Sinhala
A language of Sri Lanka
| Population | 15,500,000 in Sri Lanka (2007). Population total all countries: 15,568,750. |
| Region | Widespread in Sri Lanka except some districts in the north, east, and center. Also in Canada, Libya, Maldives, Singapore, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United States. |
| Language map |
Sri Lanka |
| Alternate names | Cingalese, Singhala, Singhalese, Sinhalese |
| Dialects | Rodiya. There is a great difference between the literary and the colloquial language. The Rodiya dialect is spoken by low caste Rodiya people. |
| Classification | Indo-European, Indo-Iranian, Indo-Aryan, Sinhalese-Maldivian |
| Language use | Official language. National language. 2,000,000 L2 speakers (1997). |
| Language development | Fully developed. Bible: 1823–1982. |
| Writing system | Sinhala script. |
| Comments | 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. Buddhist, Christian. |
Also spoken in:
Singapore
| Language name | Sinhala |
| Population | 850 in Singapore (1987). Ethnic population: 12,000 (1993). |
| Alternate names | Chingalese, Singhalese, Sinhalese |
| Comments | A great difference between the literary and colloquial language. Buddhist. |
Ethnologue: Web |
Ethnologue: Print |
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