l0

Jourt,NAL, li.A.s.

(cEYr,oN) [vor,.

xxxlV'

!
i
i,
il

Nti.

90-

1937

| r,rseursl'rc crrAll.'\c'l'ltrr olr srNr{Ar'EStl

L7

rf

TTTE,

LINGUISTIC CTIARACTER OF
SINHALESE.

Bv

PnolnssoR, WILHELM

(+ErGEn'

tr'r.o clifferent, journals (Ant'hropos XXXII, 1937' p.155 sq. ancl Journal lioyal Asiatic Society, Ceylon Bra'nch' i9fo, Xo.89, p.233 sq.) Rev. Tather GNeN'r Pnax'ts'tn has publisheil a, paper on l)rtr,vidia'n lllements in Sinhalese' The paper hacl bee,n re,acl in Colombo a't a General Meeting o{'bhe .l)eceruber 1'tth, 1934' Asiatic SocietY ou

In

on thc similarit.y of sounds, r,vitlior-rt corrsider:r,tion of crhronological or historical clifiicultie.q' Wherever, for insta'rrcc, he finds the consonant I (or l) in anv word ol tr'ny ianguagc rvhich has the meanirrg ' shining, liglrt' or something lihe tha,t he connects it v'ith Cen-Tarnil el' lt is obvious that with such a practice the most abstrusc theory, even t'hat' of a primeval coltnexion with the frrdo-Gerrnanic langua'ge, b" ilemr>nstrated. I could quote dozens of examples "rrn from Prakasar's paper bv r'vhich his abscilute incornpetency in liriguistic questions are macle ma,nifest, hut such sort of polernics is not to mv taste :rrtd I hope thtrt I shall not be compelled to make use of lt. Tltis ll'ould be unpleasu'nt to me, antl fmitless too. For I cannot expect that he rvill learn from my objections. We do not understantl each other,
since 'll'e are speahing, as

it

lvere, clift'erent langtlages'

.\I

uaoptJ the languap4e of the originu,l inhabitants of the Islancl, who *"." of Dravitli:-rn race, filling its vocabular.v rvith Ar.van lr'ords they haii brought to Ceylon from their fbrmer hor,r". Moreovcr, Prak:r,sar aclvances the hypothesis that the Aryan and Dnrvidian languages ate rrtclically reltr'tetl, and that rnany u'ortils, once supposed to be derived from Sanskrit' or Pali, tr're b:rsecl on pure l)raviclian roots'
cxamining the niethorls applierl by Prakasar, continuing :rnd alnplifying r'r,ha,t Dr.WroKnt,llrAsjlNcrtE tlncl J' nn LaNnncllr'p have said at the rneeting itself. Rev' tr'ather Gnana Praka'sar ilay be an excellent cottrtoisseur of the T)rrividian langua'ges, but I anr sorry to stato 1,h:r'1, he entirely lacks the necessarv

AccorclingtoPr:rkasa,rSinhaleseisessentiallval)ravidian Iu,nguage. 'I'he first Aryan inimigrants rvho arrived in Ceylon

,e

:l

,1

:l

j1

shall riot eriter into <lettrils hele, but content rnl'self r'r-ith
,s: in.
h,:r

.F:

linguistic tnrining fbr the riif'ficrrlt tasli Jre lins attempbed "hi* pup".. He h:r's no knou'ledge of 1,he modern methods ir,
comparative science of language, upon a practice given up in Europe more but, has fallen back
used norv in lr,hnt \vo

i. ,s

+ *

What has been published on Sirihalese philology during the last fifty years, except of cortrse by his friend W' tr'' Gunawar<lhana, is wholly ltnknou'n to Prahasar or he .chooses to ignore it. He boldly sa1's (p. 234) 'That tho grammar and constntction of Sinhalese have alt'ays rema'ined l)ravidian in the main, is admitted by all serious stndents of the present <1ay.' -fie does not knorv thut SI, Gto*"t G*tu*to\ ' ttt ttt" t,t"gl,tttl uif""*""oution thil Sinltol"t" b"loogs t9* the Modelr Indov"t"aculars. He ignores that R. L' 'Tunxnn' has ffi ,Gi,"lffi;"* tnTilCo-p*totirr" a'ncl Etyrnological Dictionary of the Nepali Language, S. I(. []narrltlirr in his Bengali Gr:ammar ancl Jur,ns Brocn in his book '" La fonna'tion de la' langue Marathe." I shoultl recornntend Prakasar to read u,hat Br,ocn has saicl on p. 20-21 of his x'ork. Do Grierson Turner, Chatterji and Bloch not rank among the ' serious students' in the Rev. Father's judgment ?
Prakasar's practice is rather incompiex. Starting from the

'E L
-1

lllay

ctr,ll

:t r*

axiom that Sinhalese is a Dravidian language he lays dolvn his personal opinion as an inf'allible dogma, neglecting the possibility of any objection. He shuts his eyes in the direc-

than a century

vanco are not, ba'secl on certairl phonological mles, but merelv

ago'

The etymologies he ventures to ad-

tion of the Aryan

langua'ges and does not see, therefore, the rnost, pa'lpable things. Even evident comparisons rvit'h

IE

.,()uti,Nat,. lt,.A.s.

(ltt\ar,()N) fVol,. X,\Xl\r

IIo. 90-lfll}TI r,rNculslrc clrAll,\c'l'rR or

STNITALESE

l!)

Aryan dia,lects are ignored or distlained by him a'rxl displaccd by :r l)ra,viditr,rr cxpla,na,tion a't anv cost, though it may ofton be very tr,rtificitrl or irnprobable, nay absurd' Il is the chiet

crror of Praka'sa,r and his friends that thel' confouncl the genelal influence of l)ra,vitlian on a]l rnodcrn ArYan langua'ges uith the parlicrrla,r influence of Taniii on Sinhalese' Tho

{irrmer is gleat and has rtever beerl denjed bv scientist's, though ruobod.y lras saicl, ott :tcrtrotrrrt of it, thu't ]]engall or Marat]ri are essetltially Dravidia,n. Of tho tu'clvc itenls on which \\r. l'. Gur.r;lwa'rclhtrtrtl's opiriion of t'lre Dravidian character ol sinhalcse is btr,sec.l (quoted JIiAS. C. Ii. No' 89' p'235-6)

Ii, is a groa,t atlva,nta,go tltirl rt'tr rtro a,ltle lo t'r'tltrc t'htr tlevelopment <il'.the lnnguage trom the 2nd ct'nttn'y B'C. 'Ihe documents on r,vhich our knou-leclge is based are inscriptions :rrlcl literary u'orks. They are not' equally a,bundant in the different periocls and a gap between the 5th and8thcc.is ptrrticnlarly regrettable becatrse just, at that time Sinhalese seems to ha'\'e passed through its greatest changes as \\re see l-rom the results observable in the 8th century.

We may distingnish five

Period l: Sinhalese c. A.C. Brirhml inst's.
Periocl
f'e'iv inscs.

periods

Prakrit,

2rrcl

c.

