What Languages Are Spoken In Sri Lanka?

Sri Lanka is a South Asian island nation positioned off the southeast coast of India. It covers an space of 25,332 sq. miles and has a inhabitants of 20,277,597. The inhabitants right here is numerous and represents a mess of cultures, together with these from different nations. Whereas this variety results in the richness of life in Sri Lanka, it additionally results in problems in sustaining peace. This issue is rooted in disagreements amongst individuals of differing ethnicities. These ethnicities might be acknowledged and recognized by the languages spoken. This text takes a have a look at the languages of the nation.

Sinhalese, One Of The Official Languages Of Sri Lanka

One of many official languages of Sri Lanka is Sinhalese. It’s the Sinhalese individuals’s native language, who whole roughly 16 million. An extra 4 million communicate Sinhalese as a second language. This language belongs to the Indo-European language household. Inside that class, is a part of the Indo-Aryan department. It’s written with the Sinhalese alphabet which descends from the traditional Indian Brahmi writing. Trendy-Sinhalese is traced to the Dravidian language in addition to Pali and the medieval model of Sinhalese. It has additionally borrowed phrases from Tamil, Portuguese, Dutch, and English. The Rodiya neighborhood inside Sri Lanka speaks a dialect of Sinhalese known as Rodiya. It’s thought-about a sign of belonging to a lower-caste within the society.

Tamil, The Second Official Language Of Sri Lanka

Inside Sri Lanka, there are regarded as roughly 4.7 million Tamil audio system; though worldwide, there are 70 million. The language belongs to the Dravidian language household and is among the oldest repeatedly spoken classical languages on the planet. Researchers have found writings that date again to round 500 BC and its literary works date again to over 2,000 years. Tamil is the second official language in Sri Lanka. Nonetheless, its use has been relegated to areas by which Tamil-speakers make up the vast majority of the inhabitants. The perceived inequality between Tamils and Sinhalese led to the 1983 to 2009 civil conflict between the Sri Lankan authorities and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. For these Tamil audio system who don’t communicate Sinhalese, discovering jobs and even doing authorities paperwork might be tough.

Creole Languages, Minority Languages Spoken In Sri Lanka

In addition to the 2 official languages in Sri Lanka, a number of minority languages are additionally spoken. Sri Lankan Creole Malay is the native language of round 46,000 audio system. It’s thought-about an Austronesian language and is made up of a mixture of Sinhalese, Tamil, and Malay. The language initially developed with the arrival of Malay immigrants, who got here as laborers, troopers, and exiles of the Dutch and British colonizers in the course of the 1200’s. Written Sri Lankan Malay from the nineteenth century utilized the Gundul alphabet. In the present day, nevertheless, its use is principally oral and has been declining as youthful Sri Lankan Malays have begun counting on Sinhalese, Tamil, and English for communication.

One other creole language spoken in Sri Lanka is Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole, spoken by solely 30 of the three,400 individuals of Portuguese descent. These people are descendants of the Topazes, Casados, and Portuguese Burgher. This language was the lingua franca of the nation between the sixteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Overseas Languages Of Sri Lanka

The principal international language spoken on this island nation is English. It’s spoken by round 10% of the inhabitants. Its major use is for enterprise functions.