Origin of the Sinhala Language

Sinhala Facts & Myths

As even as late as the 6th century A.D., there was no Sinhala(සිංහල சிங்களம்) language, the Great Chronicles were written in the Pali language. Monk Maha Nama hatched the Vijaya myth to dub the Buddhist converts as Aryans, projecting them as descendants of Bengalis.

Maha Nama did not know that the Bengalis were Mongoloid Dravidians. The average Sinhala man will decline to believe that prince Siddhartha, as a Nepalese, was not an Aryan. No king of Lanka during the 200 years history of Lanka, claimed that he was of Aryan Dynasty.

How then can the populace claim that they are Aryans? With the mixture of Tamil, Pali and Sanskrit languages, evolved that Sinhala language during 8 A.D. It was not Pali or Sanskrit, but the Tamil language that helped in the formation of the Sinhala alphabets. The alphabets of the Sinhala language are round in shape like the alphabets of the other Dravidian languages. Telugue, Malayalam, Kannadam and proto-Tamil. In the 10th century. Tamils changed the shape of their alphabets to the square shape.

According to Dr. C.E. Godakmubara, the Sinhala Grammar Sidathsangarawa was based on the Tamil Grammar Virasolium in the 11th A.D. The term `Sihala (Lion in Pali) is seen for the first time in Sri Lankan sources in the Dipa Vamsa (4-5 A.D.) and in that chronicle, that term occurs only once, and in that cryptic verse it is stated that the Island was known as `Sinhala` on account of the Lion - `Lanka Dipo Ayam ahu sihena sihalaitu`. In the maha Vamsa the term `Sihala` - occurs only twice. In the epic Ramayana 420 B.C., this island was known as Lanka much earlier.

[Rev. S. Gnanapiragasam - `There are more than 4,000 Tamil words in the Sinhala vocabulary. If the Sinhala vocabulary is stripped of all the Tamil words there will be no Sinhala language.`]

There were no Sinhalese in Lanka or in any part of the world until the Dipa Vamsa for the first time, referred to the descendants of Tamil (Hindus) who embraced Buddhism in 246 B.C. as Sihala on account of the Lion (no relevance). There is no culture called Sinhala culture. It is the Tamil culture that is projected as Sinhala culture. The 14th day of April is observed as New Year, day only by the Tamils and Sinhala people throughout the world.
This fact is strong evidence that the Sinhala people inherited this practice from their Tamil ancestors who embraced Buddhism in 246 B.C.

It is stupid to deny that fact. When there was no Sinhala language in Lanka or in any part of the world before 8th A.D., it is thuggery to claim that there were Sinhala people in Lanka prior to the 8th century A.D. Just as the descendants of Tamils who embraced Buddhism in 246 B.C. claim they are Arya Sinhalese Tamils of the Western Coast, from Ragama to Kalpitiya, after adopting Sinhala as their mother tongue, (after the introduction of free education) claim thy are Arya Sinhalese. In Sri Lanka any person who adopts Sinhala as mother tongue ipso facto is an Aryan.

That is Sri Lankan logic, Yes, in Sri Lanka a leopard can change its spots. Wilhelm Geiger - `not what is said, what is left unsaid, is the besetting difference of Sinhala history`.

Sinhala (සිංහල சிங்களம்) language is not pure like that of classical lanuages such as Thamil, Sanscrit, Latin, Greek and few others. Sinhala language is a mixure of Sanscrit, Pali, Thamil and other Dravidian languages. Sinhala has its own writing system which is an offspring of the Indian Brahmi script. It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. The closest relative of Sinhala is the language of the Maldives, Dhivehi. Sinhala language can not be proved to have any more than 1000years of existence.


The borrowing process

Tamil loanwords in Sinhala can appear in the same form as the original word (e.g. akkā ), but this is quite rare. Usually, a word has undergone some kind of modification to fit into the Sinhala phonological (e.g. paḻ i becomes paḷ i(ya) because the sound of /ḻ /, IPA: [ɻ ], does not exist in the Sinhala phoneme inventory) or morphological system (e.g. ilakkam becomes ilakkama because Sinhala inanimate nouns (see grammatical gender) need to end with /a/, IPA: [ə ], in order to be declineable).

