SINHALA: a language of Sri Lanka

The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.

SIL code: SNH

ISO 639-1: si

ISO 639-2: sin

Population	13,190,000 in Sri Lanka, 72% of the population (1993) to 15,000,000 possibly including second language users (1997). Population total all countries 13,220,000.
Region	All parts of Sri Lanka except some districts in the north, east, and center. Also spoken in Canada, Maldives, Midway Islands, Singapore, Thailand, UAE.
Alternate names	SINHALESE, SINGHALESE, SINGHALA, CINGALESE
Dialects	RODIYA.
Classification	Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Sinhalese-Maldivian.
Comments	There is a great difference between the literary and the colloquial language. The Rodiya dialect is spoken by low caste Rodiya people. National language. Dictionary. Grammar. SOV; 7 long vowels, 7 short vowels, 24 consonants, including 4 which are prenasalized; gender, number, and case agreement between subject and verb in literary Sinhala. Sinhalese script, which is syllabic. Earliest writing dates to 3rd century B.C. Buddhist. Bible 1823-1982.

Also spoken in:

Singapore

Language name	SINHALA
Population	852 speakers in Singapore (1987), out of 12,000 in the ethnic group (1993).
Alternate names	SINHALESE, SINGHALESE, CHINGALESE
Comments	A great difference between the literary and colloquial language. SOV. Sinhalese script. Buddhist. Bible 1823-1982. See main entry under Sri Lanka.