R.Cl.

to 4th

cone into considera,tion for corroborating his theory. Thtl foreign, mostly l)ravidian, influence on the Aryan language bega,rr no cloubt immecliately afterr t'he advent into India' of'the first Aryan tribes ancl continued with varying intensity up to the present times. Numerorts Ibreign lon'nw-ords rvere tr,doptecl alreadf in the \redic periorl antl hencefrirth from centurv to century ; they becarne ArYtr'n property and developed trccoriling to the phonological rules of the Aryan language. Moreover, the general direction of the evolutiotr of the Arya,n clialects u'as delineated by that lbreign influence tr,ncl the result is manif'est in their particula,r stmcture. Sinhalese shares u'ith them this linguistic evolution'
The peculiar inflrtence of Ta,uril on Sinha-lese, on t'he other hancl, appears to be comparativel.y insignificant, thrlrgh not entirely lvanting. Tf a juclicious Dravidian scholar u'ould

not less than nine :\re common to Sinhalese and all MIAVs or at least have a,nalogies itr some of then. They do not

2: Proto-Sinh tr lese,

5bh

c. to 8th c. Verl'

3: Mediaeva'l Sinhtrlese, Stlr c. to l3th c. ard fi"om tho lltli or lOth c. l,iterar:v rvorks. Period 4: Olassic:r, lSinhalese, l3thc. tolTtJrtr. Chieflv lilerirn' uorks. Periocl 5: ilIodern Sinhalese, I7th c. up to the present time. Literary urorks, newspapors and nroclertr
Period
inscs.

colloquial language.
The 'essential ' parts of a langu:lge are altogether three. First an<l forernost stands thc vocabultr,ry: the brilk c-tf nouns, verbs, pronouns, nunlcrals, particles. Then conies thc Grarnmar, i. e. the formation of the words a's they are used

shorv us this influence,

l'e all should be th:inkful to him, from rnere imaginntions' but u'e slrrink
SINHALESE AS

AN ARYAN

LANGUAGE.

in a sentence; and last u.her,t we may call the rn o tl e o f cxpression: sylltax, tliction, st-1'le. Thisis the rnost variable portion of a langu:r,ge, varia,ble according to the cultural level of the people, to the difference in profession and social position of those who speak it, often also to their individual taste or ability.

Jn my vier.v the Sinhalese language belongs to tlie Aryan group of lndian dialects a,nc1 has clescended through PaJiPrakrit frorn Okl-Inclian (Sanskrit). Its evolution proceeds on the sanre line us that of the Modern [rrdo-Arvan Vcrnacrtlilr's (MtA\:s). srrchas Sindlri, Grr jar5,ti, 1\{ar6!'hi'Hindi' Beng[li &c'

to be able to sho*. that in this tlrreefolcl respect is in gertertll accorcla,nce u'ith the l\{IA\rs. As art introcluction to the linguistic nrguments a, ferv rerna,rks tnav l.rc offcr*rd concerning the a,ncient historl, of C-levlon a'ttil tho first Arv:rn colonisation of tlre Island.
hope
Fiinlralese

20

,rouB,NAL, n.a.s.

(cnvr,oN) [vor'' XXXI\

'

No. 90*1937'l r-rneursrrc cHARAcTER' ox' srNrrAr'ESE

2t

A.

HISTORICAL REMARKS.
there is a' liistorical kernel

vn'lua'blc and lierhtr,ps trustrvor:thv trtx-litions, lUixed with myths and legen<ls, antl wlricli tr're corrposetl not by judicious

alese traclition as it existed in a,go, in the ancient chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahd'vamsa'

If we a.clmit, that

in the Sinh-

Ceylon, already 1500 years

historians but, by priestly poets. Wc must even keep in mind that immigrants sometintes give up their olrn language

o* u"" perliaps allowed to state : 1) The first Aryan immi: grarrts who anived in Ceylon perhaps four centuries B'C' froot Northern India,, either from Gujarat, a's I believe, "u-" or liom Bengal, as others think. - 2) They must have brought to Ceyion an archaic Prakritic dialect, similar to Pali or to the language of the Asoka inscriptions' - 3) Ceylon was at that time inhabited by a population of a different tace, called Yakkhn by the Arya,n irnmisrants' - 4) Intermarriage'with the aborigines and also with Dravidian wonen

and adopt that' of the people who inha,bited the countrv

occupied by them. This is the eventuality rT'e have to assume' if Sinhalese would be proved to be a Dravidian langua'ge' Therefore, the linguistic arguments are decisive, and it gives me great satisfaction tha,t I am in a position to sho'r'v tha't

in our case they are in {ull B. I.

accordance

'n'ith what

rve

might conclude from. the historical tradition.

LINGUISTIC ARGUMENTS.I
t'hrr

fetchecl frorn Southern Inclia rnav have influenced t'he Aryans ph;'sically and perhaps also linguistically to some degree'S; V"ty soon after the first colonisat'ion a lively intercourse began betv,een Ceylon and the North East'ern provinces of 6) Numerous immigrants of Incliu, Biha", Bengal:r,ntl Orissa. - brought to the Island their Aryanclescent, came to Oeylon and 7)This was a strong support clialects and the Budclhist creed. -Sinhalese and makes it comfor the Aryan character of the

game sounds as Pnli-Prakrit and the ltIAVs. The peculiar Tamil sorinds r r t n a,re lacking antl the most import'ant Tl,mil lalv, the hardening o{ soft, initial consonants, has no vir,lue ; prnbable exceptions a,-e kwrulu bird : Sk. garuQa,lnb Sinh. gurulu as llame of the mythical bird ; and perhaps

Phonology. Sinhalese possesses on the whole

prehensible that theil language became something like a mixturc of various Aryan dialects. 8) As this intercourse was npparently never interrupted we understand that the Sinhalese turiguoge, in spite ofits geographical isolation, developed in the same way as the Aryan dialects of continental India, passing through an Apabhramsa stage (Proto-sinhalese) to its modern form lvhich it had attained, in the main, at the beginning of the Sth century.-9) Dravidian influence nevei ceased in the course of the Sinhalese history, but' we also learn from this history that the Sinhalese generally regarded the Dravi' das, chiefly the Colas, as their racial foes ancl t'hat' they lr.ere always earnestly striving for the preservation of their own nationality.
must, be admitted that the historical arguments have but the 'weight of hypotheses. They are not based on facts but merely on the interpretation of chronicles rvhich cont'a'in

kurhburu padcly fielcl ? -- Sk. gambhr,ra, bttt Sinh. girhburu deep ($ 39.2). With P., Pli., ancl the MIAVs Sinhalese shares the loss of {, f, ai, alr, the reduction of the three sibi' lants i, p, s to one, the clropping of final c<insonants, anrl the shortening of long final t'owels arirl the tlropping of short final vowels. New sotrnds that camcup in the periods 2 an<l 3 are tlre rrnilarrt vorvel a ancl the half nasals fr, (befole g rI cl) tt'nd tVr'

(lrcfolc

L).

Peculiar phonological changes which came up in the per:iotls l-3 are l) the de-aspiration of the aspirates, illreratly in periotl l, probably due to Tanril itrflrtence. The MIAVs possess the olcl i,spirates, but in KaSrniri the aspiration of the vcriced mutae has tlroppctl (LSIVIII.2,p.2lt9).-2) All long vowels are shortened in per. 2. In per. I the short'ening is only graphical ($ 8-ll). Analogies occtrr prosodically in
paras irr my l. 'fhe numbers itr ( ) refer i,o -sinhalese Gtanrmat' lhu alrbreviaLions are Lhe s&me'&s irr tlLe Dic'uionary. A lcw sl iglrt rl i{felerrces al e casil-y rr lrrlelsl,,r'd.

It

22

,rouRN-\L, R.A.s.

((',liYl.oN) fvot.. XXXII.

