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Sinhala (/ ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə, ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN-hə-lə, SING-ə-lə; [2] Sinhala: සිංහල, siṁhala, [ˈsiŋɦələ]), [3] sometimes called Sinhalese (/ ˌ s ɪ n (h) ə ˈ l iː z, ˌ s ɪ ŋ (ɡ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN-(h)ə-LEEZ, SING-(g)ə-LEEZ), is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka, who make up the largest ethnic group on the ...
The form of Buddhism in Sri Lanka is known as Theravada (school of elders). The Pali chronicles (e.g., the Mahavansa) claim that the Sinhalese as an ethnic group are destined to preserve and protect Buddhism. In 1988 almost 93% of the Sinhala-speaking population in Sri Lanka were Buddhist. [61]
The Sinhala script (Sinhala: සිංහල අක්ෂර මාලාව, romanized: Siṁhala Akṣara Mālāwa), also known as Sinhalese script, is a writing system used by the Sinhalese people and most Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka and elsewhere to write the Sinhala language as well as the liturgical languages Pali and Sanskrit. [3]
English, Sinhala and Tamil languages on a war grave memorial plate in Kandy. (click to see full view of memorial plate)English in Sri Lanka is fluently spoken by approximately 23.8% [4] of the population, and widely used for official and commercial purposes.
Sri Lankan-Canadian poet Rienzi Crusz, is the subject of a documentary on his life in Sri Lanka. His work is published in Sinhala and English. Naturalised Canadian Michael Ondaatje is well known for his English-language novels and three films. [citation needed]
Sinhala idioms (Sinhala: රූඩි, rūḍi) and colloquial expressions that are widely used to communicate figuratively, as with any other developed language.This page also contains a list of old and popular Sinhala proverbs, which are known as prastā piruḷu (ප්රස්තා පිරුළු) in Sinhala.
During the British colonial era, English was the official language in Ceylon (known as Sri Lanka since 1972). Until the passage of the Free Education Bill in 1944, education in the English language was the preserve of the Sri Lankan elite and the ordinary people had little knowledge of it.
Sinhalisation is a term derived from Sinhala that has a number of meanings in Sri Lanka. It mainly refers to the assimilation into Sinhalese culture in which the members of another ethno-cultural group are steadily integrated or absorbed into established Sinhalese culture.