Sri Lankans' Views on English in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Eras
Sri Lankans' Views on English in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Eras

Author: Dr. Subathini Ramesh

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2020-02-18

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1527547205

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This book evaluates the views of different ethnic groups towards the English language in Sri Lanka for a period of almost two centuries. While a few studies have addressed the subject of English in Sri Lanka in a general way, there has been no research showing the specifics of English usage in the major ethnic communities of the country. This text considers notions and attitudes towards English that prevail in Sri Lanka today among writers, language planners, teachers and students, habitual speakers, and infrequent users, as well as elite and non-elite groups in the country. The book also examines colonial and postcolonial writings in three communities, namely the Sri Lankan diaspora and the Tamil and Sinhala communities.

Sinhala
Sinhala

Author: Dileep Chandralal

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 9027238154

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Sinhala is one of the official languages of Sri Lanka and the mother tongue of over 70% of the population. Outside Sri Lanka it is used among immigrant populations in the U.K., North America, Australia and some European and Middle Eastern countries. As for the genetic relation, it belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. Although the earliest surviving literature in Sinhala dates from the 8th century A.D., its written tradition has traced a longer path of more than 2,000 years. Among the major topics covered in this volume are the writing system, phonology, morphology, grammatical constructions and discourse and pragmatic aspects of Sinhala. Written in a clear and lucid style, the book presents a rich sampling of the data and serves a useful typological reference. Therefore this is required reading for not only linguists and Sinhala specialists but also to anyone interested in language, thought, and culture.

Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness
Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness

Author: Kē. En. Ō Dharmadāsa

Publisher: University of Michigan Press

Published: 1992

Total Pages: 386

ISBN-13: 9780472102884

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For nearly four decades, Sri Lanka has been the scene of an escalating ethnic conflict between the majority Sinhalese and the Tamils, who form the largest minority. Language, Religion, and Ethnic Assertiveness traces the development of Sinhalese nationalism by paying particular attention to the Sinhala language and how it relates to Sinhalese national identity. After Sri Lanka became independent from Great Britain in 1948, an official national language had to be chosen - either "Sinhala only" or "parity of status for Sinhala and Tamil". The victory of the "Sinhala only" proposition that won in the general election of 1956 started the antagonism between the Sinhalese and the Tamils that persists to this day. Using hitherto untapped primary sources, K. N. O. Dharmadasa delineates some of the peculiar features of the linkage between state, religion, and ethnicity in traditional Sinhalese society, providing insight into a tragic conflict that has a long and turbulent history. The book has much to offer historians, political scientists, anthropologists, and sociologists of language and religion, as well as students and scholars of South Asia, postcolonialism, ethnicity, cultural identity, and conflict.

The Indo-Aryan Languages
The Indo-Aryan Languages

Author: Colin P. Masica

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1993-09-09

Total Pages: 564

ISBN-13: 9780521299442

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In his ambitious survey of the Indo-Aryan languages, Colin Masica has provided a fundamental introduction which will interest not only general and theoretical linguists but also students of one or more of these languages who want to acquaint themselves with the broader linguistic context. Generally synchronic in approach, concentrating on the phonology, morphology and syntax of the modern representatives of the group, the volume also covers their historical development, areal context, writing systems and aspects of sociolinguistics. The survey is organised not on a language-by-language basis but by topic, so that salient theoretical issues may be discussed in a comparative context.