No. t|0--l937

r,rlluurs'rr(l cuAltACltult olr

srN

HALnsr

2:J

[he -i\pab]rra,ntiar (J.lcrorl, Abh ' l',lv. Ak. tl . W. XX X I. 2, p. 3) and are not infrequent in the MIA\rs ($ tl' p.15; (iruonsoN, ZDMG XLIX, p.4I3 st1.). Wherever a long vou'el nccurs in Sinhalese it is t,he lesiilta,nt of the contraction of two or thlee vowels. --3) By eipcnthesis and by thc infiucnce of the accent in per. 2 Sinhalese vocalisrn has becorne manifold : a, e, i umlauL ol a, o,zr in heavy, assimilation of vowels in light, syllables, reduction (n >i, z) and elision of vowels before anrl after tlre accentuated syllable &.. ($S 12'21 , 22-30). By this Sinhalese

in g. rn. Where conjurtct ctlnsonants ticcur Sinhalese, a vowcl ha,s bec,rr clidod bel,lveen them, oftetr rvith ensuing assimila,tion. An exceptional ca,se is mentioned ,s; j ( jft,) becomes in 15. - 6) NTitklle-Indian pal. c (c/z) becomes d ($43-47). An:r,logies of the former change occur irr lla'rafhi
Sirrh. arrd kulcar

in

: Sk. nml;ya fish, P. Pk. ,ntafthfl is h. l,g. rndch, bvL a,ss. ,irlls, rn. rtrlsd,, SinJi. zl,ns. ln Ori"ya, r, ch
and
Assamcse

is given one of its peculiar stamps amorlg the lITAVs, though nlore or less sporadioally the same changes can beobserved even in them. Epenthesis with umlaut occut: in Kasmiri and Lahncla. Cf. k. gaguru rat: fem. ga,gilril, antl l.ad,huy young bnll:'ucihiy heifer (LSIVIII.2, p.269, VI[' l, p. 250) with Sinh. kukulu cock : I$'ki,li' hen. Cf. also bg. leh'il' blood : Sinli. le, lehe and pj. bg. rdhil, a kind of fish -' Sinh. rd, rehe, Sk. lohita, rdhi,tcr, (ZDlfG XLIX, p. 409), &c. Recluotion o{ a to ri or z and elision of the vowel under the infltrence of the accent is also rtot.it-Lflequerrt in thc MIA\rs. Cf . pj' pahir a watch - Sk. pnihara, l.tg. rnxlgur : Sl<' mudgora, Sinh, rnugurrr, hi. bijll (others bijuh') lighbriing &c. (ZDMG' XLIX, p. 402, 403, 396).-4) Single velar ancl dental rnuta,e drop betrveen vowels ($ 41). This is a process which begins in Middle-Indian. In the Prakrits gerrcrally k,g,c,i,td, clrop in such a position (Pischel, $ 186). The hiatus is removed in Sinh. either by contraction or by inst-'r'ting y or o or /a ($ 42). But Gunawar<lhana is wlting in assuning Dra,vidian influence in this case (JIi,AS. C.R. Nr. 89, p.236.10). Sinhalese is the continuattir: of the Apabhrarnfa where thostr auxiliary consonatrts arc frequently used in or<ler to remove the hiatus (AIiAW XXIX. 4,p.25*, XXXI. 2,p.5). Irr thc MIAVs they occur sporadically. Cf. Sk. Sygala jackal, P. sigd,la, Pk. si'alo, ot. si&la, but h. bg. si'ydl, g. sf37al, Sinh. ,si,ual. Where k, g,t, d are met with bet'ween vowels in Sinhalese they are remnants of a conjunct consonant. - 5) Conjunct consonants are simplified since 1ier.2. frr per.I thc simplification is mcrely graphical ($ 37, 40 sq.). There are nranY analogics in the Apabhramsa (ABAW XXIX. it, p. 29*, S l6) anrl in tlre MIAVs. Sk. P. ku,klcu'ra, dogis ku,hu,r in bg. ass. as in

alc often pronorrncerl ts, lsh,, antl itr sulr-dia,lects of (lujalAt,i the prnnrrnciation c, r:/a srxnetimes illtcrna,tes rvith s (LSI \r. 2, p. 379, IX 2, p. 326, 330). lllrc cliangc j )d may be tlrro t'o 'Iamil influence. Tn per. 3 the pronunrritr,tion of d arrd j rnrrst have been nearly the same, perh:r,ps sonlething like cly. We rneet here even wit]n bu j - budrlha. Difficult to cxpla'in is the change in some l,ords of c, ch t< d ($ 45).-7) Sirrgle cerebrals l, (lh), Cl (dh) becornc I liet'rveen vowels (S 18-50). In P. Pk. the cerebrals also display more rcsistance than
other

mutae. The process f: d: I which is consistently carried

out in Sinhalese, begins in P. rvith the change of rl to l. In the MlAl's, t, th are generally represented by d (r), ,lh (fh) and rl, ,lh lry f,:r/2. Sk. spho[a tumor, P. photct,, Pk. phoda is pj. h. phorct,, oy y.thoyi,, m. pho|, but Sinh. pola ; Sk. Pk. bitlala, cat is P. bi,laro,, bg. bi,yal, but Sinh. ttalal. -- 8) Oerebralisation, as in P. Pk. and in the MIAVs, of a dental bv an adjoining r-sound occuls in somc words ($ 52). Sinh. tnttla 'dead' corresponds to Sk. rngta, Asoka inscs. Kd,lsi riznfn,
but Girnar
9) mayltu, g. m,at!tr,, m. madd, oI. bg. ma4 d,. preservecl between of the labial class a,re rvell vorvels, p being softenecl to '"' already in per. I and 6 (bh) not dropping as in Pk. ($ 55). Sinha,lese, therefole, stands on the Prakritic sta,ge concerning p, but is niore archaic concerning
tnu,tct., si.

Single Mutae

b.

Cf. Sk.

ky,po,na

poor, P. lra,pa2ta,'Pk. kiuaq,a,

lriu'iry,a, M.

kiaa4,, Sinh. kauu,lta; Sk. P. alabu, labu,, Pk. a,lau, lau, oy. bg. ass. lau, brtt Sinh.labu,. 10) The nasals n and r3,, as also I (ql) and (,(<-{, tl) ale accurately distinguished in perr. 3 and rt ($ 56-59). Sinhalesc is l.cry consisterrt and has a decidetlly a'r'chaic chala,cter'. (.'onfusion of n,, I rvith .r-r., I begins not befole tlro c,Irrl of tlxr l6th c.Cf.Sli. sta,no tttntle lirea"qt =. T'. than.a., Sinlr. larzn (h. tha,n,), bui Pl<. tha,4,a,, si. tha;ttlu,, pj. 1. tlt,u,i3,.

