Sinhalese language

Also known as: Cingalese language, Simhali language, Singhalese language, Sinhala
Also spelled:
Singhalese or Cingalese
Also called:
Sinhala

Sinhalese language, Indo-Aryan language, one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka. It was taken there by colonists from northern India about the 5th century bc. Because of its isolation from the other Indo-Aryan tongues of mainland India, Sinhalese developed along independent lines. It was influenced by Pāli, the sacred language of the Sri Lankan Buddhists, and to a lesser degree by Sanskrit. It has borrowed a considerable number of words from the Dravidian languages, mostly from Tamil, which is also spoken in Sri Lanka.

The earliest inscriptions in Sinhalese, written on rock in Brāhmī characters, date from about 200 bc. By about 1250 the literary language had attained a form from which it has varied little since, although the modern spoken language differs considerably from it. Much literature was produced, nearly all of Buddhist inspiration, from 1000 on; modern secular literature began in the 20th century. Modern Sinhalese has its own syllabic script. Dialects of Sinhalese are spoken in the Lakshadweep and Maldive islands.

Sinhalese

people
Also known as: Cingalese, Singhalese
Also spelled:
Singhalese or Cingalese

Sinhalese, member of a people of Sri Lanka (formerly Ceylon) who constitute the largest ethnic group of that island. In the early 21st century the Sinhalese were estimated to number about 13.8 million, or 73 percent of the population. Their ancestors are believed to have come from northern India, traditionally in the 5th century bce. Their language belongs to the Indo-European family.

Most Sinhalese are agriculturalists. The low-country Sinhalese of the southern and western coastal regions have been heavily influenced by European culture, while the Kandyan Sinhalese of the highlands are more traditional. The Sinhalese are Theravada Buddhists except for a Christian minority.

Like other peoples of Sri Lanka, the Sinhalese constitute a caste-based society with a complex structure historically founded largely on occupation. Differences in religious and other customary practices are minimal between the castes. Marriage is generally endogamous within the same caste, with spouses drawn preferably from the children of the mother’s brother or father’s sister. Monogamy is the rule, as polygyny and polyandry were declared illegal in the mid-19th century.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Virginia Gorlinski.