These are the main ways Tamil words are incorporated into the Sinhala lexicon with different endings:

Sinhala, Tamil Words and Meaning in English

ā dā yama - Income - ā tā yam- Profit
akkā - Elder sister - akkā Elder sister Kinship
ambalama - Way-side rest- ampalam Public
ämbäṭ ṭ ayā - Barber ampaṭ ṭ aṉ - Barber Trade
ā ṃ gā ṇ iya - Stall (in a market) aṅ kā ṭ i - Market Trade
ā ṇ ḍ uva - Government ā ṇ ṭ ā ṉ - Ruler,Admin,Rich man with many slaves
appā - Father (regional/colloquial) - appā - Father Kinship
ā ppa Hoppers - Appā ppam Hoppers Food
araliya -Oleander - arali- Oleander
ayyā - Elder brother - aiyā (see also Ayya) Sir, father
caṇ ḍ iyā - Bandit, rowdy- caṇ ṭ iyar Bandit
cī ttaya - Chintz - cī ttai Chintz
ediriya- Opposition, hostility- etiri Opponent, enemy Military
galkaṇ ḍ uva- Sugar-candy - kaṟ kaṇ ṭ u Sugar-candy Food
iccā va- Flattery- iccakam Flattery
iḍ ama- Site, land - iṭ am Place, site Construction
ī ḷ a ? Asthma- ī ḷ ai Asthma Daily
ilakkaya ? Target- ilakku Target Military
ilakkama- Number- ilakkam Number
iḷ andā riyā - Young man- iḷ antā ri Young man
iḷ avuva - Death, funeral - iḻ avu Death
iranavā - To saw, to tear- iṟ u- To break, to destroy
iraṭ ṭ a - Double, even number - iraṭ ṭ ai Double, even number
jā ḍ iya- Jar - cā ṭ i - Jar
jō ḍ uva- Pair- jō ṭ i/cō ṭ i Pair
kaḍ adā siya - Paper - kaṭ utā si Letter, paper
kaḍ alē - Chickpea - kaṭ alai (paruppu) Chickpea Food
kaḍ asarakkuva- Spice, curry stuffs- kaṭ ai + sarakku Shop + Goods
kaḍ aya ? Shop- kaṭ ai - Shop
kaḍ inama - Haste - kaṭ iṉ am Difficulty
kaḍ iyā ḷ ama Bridle- kaṭ ivā ḷ am Bridle Military
kaṃ kā ṇ iyā - Overseer- kaṅ kā ṇ i- Foreman Administration
kalanda- A small measure of weight- kaḻ añcu Weight of 1.77 grams
kalavama- Mixture, blend - kalavai Mixture
kā laya- Quarter - kā l- Quarter Tr
kaḷ udäävā - Donkey- kaḻ utai - Donkey
kambiya - Wire - kampi - Wire
kā ndama- Magnet - kā ntam - Magnet
kaṇ isama- Size - kaṇ isam- Size, amount
kaṇ ṇ ā ḍ iya - Mirror, spectacles- kaṇ ṇ ā ṭ i - Mirror, spectacles
kappama - Tribute - kappam- Tribute
kappara - Small ship- kappal- Ship
kappi - Grit, bruised grain- kappi - Coarse grits in flour
kā ppuva ? Bracelet- kā ppu - Bangle
kärapottā ? Cockroach- karappottā ṉ - Cockroach (
karavaḷ a - Dried fish- karuvā ṭ u- Dried fish Food
kā siya- Coin kā cu - Small change, coin
kasippu- Illicit liquor kacippu- Illicit liquor
kaṭ ṭ umarama - Catamaran kaṭ ṭ umaram- Catamaran
kayiyeliya- Cloth with coloured border kayili - Multicoloured cloth worn by Muslims
keṇ ḍ a - Calf - keṇ ṭ ai(kkā l)- Calf
keṇ ḍ iya Pitcher- keṇ ṭ i Pitcher Daily
kiṭ ṭ u Close, near - kiṭ ṭ a Close, near Daily
koḍ iya - Flag koṭ i- Flag
kollaya - Plunder, pillage koḷ ḷ ai - Plunder Military
kombuva- Name of the sign- kompu (lakaram) - Name of the sign
kō n- Part of a name - kō ṉ (ar) Name pertaining to members of the Iṭ aiyar caste (`shepherd, king`)
kō ṇ ama- A loin cloth for men- kō vaṇ am - A loin cloth for men
koṇ ḍ aya - Plait/bun of hair- koṇ ṭ ai Bun/plait of hair
koṭ ṭ amalli - Coriander - koṭ ṭ amalli- Coriander Botany
koṭ ṭ aya- Pillow koṭ ṭ ai- Nut, round shape, pillow
kō vila- Hindu temple - kō yil - Temple Daily
kuḍ ē - Umbrella - kuṭ ai - Umbrella
kū ḍ ē ? Basket- kū ṭ ai - Basket Daily
kū ḍ uva- Nest, cage - kū ṭ u- Nest, small box Daily
kulala/kuḷ ala- Pipe - kuḻ al - Tube, musical pipe Daily
kulappuva ? Confusion- kuḻ appu- to confuse Military
kurumbā - Young coconut- kurumpai - Young coconut Food
kuliya ? Rent- kū li - Rent, pay Administration
Malaya- Hill country malai- Hill Place name
Mā mā - Maternal uncle mā mā - Maternal uncle Kinship
Marakkalaya- Boat, Ethnic Moor, Sampan marakkalam- (Sailing) Boat Fishing


Source(s)
wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhala_words_of_Tamil_origin

courtesy:
lankanewspapers.