2,1
Sk. rn,

JouriNAL, t,.r\.s. (crrYLoN) fVor''

n!1,'r.L!J,.jfr' ttta representcd

XXXIV'

No. 90-1937] r,rxcutstrc orrARAcrrlR olr

srNrrALESn

25

bv z a's in }Tarafhi(Bt'ocrr, 'P' lcar'u'a, LM S f35) tr'ntl othcr MIAVs. Sk. ka'rr1a erar, Pk' ir'ss. lrg. lcal1, but Sinh. ftara, a's si' lru'nu', g' n' lcan &c' Sk' haltalilind,in one eyeis in Sinh. ka'4'ct'.- 11) I sornetin"res alternatos with z ($ 60). Colioquiallv I is frecluently subst'itrrted for n and vice versa in Oriya (LSI V.2,p. 3811)' Thc s:r'mc occurs in Benglli atrcl Eastern Hinrli' Cf. GnronsoN, ZI)MG L. p. J.5, HonnNr,i'l, Gau{ian L., p. 34. The alternation of r: I neecls no notice. It is comrnon to all Indo-Aryan languages,

(i{ < s cir li, brrt

rrot' irave the sequonoe s[

tiuhdn, moott:. Sk. s to /i is frequent' but' not so lZnlfC+. L, p. l7), the cliange of of consistent u* ir. Si"itulese; it also occurs in sub-dialects p' 79) a'ntl Gujard'ti (hontt' ib') n"ogafi (hon(i gold, LSI I. 2,
are analogies We cali see from the foregoing th:r't therc

if < t:, tih) can drop ($ 80-85) lllhus u'c : he: Z briclge - ' Sk' sehr" und snitda: umd'ro" In some IIIAVg' as si' pj'

old

lvell as nrodern. 12) .Internal na sometimes becomes (throrrgh zr) 'u antl vice versa. The change of m t'o tr is frecluent, in the Apabhra'rnSa (ABAW XXIX 4, p' 57*) and in the NIlAVs, cf . GnrlnsoN, ZI)MG. L, p. 16 arxl Br'ocrr, L\'I, * 13) fn some words iqJ, hd, nb:r'rc substituted for $ 152.3. '):L,n,t)1,(S 63). Thesamesubstittition of a nasalised soft mut'a for a simple rrasal has already taken place in Midclle Indian languages (WacxonN,lcul, Altind. Gramm. $ 157) and occuts in the M IAVs. Cf . Sk. ud,nara nlonkeY': rn. ud'ilar, bg' h' nep' p j' bd,dnr, Si:nh. aailtluru.- 14) At the end of a word som etimes -zrn starrcls lor -un (S 62.4) as in pciil'um eastern:P. Tncr'na' Here inflrrence of Tamil can be assumed. Cf. LSI IV' p' 289'15) Nasals drop before an unvoiced consonant ($$ 64'1, 65)' In }fard,thi loss of the nasal before a consonant (de-nasalisation, Blocn, LM $ 7l) is fretluent. Cf' Sinh' dn'f tooth : Sk'
a,s
d,anta, m. dd't ; but rzas flesh

inalloratleastinsonteMlAVsforrrear.lyallthephono.of irrflrtence logical mles thrlt are valid in Sinhalese' The By some rrles (No' 2' 3' 5' TJmil is urimportant,(No. I, 14)' Tndo6) the rlialeclal pei,uiiarity of Sinhalese among the has In some points it Aryan languages is macle manifest' (I{o' an archaie character (No. 10,1 7); in other instances
7, 18) it shows
mor:e consistencY t'ltart tliost'

l'iIAVs'

even bv th<isc is Aryan, seems to be d'eniecl by nobody' not' Draviilian cha'r'acter' trVe g,ho attribute to it an essentiallY gemline Sinmust tlistinguish five groulis of words : 1) the from Sansklit and Pali' 3) worcls, 2) the fu"*n"tl* halese

II. Voeabulary.-Tha't

t'he bulk of Sinhalese words

from Pol:the Dravidian loanwortls, 4) Itruropean loanrn'ords 5) r-orcls of unknown origin tuguese, Dutch and English, the etvmological explanation of whic'h hil's not
arr"d

derivatiorr,

mar!'Ls&,

m,fi's). A phonologic:r,l peculiarity of of the nasal before a voicecl muta to a, half-nasal and the r:ule that fi,gg, itrJrl , ildd, ri,6Zr become rig (spelt ry'g), r.t(, nd'nt'b with frrll nasal ($$ 61.2, 65,66).-16) Sk. sibilant -f- nasal becomes nasal f /a in P., Pk. Cf . gf itnha heat < Sk' grlsnta' In Sinh. the ntr,sal alone remains ($70) : girn. An analogy is perhaps nt. rnc6ar' cenleter;r, g. rnasit'tl.---' Sk. ltn'alana'- 17) Sinhalese bears an archaic character by the prescrvation of initial y which has been changcci to j in all the ITTAVs' Inter:nal P. y, yy is also better prescn'-<'d in Sinhalesc than in the l{IAVs (S 77) With thc Western ancl Southern langr-rages Sinhalese shares the preselvation of initial ir ($ 78) which has become b in thc ltrastern group.- lu). 'I'ht' sibil:r'nt s (erither < Sk. sibila,nt, or ! c, clt,) ca'rl be changccl to h: /a itself

(popular form of Sinhalese is the change

m.

md"s

been successful
G

till

nolr''

(tatlbhat'a) r o u p 1: The genuine Sinhalese if wc tvant to dcscribc alone must be taken intJ consitlerat'ion rvill lltr the linguistic chat:at'tor of Sinhalese' The subject

'worLs

cliscussecl belorv.

Sanskrit ancl Pali loanword's (tatsam'a') ,r" ,torn""o.rs in t'he niediaeval inscriptions and in the ancicnt ver-v and classical litc:ratur:e, rvhere T:r'mil loanwords arc enough that the educatetl rare. This fact shows clearly to keep their language Sinhalese themselves <licl their ut'most ancl t'o maintain its connexion free from Non-Aryan elements taken fronr with the or'.i"nt Aryan ltlnguage' The lws' than those taken {ronr Snnsklit are ttrnch i'ot"

Group 2:

''tu"'ttt''orts

26

JotrR,NAi,, R.A.s.

(cnyr,oN) fVor,. XXXI\i.

No. 90-1937.] r,ntcursuc cHAriAC'rEli oF srNrrar'nsn

27

Pa,li.

hr dilfcnlrl, inscliptions a,rrrl boolis tlro rrrrnrber

of such lws. virries cor'-uidera,bl.y. 'llha,t depends ullorr fashion and upon the tastc anrl erudition of thc author and of the character of his composition. Sometimes the lws. are more or less adapted to the form the language liad attained at tlre rvriter's time (semi,-tatsama). Sk. hvs. are not wan.ting in the cr-'lloquial language too.

kind are enurnerated. They are ea,sily recognised as a foreign elernent and are by no means so characteristic of the Sinhalese languagc a,s Roman r.r,-ords of Engtish.

Group3: 'Ihe Dravidian loanwords, chiefly taken from Tamil, are numerous in colloquial Sinhalese. In A. l'L ()u4as6kara's Grammar approximately 400 lws. of that

I reveft to the g e n u i n e part of the Sinhalerie vocabulary' 'I'he nurnber of lvords belonging to t'his group is very great'' but more important than the munber is the fact that we are able to trace their evolution through thc various period,s of which are bhe language with the help of certain phonetic rules basccl on a consiclerablc number of indubitable exarnples. It is true, there arc somet'imes gaps in the sequencc, but we generally can fill therp up rvith the aid of the same phonctic ,ol"s. I sltall quote an example following Dr' Paner'qYrrANA in IlpZ III, p. 183. He has shown that Sinh' l1ala call' loacl derives from sk. lctkata catt. Thi: most ancient form we know o{ the worcl is halca'da (4th c'), next comes yahacla' occurring in an insc' o{ the 5th or 6th c' (periocl 2)' We *hu'yaila' nrrrst suppose that this is a met:r'thesis (S 88'2) of

Group4: 'Ihis group too is a

sekara is 231, of Dutch u,ords

foreign element in

Sinhalese, exclusivc.ly belonging to the collcquia,l language. llhe rtunrber of Portuguese loanw.ords enumer.atetl by Guna-

ll2, of English

This is an interesting form. We learn from it chronologicall;r that the rules Nos. 4 and 18 rvere alrearly valid' at that time' but the change of , to I (No. 7) had not yet come to an encl' d being the intermecliate stage betrveen I and l' The form yokrlo o""urs in atr insc' of the l0th c' trnd is fin:r'Ily contractocl to'ydla.

