Origin
The Sinhala alphabet, a descendent of the Brahmi script, started to appear in 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.Notable features
- Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet.
- Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.
- When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent letters.
- Prenasalized consonants, such as mb, nd, ṇd and ng, are formed by special conjunct symbols that combine the stop and the homorganic nasal.
- Conjunct symbols are used only when writing Sanskrit of Pali with the Sinhala alphabet.
- A subset of the letters, known as Eḷu hōḷdiya, was used to write classical Sinhala (Eḷu) - shown in blue below. Many extra letters were added to write Sanskrit and Pali loanwords.
Used to write:
Sinhala or Sinhalese (සිංහල), an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Sri Lanka by about 12 million people. There are also considerable numbers of Sinhala speakers in Singapore, Thailand, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.Also used to write Pali and Sanskrit in Sri Lanka.
Sinhala alphabet
Vowels
Vowel diacritics with ka
Consonants
Numerals
These numerals are no longer used in written Sinhala, instead the Western-style numerals are used.
Spreadsheet of the Sinhala alphabet (Excel, 56K)
Sample text in Sinhala
Transliteration
Siyalū manuṣyayō nidahasva upata labā. Garutvayen hā ayitivāsikam samāna veti. Yukti ayukti piḷiban̆da hæn̆gīmen hā hṛdaya sākṣiyen yut ovunōvunvunṭa sæḷakiya yuttō sahōdaratvaya piḷiban̆da hæn̆gīmen.Translation
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)
Links
Information about the Sinhala alphabet and languagehttp://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://www.speaksinhala.com
http://www.sihaderana.com/lessons_intro.php
http://mylanguages.org/learn_sinhala.php
http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=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://lenadic.com/dictionary.php
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
http://www.nilwalaradio.com
http://www.miyurusara.com
Online news in Sinhala
http://www.lankadeepa.lk
http://www.sinhala24news.com
http://lankaenews.com/Sinhala/
http://www.rivira.lk/edition/
Free Sinhala fonts and software
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Sinhala.html
http://ananmanan.lk/free_sinhala_fonts/
http://www.sjp.ac.lk/fa/cc/sinhala_fonts.html
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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