DocuUNeNT RESUME Eb 025 759 48 ‘AL O01 686 By-Faicbanks. Cordon Hi And Others Colloguial Sinhalese. Cornell Univ Ithaca, N.Y. Southeast Asia Program. Spons Agency "Office of Education (DHEW), Washington, D.C. Bureau of Research. Bureau No-BR-7-8322 Pub Date 68. Contract-CEC-1-7-078322-1711 Note-673p. 2vals. EDRS Price MF-$2.50 HC-$33.75 Descriptors Auciolingual Methods, Cultural Context, Grammar, #Instructional Materials, *Language Instruction, Pattern Drills (Language), Phonemic Alphabets, Phonology, Pronunciation, *Singhalese, *Standard Spoken Usage, Writing, Writing Exercises This two-volume introductory course in Sinhalese (also spelled Singhalese) is based on a standard variety of the official language of Ceylon as spoken by educated speakers of the South-Western coastal regions. Each of the lesson units (24 in Part I and 12 in Part ID has a conversation, a grammar section, and a set of exercises. Every fourth unit is followed by a review unit. The material is designed to be practiced orally and emphasizes developing fluency in manipulating Sinhalese patterns, making use of the vocabulary introduced in the conversations. The Sinhalese Script is introduced gradually beginning in Lesson 5, and is used exclusively from Lesson 13 on. The phonology, presented in the Introduction, appears in phonemic transcription. A reference list of inflected forms and cumulative Sinhalese-English and EnglishSinhalese glossaries are included in Part IL. (AMM)COLLOQUIAL Tithe, UE dew 6249322 par) PA-4g SINHALE SE pe-Be Ep02575 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION & WELFARE OFFICE OF EDUCATION ‘WIS DOCUMENT HAS BEEN REPRODUCED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED FROM THE ‘PERSON OR ORGANIZATION ORIGINATING IT, POINTS OF VIEW OR OPIONS STATED DO MOT NECESSARILY REPRESERT OFICIAL OFICE OF EDUCATION POSITION OR POLICY. FAIRBANKS GAIR DE SILVA AL 001 Part 686COLLOQUIAL SINHALESE Gordon H, Fairbanks James W. Gair M, W, S. De Silva Part I Lessons 1 - 24 South Asia Program Cornell University Ithaca, N.Y. 1968‘This work was prepared under contracts with the Office of Education, Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Washington, D. C.Preface Sinhalese is the official language of Ceylon, and the mother tongue of the ‘majority (about 70%) of the population. There are two main varieties: Literary and Spoken, which differ from each other in important ways. Literary Sinhalese is the language of virtually all written materials, not just literature in the narrow sense, It is characteristically written and read, land on those relatively rare occasions when it is heard, it is generally read aloud from a previously prepared text. It 1s not dealt with in this book. Spoken Sinhalese, setting aside some formal sub-varieties heard primarily in lectures and sermons, is basically the language used by everyone, of all social and educational levels, for all face-to-face discourse, and it is this colloquial variety of Spoken Sinhalese that is represented in the present text. Alchough there are some dialectal differences in Colloquial Sinhalese, they are not sufficient to impair understanding to any significant extent between speakers from any parts of the island, This text represents primarily a variety spoken by educated speakers of the South-Western coastal regions, Though it differs somewhat from the speech of some other regions, particularly the upcountry region and the South Coast, it will be understood anywhere, and one wholearns it can adjust easily to the speech of any area. Sinhalese belongs to the family of languages usually called Indo-Aryan, the other members of which are found primarily in the north of India and include Hindi, Assamese, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Rajasthani, Panjabi, Kashmiri, Oriya and Sindhi. Another member of the family, Maldivian, is spoken in the Maldive Islands and is closer to Sinhalese than the others. The Indo-Aryan languages form in turn a subgroup of the Indo-European family, so that Sinhalese is ultimately related to languages like English, Russian, and the Romance languages, though the relationship is far too distant to be of any real help in learning it, The other major language of Ceylon, Tamil, spoken by about 20% of the total population, as well as by a much larger group in South India, is not an Indo-European language, but belongs to another family, the Dravidian, ‘This text appears in two parts, including thirty-six lessons in all; twenty~ four in the first part and twelve in the second, Each lesson has a conversation, grammar, and set of exercises, and there is a set of review exercises after every four lessons. The conversations should be drilled until they can be said at normal speed and pronounced in a manner acceptable to a native speaker of | | | |Sinhalese, The grammar section of each lesson is based on the conversation and is intended to help the student to construct new sentences, not to serve as an end in itself. The drill section requires the student to construct new sentences on the analogy of thors already learned, with the help of the gram- mar. Each lesson introduces new vocabulary in the conversation, but rot enough that vocabulary learning becomes the major task. The emphasis of the whole is on developing fluency in manipulating Sinhalese patterns, making use of the vocabulary introduced in the conversation. For the first twelve lessons, new Sinhalese material is presented in a phonemic transcription slightly adapted for pedagogical reasons. ‘The Sinhalese script, in a form adequate for writing the colloquial language, is introduced beginning with lesson five, and from lessor thirteen on all new Sinhelese material is written in that script, While some time must naturally be devoted to learning the script, the basic approach should be oral throughout, with all exercises done orally, Inlessons 9-12 the conversational sections of all lessons previously given in transcription are given in Sinhalese script at the rate of three per lesson. ‘These may be used for practice. After lesson twelve, when the student has learned to read the script, a few of the exerctses may be assigned for writing practice, but they should be done orally first. In any case, the student should not have to do any writing until after he has learned the Sinhalese script. ‘An appendix that gathers together the inflected forms of Sinhalese in one place for ready reference appears in Part II. Following it, there are cumu- ative Sinhales2-English and English-Sinhalese glossaries for lessons 1-36. Since the student will need these most after he has gone through enough lessons to have encountered a reasonably large number of ferms, the Sinhalese in the glossaries is given only in Sinhalese script. ‘Thanks are due to many people for help in the preparation of this text. Mr. D. D. de Saram and Mr. W. S. Karunatillake have actively assisted in revising it and have played an indispensable part in bringing it to its present form. It has been used in an earlier mimeographed version both at Cornell and else- where, and many students have suggested improvements and corrections. Mr. Gregory Pearson assisted in some of the proofreading and in assembling the glossaries, Special thanks are due to Mrs, Helen Albertson for typing the English portions for reproduction and to Mrs. Trelicia Gunawardana for her typing of the Sinhalese. Mr. A. J. Gunawardana also deserves our gratitude for making many valuable suggestions during the final preparation of the copy. Mrs. Helen Kelley designed the covers. We also wish to thank the Office of Education for the contract funds provided both to prepare and reproduce this text sc. I HE, w.G. WS. M. Des. Ithaca, New York July, 1968PREFACE INTRODUCTION - Notes on Pronunciation LESSON 1 - At the Bus Depot 1, Noun and Pronoun Forms . 2. The Singular: 3. The Plural... eee Mi Cases erie tecis isis 5. Noun Citation. .... 6. Verb Forms .... 1... 7. Postpositions. ..... 8. The Question Marker da. 9. Interrogative Expressions LESSON 2 - Buying Cigarettes . . 1, Address... ee ee 2, Noun Classes... ~~~ 3. The Genitive Case. . . 4, Pirst Person Pronouns . . 5. New Verbs... 2. 6. Neat, ee ee ee 7. Equational Sentences . . 8, The Location Sets... - LESSON 3 - Buying Fruit... . 1, New Nouns... 2... 2, New Verbs... . 20. 3. Madamt see ee ee 4, The Genitive of Place. . vii CONTENTS The Definite «nd Indefinite Forms