lvords 76.

to the Sinhalese language (Tamil may also trelong to the group. It would be a rcaily much more comnendabie work if a Tamil scholar would c.xamine the 'unexplained' words in thc Sinhalese vocabu-lary ancl find out such hiclden tr.easures than the fruitless and never provabJe fancies of a primeval connexion of Dravirlian with the fndo-Germanic language. tr'inally, group 5 may contain words which l'ere borrowed by the Aryan
time by accommodation
se,mi-tcttsa,mas)

G r o u p 5 : There are, in this group, probably also Aryan words which are not recognised as such at the present time, but will be explained, we hope, in the future. Tamil loanwords rvhich have changed their form in the course of

u,rlc gctrrtine rvrirtls from th'e adjectives anrl r'erbs' 'Ihere ato lna,ss of substantives, exarnples enough in my Sinhalese Etymology' Here I shall myself to plonolrns anrl numerals which "onfirr1 are always ascribecl to themost ilncient portion of a langua'ge'' In Sinhalese they are of purely Aryan origin'

It

is not nelcessar)r to qlrote

of Ceylon. It that for trees or animals not existing in their former horne and first seen bv them in the Islarrd they adopted the wortls used by the aborigines. Nobody can sa,y, of course, whether we ever shall be able to etymologise such words.
irnmigrants from the aboriginal inhabitants
is, for instance, quite intelligitrle

The sterns fol the Tr e r s o rl a' I 1) r'o rl r) u 11 fiillg' {or the a,rc in all Indo-Germanic larrgua'gcs ??'r'- for thc first' lr'r'' Indo-Aryan secontl person, lviiile t'hey *re t'he sa'me in the lorrgo*g"s antl in Sinhalesc ($ 128; cf ' J' Br'ocu, Indo-Aryan' p. iSO"*q.;. For the noln. sg. of the Ist pe:' Indo-Ger:manic iras the peculiar lotm * eghom (Sk' aham', Greeli egorz &c')' This is girr"n .tp in Sinhalese as also in trost of the MIAVs antl r:eplaced by a forln of the ttza- stem' hr g' a tlerivate of

t)

aha'*
and

i,

preserved and optionally

(ft,4,7,

in si'

(ufr', ft'

or ntrt'

mfi')

pj.

obsolete,ol,

lnq'i"

2rJ

JonriNAL, ri,.a.s. (cErrLoN) [Vor,.

XXXIV.

No. gO-t
word.

gg7

rrAl'ESIr r,rNt;urs'uo cHAliAoit'ltli' oI' srN

.)(]

In the ntIAVs, as in Sinh., there is a nom. and an obl. case in both numbers. The forms in sg. are as follows:

hi.

C.

bg.

Sinh.

dissimilation' dahas, iLas. The initial d is, for the sake numeral is generally taken from ilas len. In the IIIAVs this replaced by the Perc. hazar. 13' 15 Itisnoticeablethatfor each of thc numerals ll' 12' erl" bara' and 18 Sinhalese has two forms: The older lotnts correspond tera, pa4'ara at.d. atora, which are now obsolcte' lera 13 : si' to it-op" used in the MIAVs. Cf', e'g', Sinh' g' tenc' Tl" terd'hd', h. terah, m. terd,,pi. terd', ass' bg' ol' of Sk' other forms ekolos lI, dilis tZ &c' are derivates mixture ekiid,aia, il,aad'aio &c., P. ekdclasa, d'aodasa' Dialectal in Sinhalese is made manifest by this fact'

for

'thousand

'

Sk. sahasra is preserved

in

Sinlnalese

of

rernain unaltered in accordancc r,vitli the rules of accentuation

1. nom. ma,l, h'ii tnui, tn(r?tln, c. obl. mo mz (a"g.) rnd ntd 2. nom. tuz ttl tui to c. obl. to td to td Sinh. m'ama is cleally - Sh. P. Pk. gen. naonaa which must

(mdma). ihe pl. apti, we ( c. obl. apa) and topti, yott (c.obl. topa) arc new formations in Sinhalese but of_Aryan descent. They seem to correspond to aphe, tuphA (:apphe, tupph\)
&c. in the Dhau and Jau inscriptions of Asoka. The pron. interrog. is formed, as in all Aryan dialects. from the oldest period up to the urodern times, from the stems lm-, ki- ($ 132). Similarly the demonstrative pronouns are formed in Sinhalese ($ 130), as in the MIAYs, from the stems

gend"" oi th" s u b s t a n t i v e s Sinhalese distinguishes male or female' f,eings and inanimate objects; the first :utt.bo has thei'efore preserved the three genders'

and acljectives. General remarks: As to the anima-be

fl"'t*ngouge

III.Grammaticalinflexion.A)Nouns,substantives

i and" u (Sk. i in ay-a1n, i,cl-am .: z in ved. au-ris) : Sinh. e (/ie): d, : si. ht (hA): hu (lto),1. e, o, bg. e: o, Eastern h. (av.) i: tt. In Sinh. these stems may be combined with the demonstr. st. frz- (Sk. im-am &c.): mE: ,inz ($ f3l). As all these pronominal stems are of Aryan origin rve can assume the same for the new st. drcr, (:lat. ille). I clerive it from Sk. ara. in arat (: P. rtra) are far off.
Relative sentences, as il Sk. antl P., tlo not, occur in Sinhalese. This can perhaps be ascribed to Tarnil influence (JIf,AS. No. 89, p. 235, 7). But the r\ryan character of the language is by no means alfected by that loss, for the telative sentence
r.vhich

this with Gujard'ti and Maralhi and forms in this Sout'hrespect, as J. BLocH, LM, S 180 says' a^connected' WJ*t""n gronp among the MIAVs' In Orrya .and.feneali as animate ir"ing* antl inanimate objects are distinguished gend'ers have in Sinhalese; but the masculine ancl feminine inflexion' Ji*upp"u""d, in Hindi t'he neuter' In the Sinhalese

It

shares-

to the other and forms of masc. and fem. nouns are similar one from thc neutral declension ($ 93)'

are clearly tlistinguished

is also in commLln use in Sk. anri P. We can say in P. Ao\n kathes'int uaca,no,r.n'the word I spoke' or more frecluently moya Inthita-u&canar[L 'the u'ord spoken by me'. This is also the Sinhalese constmction nta uisin k:i, aacanaEa or md, lci. u".
As to the numerals f have shown (S 123) that they are allpurely Aryan. Cf. LSI I,2,p.3 sq. Even the ancienb

is

displaced

by a compound

constmcti<m ($ 133)

Dravidian One has compared' the Sinhalese rvith the a remarkable d'ifference' "Dravidian system. But there is grammarians ,roorr* *r" divided into two classes, which Tamil high-caste ancl casteless' The former J"*"* by the terms reason' includes such nouns as clenote beings endowed with (LSI IV, p' 289)' In Dravidian tft" f.it"" all other nouns" included languages animals siuch as tlogs, cats, mice can be In Sinhalese norrns of thab kind in the second class..
never have

the neuter

gcnder.

2)

are uninflected irr sinhalese. The flexibility of the adjectives

The

adject,ives, both att'ributive and predicative'

3t)

rouR,NAL, R,.A.s.

(cEYLoN) [Vor,. XXXIV.

l{o. 90-1937] r-rNcursric cfiArilcrririi oh srNTrAr,DSE

Nl.iig.

