both Buddhists and Roman Catholics.<\/p>\n

Sinhala underwent major changes towards the end of their period. Writing transferred from ola leaf to printing press. This in turn, led to the creation of word boundaries, with spaces between the sentences and between words. This period saw the rise of Sinhala journalism. Sinhala Journalism made a significant contribution to the development of the Sinhala language by influencing its orthography, style, usage, and vocabulary, said Disanayaka. Certain linguistic styles were created by the journalists, though purists objected. In any case, old styles had to give way to new. The phrase \u2018rising of the price of fish\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 changed to \u2018the price of fish goes up,\u2019 added Disanayaka.<\/p>\n

In the pre- modern period, words from western languages came into the island, brought in by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British. Some of these words were incorporated into Sinhala. There are lists of the Sinhala words derived from Portuguese, Dutch and British, such as \u2018viskotu\u2019 ( Portuguese) \u2018 kokis\u2019 ( Dutch)\u00a0 \u2018cake\u2019\u00a0 (English).<\/p>\n

Among these western words, there were plenty of words with the sound F\u201d. Initially the Sinhala letter \u2018pa\u2019 was used as a substitute for \u2018F\u2019 but a new letter , the inverted \u2018ya\u2019 was suggested by Mendis Gunasekera in his Comprehensive Grammar\u00a0 of the\u00a0 Sinhalese language in 1891. This letter came into use in the early 20th century.<\/p>\n

Sinhala of this period had a larger set of pronouns of the second and third person in contrast to those in classical Sinhala. There was \u2018umba\u2019, \u2018oya,\u2019 \u2018thama,\u2019 \u2018thammunnanse\u2019, \u2018thamuse\u2019, for second person. There was \u2018oo\u2019 \u2018unde\u2019, \u2018unnahe\u2019, \u2018aru\u2019, \u2018 eya\u2019, \u2018eka\u2019, for third person,<\/em><\/p>\n

Disanayaka\u00a0 observed that\u00a0 it was possible to get some idea of\u00a0 the Sinhala spoken in the Udarata\u00a0 kingdom of this period, from the travelogue of Vilbagedera Rala who led the delegation to\u00a0\u00a0 Siam in mid 18 century sent by King Kirti Sri Rajasinha (1747-1782) asking for the upasampada. On the return journey, he had written a travelogue, almost like a diary, in language close to spoken idiom, Disanayaka observed. They used \u2018tibenava\u2019,\u00a0 \u2018dutuva\u2019, \u2018karanta\u2019,\u00a0 \u2018padinta\u2019,\u00a0 \u2018idichcha\u2019, \u2018patavapu\u2019 and\u00a0 \u2018tanapu\u2019,<\/p>\n

Modern Sinhala\u201d is of course the contemporary Sinhala we are using today. Many exciting things have happened to Sinhala in the contemporary period. Firstly, Sinhala was subject to intense \u2018language planning.\u2019<\/p>\n

After Sinhala only,\u00a0 (1956) new words had to be found in a mighty hurry. For instance, a new way of saying \u2018you\u2019 in conversation was needed. The word \u2018oba\u2019 which was used for the third person in Classical Sinhala was now transferred to the second person.<\/p>\n

Words are coined in no time now, said Disanayaka, in 2017, giving the example of \u2018salli karaya. Sinhala slang, such as ‘kota uda\u2019 has now entered standard Sinhala, but scholars will not use it, he said. Sinhala is a phonetic language but nevertheless, there was a fuss over spelling. There are guide books now on how to spell Sinhala words correctly, said Disanayaka in 2017.<\/p>\n

In 1968,\u00a0\u00a0 I.M.R.A. Iriyagolle Minister of Education, appointed a committee\u00a0\u00a0 to create a \u2018sammatha Sinhala\u2019\u00a0\u00a0 standard for written Sinhala. The Hela Havula group got into this committee and the recommendations were all Hela Havula. There was a terrific uproar among the writers and University dons. It was an \u2018open battle\u2019 and print media gave wide coverage to the issue, said Disanayaka. The report was revised and a second report appeared in 1970. I cannot recall this report and I think the whole project was abandoned thereafter.<\/p>\n

Sinhala came into the Modern Period with 58 letters, 40 sounds,\u00a0 and 20 vowel strokes. This underwent change. There was a call for the simplification of the script. One reason was that print setting was easier with less letters. Therefore some letters, some strokes, and \u2018bandi akuru\u2019 began to be left out. Purists said that the murtada nayanne\u201d, and the\u00a0\u00a0 double petalled layanne\u201d\u00a0 must be retained since they indicated different meanings within the same spelling,\u00a0 but others pointed out that the meaning emerged in the usage regardless of the spelling for instance in\u00a0 \u2018tana kiri\u2019 and \u2018tana kola\u2019.<\/p>\n

Modern Sinhala has \u00a0attempted to bring the spoken and literary Sinhala together. This is partly a result of language planning,\u00a0 said Disanayaka. Scholarly writing, non fiction, textbooks and legal documents,\u00a0\u00a0 still keep to traditional grammar, but \u00a0novels are today written entirely in the spoken idiom. Television news today is a blend of formal and informal Sinhala. Private television and radio use more spoken Sinhala in news reading than the state television. But both radio and television use the spoken idiom in popular shows. So the difference between spoken and written Sinhala is diminishing. Both styles are influencing each other and producing new forms, observed Disanayaka.<\/p>\n

