Sinhala language facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Sinhala |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sinhalese සිංහල Siṁhala |
||||
 |
||||
| Native to | Sri Lanka | |||
| Ethnicity | Sinhalese people | |||
| Native speakers | 17.000 million (2012) 3 million L2 speakers (2012) |
|||
| Language family | ||||
| Early forms: |
Elu
|
|||
| Dialects |
Vedda (perhaps a creole)
|
|||
| Writing system |
|
|||
| Official status | ||||
| Official language in |  Sri Lanka |
|||
| Linguasphere | 59-ABB-a | |||
|
|
||||
|
||||
Sinhala (also called Sinhalese) is the main language spoken by the Sinhalese people. They are the largest group of people living in Sri Lanka. Sinhala is part of the Indo-Aryan language family.
About 19 million people in Sri Lanka speak Sinhala. Around 16 million of them learned it as their first language. Sinhala is one of Sri Lanka's official languages, along with Tamil.
There are two main ways people use Sinhala: spoken and written. Spoken Sinhala is often easier to learn and use. This is because it has fewer strict grammar rules.
The oldest writings in Sinhala are from around 300 to 200 years before Christ. The oldest books written in Sinhala are from the 800s AD.
The language most like Sinhala is Dhivehi. Dhivehi is spoken in the Maldives, a country near Sri Lanka.
How Sinhala Words Work
Sinhala often puts words in a "Subject-Object-Verb" (SOV) order. This means the person or thing doing the action comes first. Then comes the thing the action is done to. Finally, the action word (verb) comes last.
For example, in English, we say "I go home." In Sinhala, it's like saying "I home go." This word order is similar to languages like Japanese and Korean.
Words in Sinhala are often built from a main part, called a "stem." Small parts are added to the end of the stem. These added parts change the meaning of the word. They help connect the word to the rest of the sentence.
Let's look at some examples:
- pusa yanawa means "the kitten is going."
- pusath yanawa means "the kitten is also going." (The -th adds "also.")
Here's another example:
- ballata denawa means "giving (it) to the dog."
- ballatath denawa means "giving it to the dog as well." (The -th adds "as well.")
- ballatama denawa means "giving it to the dog itself." (The -ma adds "itself.")
These small changes help make the sentences clear.
Writing System
Sinhala has its own special way of writing. It is called the Sinhala script. This writing system came from an old Indian script called Brahmi script. Sinhala also has its own version of Braille for people who are blind.
Images for kids
-
Letters of the Sinhala script.
See also
In Spanish: Idioma cingalés para niños