31

gradually disappears also in the lIIAVs. In Hind6stani and Mard,thi only those in -r7 are inflected ; in Oriy5, and Bengali the formation of a feminine form has gone out' of rrse (LSI IX. l, p.57; VII, P.25; V'2, p.380;V. l, p' 34). 'We must, how-ever, notice that in Sinhalese each ailj. can be rn:r,de a substantive by affixing the terminations of the three geuclers (S 120). The comparison of the adjective is the same as in all MIAVs ($ l2l). It may be sufficient to compare tlre Hind6steni (Delhi) sentence us-lm bltd't, us'kt, ba,hi,n' se zi,yada larnbrl hai' his brother is taller than his sister (LS1

pc,r.

this terrnination corresponds to that of the okl

(J. Br,ocrr, a.a.O).-ilhe is - g.r.rn.h. -?.
The
fen't.

Irk. -d,h,r,r,,P. -r.r,.ssc,) illtl flcrpentl.y ocL,uls iu inscs. of I arid per. 2. lllAVs havc also -r7 (g.r.m.h.), but
dat'. -d,ya

-iua.

(<

-yoi) contlacted -i,

Plur. d ir.

c. ends

in

-a.h,u,

or in -o in the masc. and -iyo inthefem.

is contracted frotn -ah,u ($ 98). I -asas, AMg Pk. -ao. The tclnination -o also occurs
bd,po of. bap father, balako

( with elision of a :'hu) decl. The masc. -o believe lbaL -ahu is : Sk.

IX.l, p. 602) wittr

11urt,-ta unSa usa-yi'.

Sinhalese ohu'gE sohoyura ohu-gd soho-

tion -iyo
The

chok'ri girl.

child. The fem. ter:mina(ct. ki,ki,li,yo) corresponds trt-g. -io : cholc"ri6 oI

bal,alc

ol

in

g.:.

is 'I'he irrf lexion of the substantives in the in the nrain features homogeneous in Sinhalese and ItlAVs, though in dctails the formations may be of their own kind in the single dialects. 1) Sinhalese and the MIAVs
possess a

direct ca,se (nom.) a,nd an oblique casc in Sing. and Plur.-2) Other oltl cases a,re prcserved
in some of those dialccts'3) New cases are formed by affixing postpositions to tlie obl. case in all those dialects.

as more or less sporadic remnants

c. has theternrinatictn -on, -uninthe -iuaninthefen. decl. ($ 100). This -an is remna,nt,of Sk. -anam,P. -ancr,r7t,,Pk. -apa(m), and -dya,n of Ph. -iyarya(qn). Corrcsponding forms are 'r,videspread in the l\,ITAYs. Cf. r. nr. pj. l. -r7, anil fenr. r. m. -yfi,,1. -id,,pj. iri, -"x, anrl h. -'iya,n, -i,n (Br,ocn, IA, p. 176).
nrasc. and

Plur'. obl.

Art 1 : The S in g. tlir. c. has in Sinhalese the tcrmin:-ltion -r? in the masc., -7 in the fem' and -a in the neutl. dsslgn.sion. Among the IITA\rs l. rn. h. pj . have also -a r,vhich is derived from Pk. -ayo (J' Blocu' LII $ fgl .1). But the Sinh. -a seems to be a trarrsfer of the obl. c. to the nom. c., for we have in pet. L pute (cf' Mg' Pk. -e), later puti, lhen ytut in per. 2 and pel. 3, often also in books, and. gt'uta from the 10th c. onwards ($ 95'l).-The fem. -z

errcls in -en, -in: Sk. P. -Ena, Pk. -e1.xct, (5 107.2). Traces of the same case exist in ancient Gujarati and ancient l,Iard,thi. Again the three languages form a, peculiar South-West-group. In g. thc termination.was -2, id in m. -Z (,f. Br,ocn, llf, $ tOSl. 'Ihe instr. c. in Sinh. has taken up at the same time the function of the abl. c., as aiceaersct,irt Latin the abl. c. that of the

Aat 2. What I have said in arl I rnostly refers to the inflexion of nouns denoting animatc treings. In the neutral declension Sinhalese has preser.i'ed trvo old case-forms anrl bears a clecidedly archaic character. The Sing. instr.

to -? in r.g.m'h. pj. (S 101.1).-The rrcrutr. -n. is a, remnant of Sk. -um',P' Pk. -am. In Sinh' -a could be preserved in a certain glonp of w-ords ($ 91.2 pdla< pholar.n) and was extended to all neutral nouns. The fornration is the same as in the IIIAVs: l.m.h' 91ha'r,ot. g1hcrta,
(.--ika)
crorresporicls

The S i n g. o b l. c. ends in -a in t'he masc.' in -iyu in the fem. decl. The folmer is a contraction of 'aha (1

instr. c.*The Sing. loc. entls either in -rr, more ancient -rii, or irr -eh,i contt'actetl to -d ($ I0T.B). The formel termina_ tion cronespnds, f think, to Sk. p. pk. -e a,ncl J. Br,ocn ($ lg4) compares with it old m. -i. The termination -ehi, I take as a' renrnant of Sk. P. Pk. -asz which first became _ahi anrl then by umlaut -ehi. It, coulcl remain unaltered" owing to the 1tecLrliar character cif /a. It is tempting to compare the locatives old maithili -ohi, -nhim 1 Clnrnr:,soN, fntrocl. to

32

JorrR,NAL,

ll.^.s. (crYr,oN) [Vor. XXXIV

No. 90-l937.1 r,rneursrrc orrAlr,acrnn, or

sTNEALESE

rf .1

l,he rrraibh. dial. S 7tl, cprtited -E itt grTr:ht, &c'' a'lso g.- C (-uE,

by
-tE)'

P;LocH,

p' f93) arxl bg'

Tn Sinh. the stem form is usecl as Plur" dir' c' of the alo neutral declensiotr, apparently with a collect'ive meaning : Rut if the st' f is identical with the the hanrl, al the hands. Sing. dir. c., the $-ord -uo, is affixed to it in Pltr,: nuuara the,- town (nlso st. f .), nuuarcl-unl thc towns' Obviously t:his aal has the tneaning 'multit'ucle' or l'he like, antl since its olcler form is l)ar,we Ina,y deriYe it frorn Sl<' aara (S 111)' Similar paraphrastic fonnations occnr in Bengali ancl in O1iya. In b. 'sakal (Sk. salcala all) is used in the same manrler as -ual ir Sinh. Cf. ga'ch Lhe fuee, guch-saftal the trees; it or. -salcal'a or 'sabu (Pk. sa,bba, Sk' soroa) " gha'ra the house' ghara-sakakt, (or gh"-sabu') the housers' In o1' evcn t'o nouns

able 1o l,r';lco tho ovol.ution of th.is rla,tivo casc in in.scs. ancl literat,irle up to the rnodcln f<n'm sagafui (5112). In pl. the phrasc *the.rd.naqn a,tthd,ya (-am), *thra,n' attho has in the same
-5,11
1

rcli cleveloped

to

teru,n'

ata, terun- ta,.

.As

postposition for the instr. aisi,n (P. uosma) is optionally

declensions.

rrsrxl

in the m:ugc. and fem.