In the early 20 century spoken Sinhala and folk idiom were not recognized as areas worthy of serious study, said Disanayaka. Martin Wickremasinghe said in his autobiography, Upan da sita\u201d that he was ridiculed by the academics when he spoke of Sinhala folk poetry. Disanayaka records that the initial work on folk idiom was by A.V.Gunapala who published \u2018Hela vahara\u201d in 1957.(Saman Press). Gunapala had \u00a0focused on spoken Sinhala with emphasis on regional usage. His work was a trailblazer, said Disanayaka. After that many researchers, studied Sinhala folk speech and recorded it for posterity. Disanayaka coined the term\u2019 jana vahara\u2019 for folk language<\/p>\n

Disanayaka \u00a0in his book, records the regional variants of Sinhala.. Ruhunu Sinhala uses \u2018karahang\u2019, Southern Sinhala\u00a0 uses \u2018makkatai\u2019, Udarata Sinhala\u00a0\u00a0 says karanta, kiyanta,\u2019 Rajarata Sinhala (North central province)\u00a0 says\u2018 umbahe\u2019, Digamadulla\u00a0 uses \u2018balapa.\u2019 In Hat korale \u2018to go for medicine\u2019 is \u2018bet para yanawa. In Hatara korale wedding is \u2018taruvava\u2019, \u00a0I think that this usage would-be confined to the rural sector in these regions, not the urban sector.<\/p>\n

In addition to this, Disanayake pointed out that certain occupational\u00a0 groups such as\u00a0 brass workers,\u00a0 cinnamon peelers, fishermen, graphite miners,\u00a0 jewelers, lacquer workers, masons, potters and toddy tappers had\u00a0 occupational jargon of their own . There was also a special vocabulary relating to paddy cultivation. This, of course, \u00a0is well known. The young grain of paddy is \u2018vee\u2019,\u00a0 the harvested rice is \u2018hal\u2019 and the cooked rice is \u2018bat\u2019<\/p>\n

Disanayake pointed out that in contemporary Sri Lanka there are two sacred spaces, the kamatha in the paddy field and the temple in village and town. A special Sinhala is used in\u00a0 these two spaces. The threshing floor is considered sacred and harvesting has ritual significance. A special set of words is used. Odd numbers avoided in counting, instead of eka they say hapura. However, in my view, \u00a0this is\u00a0 an inherited tradition coming down for centuries. It is not a special characteristic of modern Sinhala. This usage\u00a0 \u00a0shows the remarkable \u00a0continuity of the Sinhala language and Sinhala culture.<\/p>\n

Similarly, a special set of words are used\u00a0 for everyday things, when inside a\u00a0 temple. The teledrama \u2018Sidu\u2019\u00a0 which is\u00a0 showing now, is giving us instruction on this, through its two \u00a0little samanera. Vatura is \u2018pan\u2019,\u00a0 midula is \u2018maluva\u2019, evening tea is \u2018gilan pasa\u2019. There is a separate terminology\u00a0 when speaking\u00a0 to\u00a0 a bhikshu and of a bhikshu,\u00a0 such as\u00a0 \u2018vadinava\u2019,\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018satapenava,\u2019\u00a0 \u2018 apavat\u00a0\u00a0 veneva,\u2019 \u2018avasarai\u2019, \u2018ehei hamuduruwane,\u2019 \u2018dane valndanne\u2019 and \u2018tun namak\u2019 .<\/p>\n

There was a third area where modern Sinhala speakers had to be cautious. The old ways of address were no longer acceptable. Modern spoken Sinhala has inherited more than a dozen pronouns meaning \u2018you\u2019 and different ways of commanding. . There is a choice of oba, oya, umba, tamuse, also commands, \u2018yanta\u2019\/ \u2018pala\/ \u2018and \u2018kapan\u2019\/ \u2018kapiya\u2019. Today these need to be used with utmost care, commented Disanayaka.<\/p>\n

In 1989 the National institute of Education (NIE) was requested by W.J.M Lokubandara, Minister of Education, himself a Sinhala scholar, to standardize the Sinhala alphabet. There were some letters in use which were not in the alphabet. These were now given official recognition. The Sinhala strokes were also\u00a0\u00a0 regularized (ispili, papili, alapilla, hal)\u00a0 and the number of letters rose to 60. This was a historic achievement, said Disanayake. A set of letters that were in actual use for centuries but were not included in the alphabet were now given official recognition. \u00a0This standardized alphabet paved the way for CINTEC, NARESA, and SLSI to propose a Sinhala Unicode to ISO.<\/p>\n

With the arrival of computers, it was necessary to digitize Sinhala. ISO was offered three versions of the Sinhala alphabet for ratification. One by Irish expert on signs and symbols, Michael Everson, one by Microsoft and a third by Sri Lanka Standards Institute. ISO got ready to approve the Everson \u00a0version. Sri Lanka got the Everson draft suspended till ISO General assembly met in 1997 in Greece. Naresa sent two representatives, T.Nandasara and J.B.Disanayaka. Disanayaka said they had a hard time getting ISO to accept the SLSI recommendation, which was the sole local recommendation. ISO ratified the Sinhala alphabet in 1998. \u00a0Sinhala UNICODE of 61 characters was created thereafter.<\/p>\n

(CONCLUDED)<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> J.B. Disanayaka encyclopedia of Sinhala language and culture 2 ed 2017 p\u00a0 756<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS REVISED 7.8.18 Sinhala has been in use for two and a half millennia, the language has a continuous recorded history of 2300 years. It has today entered the world of information technology with its own UNICODE, said J.B.Disanayake in his book \u2018Encyclopedia of Sinhala language and culture\u2019 (2 Ed 2017). The Sinhalese could […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79889","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79889","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79889"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79889\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79889"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79889"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79889"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}