Verbs.

rcrnjugations

There are three with the stem vowels a, i, e (inf. -anlt, -inlt, -pnu, SS 141-3). They are all derived from the

B.

in

General remarks:
Sinhalese

old verbal stem in

clenotinganimatebeingssrrchanourrofmultitrrcleisaffrxetl in plur:. prrrurr* the man, purusa-nldnl' thc men (LSI' V' I' p. 34, V2, p. 380). Theplirr. instr.,abl , dat' andloc' cases a're parilphrasocl in Sinh. in the tleclension of a'll neut'ral noirt'ls: irt-uiti,n, nuacr'ra-ua,li'n froin the ha'rxls (towns), at'aala[a'' nuaara-ottl(Lta to tho ht-r,r-r.cls (1,o'r'r'r'ts), n't'uctla', n'ut:ara'aalrt' in the hrr,nds (towns).

3: The use of postpositions is comlnon to all lIIAVs. It begins alrea<ly in the ApabrarnSa' We
^Ad

nrust, however, notice that, though the tendency is the same in all clialects, )ret tlie r'r'orr.l.s used for the purpose are di#erent (Ar,snonu, ZDM(i XCI, p. 442). In Sinh. the postpositions -gE, -,c1en, -kereh'i are usecl for the gcn., abl', loc' cases lespectively in the cleclerlsion of nouns rlenoting anirnato beings' ancl -la, (-ata) fot the clat. c' in all cleclensions ($ 112)' It is most probable t}tat -gE, -gen are derived from gehi', gehenu in (from) the house of. The postp' Jcerehi' is more limcult to explain. But it is quite inconceivable horv one

Pk.) are inserted in conj . I. Cf . ,rnoranrz to kill : Sk. miirayati, P. md,rdti, in the MIAVs. si. md,ra,rpu, tn. marrlZ, pj. mrirnd. Conj. 3 -enu (infuans. and pass.) is a derivation from verb stems in iya and d,ya. Cf . rilenuto adhere -P. alliyati, niuenu tti be extingrrished : P. ni,bbayati. The scope of this conj. litr's immensely expanderl since lieriod 3. The verb ilenu to give: P. deil an<I aenu, to become :P. hrjti are insertecl
irr t,his class.

phonological reasons. The a- vowel has originally rlropped and at a later time (in or shortly before per. 3) an tr,rrxiliary vowel i was inserted. The sequel is Sk. rakparyn -" Pk" ralckhana > Old Sinh. ra,lcnu ) ralci,nu. One is l,empted to trace the two conjugations back to the types 't'litbanu : Sk. labhana and *rtilmTta - raksana (SS 24, 29), but in this case we must assume an early confusion of the two formations. The old causatives in -aya- (Sk.), -e-- (P"

I for

n.

The conj. 2 has branchecl

o{1

from conj.

Tlhe

verbal systcrn

o{ Sin}ialese is, in the main,

trt,

correspond to MInd' 'at'Iham, a,tthaya. A.lready in the Brahmi inscs. v'e rneet with sagahala' ya, scrgaha-atayo, sagahaftr, (Ed. Ulur,r'nn, AIC' p' 73, No' 54; EpZ I21156, III l78rG) :xsahghassatthd'ya' *sahghcr'ssa ol,[lrugyt'. * suriglhassat[lta,m' as clcar tlative forms, a'ncl rve a're

can doubt that -la, -ata

frl|mations are not numerous and are all built up on an Aryan hrtsis. 1) Sinhalese has, in accordance with the MIAVs, as 'ladical tense ' preserve<l the present, lvith the imperative.ll) lt'he other tenses are formed with the help of participles cithcr preserrt or preteritc.-B) Thc nominal forms, derived

is the resultani of a in the Old-Indian ef& and contimred in the Middle-Indian period. In some rv:spects it has srrrpassed the MIAVs in simplification. New
plocess of simplification which has begun

t'he same as

that of the NIIAVs.

34

JouR,NAr,, R.A.s.

(caYLoN) fVot-. XXXIV.

Nr. 90-tg37l r,rNcurslrc

cHARAcrErl, ox'

srNrrAr,ESD

35

from the verbal

participles, gerund, infinitive, are The generally corresponding to those of the MIAVs. -4) that with formation of the ca,usative stem is in accordance of the modern Aryan dialects, the old 7a' passive is dis' placed, as in most of them, by a paraphrastic formation.
stern

The formation of the imperative ($f50) inSinh' is also the same as in the MIAVs. The 2nd p. Sg. is the pure verbal stem. Cf. Sinh. marakiJJ, pl' maraa with pj. g. md,r: md,r6, m. md,r: md,rd,, h, md,r: vnd'ra'u' In conj. 2, 3 bad,u: badiu, ciliya: riliyau ($ 150). To the Znd p. Sg. 'aa,
older -ga, can be affixed inthe three conjugations. explain this syllable (? particle)"

Atl 1: The Sinh. present has still its old. meaning, while the correspontling forms in the MIAVs are generally used as subjunctives. The personal suffrxes ($ 144) are decidedly archaic and closely connected with the old auxiliary vetb ahmi,, ahi &c,
may be sufficient to compare the Sinh. present in' flexion (S 145) with that of Gujardti, Mar6lhi, Bengdli and Hindi r sg. 3 sg. 2 sg. I

cannot

It

Sinh.
g.
m.

Maram(i)
md,rfi'
'InQ,rL

Marahi(-yi)
mdte marts
mq,ra' \-rts)
rtd,t'E

Mara(-ayi)
mdlE
md,ri,

bg. h.

md,ri'

tnq'ru

mdrd mnrd

Sinh.

Pl.z Pl. I Maramu(-mha) Maravu(-hu)

Pl.3
Marat(i)
marE

g. m. bg. h.

mfrliE mdrfi' mdri mar|

mdro mdrd'

tenso is formecl a) lvith the There is a difference betlveen and the MIAVs. The pprs. of the former ends in 'Sinh. -antr, -ina,, -ena, inflected -annd, <-anuud, &c. ($ 137), anct derives from the Sk. pprs. in -d,na(lca). It occurs already jn per. 1 of Sinh. aasanaka (spelt for uasanalm) 'dwelling ' in a Brahmi insc. of the 4th c. A.C., EpZ III, p. 1773. Cf. H. Slrrrrr in Btocu, IA, p"260. Among the modern Aryan Ianguages in fndia the Dardic dialects alone possess a pprs. in -an, -iin. The other 1\,IIAVs have forms derived from the P. Pk. pprs. tn -anto (Br,ocn, LM, S 255). In Sinh., to the inflected pprs. the same terminations as in the present are affixed i mardnnem(i), bad,i,nnem(i), rilennem(d) (S 149). The tense was primarily a habitual present, exactly corresponding to Eng. I am beati,ng. But afterwards it is used. as f u t u r e. fn the 3rd persons the participle stands alone as an adjective ; the copula must be supplied : Sg. -nnE, Pl. onno.

Ail 2: A participial present participle.

rnarit
md,ren

mnra
mdro

mdl6, bad,i,hi(-yi)

Analogous forms, pprs. f v. aux., are frequent in the ItIAVs. They are called 'present definite ' in the LSI.
bad'c('i,yi')
:

In conj. 2 we have Snh. bad,i'm(i) : &c. (v. bad,inu to fry) and in conj. cile@yi,) &c. (v. d,Ienu to adhere).

3 tilem(i) : cilehi,(-yi')

Nearest to Sinh. are those forms where bv contraction the Y. aux. has coalesced with the participle. I shall compare here Lahndd (Multdn dial.), and MarS,thi (Poona dial.) with
Sinhalese
:

As a second 'radical tense ' a group of the MIAVs has preserved the o1d s- future (L ma'rdsd, g'r' mdti{ I shall beat : P. mi,ressdmi). It has disappeared" in Sinhalese as well as in most Aryan dialects of India' In some of the latter a new fornr.ation, made with a b'suffix, is used as future tense.

sg.r
l. (rn.)
m.
marenn6,

sg.2

sg. 3
MarannE
m,arenne
m,a,ratd

Sinh. Marannem Marannehi

(p.)
ma,rennE

mdldtd

maratos

36

Joun,NAL, R,.A.s.

(cnrrr,oN) [Vor,, XXXIV. Pt.3

Marannd
marEnnen
mdtatd,t

No. g0--i1)il7] r,rNGursrrc

Corrj.

Or{ARACTDTi

oF

srN}rAl,trlslt

37

P].I

Pt.2
Marannihu
mardnned
md,ratd,

Sinh. 1.(-.) m.(p.)

"Bg.

Marannemu
mardnned,

mdrat6

1. Sg. I a') rciklcem'(<rcikiyem) h) rrilctm Withcut assimilation hiti,yem I stood hitr'nt, b) tiltm Corrj. B. Sg. f a) cilur.tem

m,aritam, -t, -ta ; -td,m, -t,, -ten which has the meaning 'f used to beat' seems to belong to the same formation. Irr other dialccts the v. aux. is separated from the par.ticiple, as in h. mriratd, hA 'I am beating,' pl. md,rate hai, or ibs forms are put behind those of the present, as in g. mdrtr, ohtt,,

nzdrd che &c.

Sintr. the pprt. ends in -ru (conj. I) or -i (conj. 2) ; both forms are derived from the pprt. in P. -,ita, Pk. -i,a, -ida ($ 138). Derivatives of the same pprt. occur in several MIAVs. Cf. mriru beaten, inflected mciruad., with si. r. g. md,ryo or -16,1. mareii,.h. mard,. Ass. b. bg.of . m. have a different formation with a l- suffix (Br,ocrr, IA., p.270). In conj. 3 of Sinh. the pprt. ends in -er2zz. This form is of comparatively late origin. It did not come into use before per. 3 and often alternates with that in -i in the archaic literature. By the comparison of P. alltyati : all'tna wil,h rilenzt : ciluq,u one is tempted to derive -r1,'u from the Sk. sufr. -na, but tbis is made improbable by the historical spelling with r.t,.

preterite

b) Preterite

participle.

tenses are {ormed

In

with the help of

the

(V" Hrixnv, Pr6cis de Grammaire PA,lie, p. t09). Examples : 1;altd 'si n'ibbdnam thou hast attained the Nirvana (Dhp i34o sec also D I.374) and in a text which is composed in Ceyion : satygahaqn tatiyary' kt't6 he held (the copula must' be sripplied) the third council, Dip 7. 40. In the oldest period oi the Sinh. language, in the Prakrit of the Brahmi inscs., we rneet with n'iyate, d'ine, d,ini, in active meaning ' he has granted or given' (AIC No. 1, Guenn, Testschrift' fiir Wintelnitz, 1r. 320 ; EpZ. I, p. 62a, 148 b, 692, III, p. 1166'7, 155, 1654, 1664, 2504). These forms are the bridge which leads from the Pre-Prakritic period through the Proto-Sinhalese tirne
l,o the classical

'llbe Sinh. preterite has a decidedly archaic character. li is tlie direct continuation of a construction which occur$ in Pnii. Here the pprt. in -la is by no means exclusively be used in active meaning: pul{ha lrtr,ssive, bnt can also 'one who has been asked ' or 'one who has asked ' rxea,ns

form of the language.

In conj. 2 Lhe i, is elided, if the preceding consonant can be doubled by assimilation witli the ensuing y. ln the 3rd person sg. and pl. the copula must again be supplied.
and intransitive verbs.
Conj.

In order to form the preterite tense the same in the 'future' tense can be added either a) to the inflected form of the pprt. or b) to its stem form (S$ l4ti-8). There is no difterentiation between transitive
berminations as

ln the MIAVs the formation of the pret. of I n t r a ni l, i v e verbs is on principle identical with that in Sinhalr:se: pprt.fpersonal suffixes or v. aux. (the pron. pers. f, littxl &c. is preceiling) ; the third persons are the pprt. in ndjoctive form sg. and pl., the copula being supplied. Thus, ftrr instance, 1. ged, ' I have gone ' is in accordance with u\furh. giyern, P. gato'nthi and. aeti I have come with Sinh. i,oern,(i), P. agato 'mhi, LSI V[I. l, p. 267).
,i

Ljf.

nlsr-r

l.

f a) mriruuem 6 marltae, -,ua Pl. 3 mciruad, (-uaha)

Sg.

b) mririm min
md,rd,ha

Pl. I. gel6 bg. Sg. l. geldm Pl. 7. gelam

m.

Sg. L. gcl6

2. geld,s 3. g\lLr 3. gala 2. sdld, 2. 2.

geli gele

3. 3.

gela gela

(LSI VII, p. 407, V. 1, p. 384) and in the Tinauli sub.dia]ect of Lahnda (LSI VIII, l, p. 583) :

3S
l. (t.) Sg.

Joulr,NAL, R.A.s.

(cEYLoN) [Vot. XXXIV.

l{o. 90*-1937] r,rNcrirsrrc

cHARAc'I'rR oF

srNHAr,ESr,

39

3. gi'a 2. gi(i l. grti 3. gai Pl. l. ged' 2. geo Silrh. Sg. L. gi'yem 2. giyehi 3. giYa Pl. I. giyemu 2. giyahu 3. giyo

In some Indian C.ialects the copula must bc srrpplied in the lst antl Znd persons also, antl rnerely the sg. and pl. forms crf the pprt. a,re distinguished. Thus g. htt' gayo I rvent, pl. arne gayu (LSI IX. 2, p. 474) and in pi, nm'\' g'ia, asl, gad, (ih. IX. l, p. 820). There are also prt. forms in some
dialects in which thc v. aux. is separately added to the pprt', tlrus in g.hil, gayo chtt', arn; gaya chid.lit. 'I gone am, we gono are.' (ib. IX. 2, p. 342).

differently formed in tho Western group of the MIAVs. Here thc constr:uctiou is passive. Instead of ' I killed hirn ' one says 'he has been Jrilled by nte,' or even impersonally 'by mc with referencc to him it 'rvas killed' (LSI IX. l, p. 51). In the Eastern group, howevcr, the construction is now active as in Sinhalese. The Bengali setrtence dmi (sg. nonr. : I) tahd-lta (sg. acc : him) mdri,Id'm' (prb. sg. 1, cf . above gelarn) 'I was lieating him' (LSI V. l, p. 9) exactly corresponds to the Sinh. sentertce mama ohu tnciruuert, Art 3: The formation of the pprs. and pprt. has been cliscussed above. I mav only add that the 'historical' forms of thc pprt. mentioned in $ f 38d have their countorparts in the lIIAVs. Cf. Sinh. dutu, seen (Sk. dgpfo) with si. rJilho, g. drthtl; nata ruined (Sk. nasta) wiLh m. natha,, h. nd,th; sun broken (Sk. chi'nna) rvith si. chino, m. Sina; giya gone (Sk. gafo) with h. ga,Aa, pi. l. gea', g. gtltJtr. The part. fut. pass. (Sk. -tauya) has disappeared in Sinhalese, but the g e r u n d (or absolutive) is in frequent use. There are two gerunds: L pr cs ent gerund, II. preterite ger und. The forrner is peculia,r to the Sinh. language, but its Aryan origin is indubitable. It errds in -mi'n (conj. I : ntaram'in, 2 : rakimin, 3 : cilemi,n) and is obviously the sg. instr. of a verbal noun in -nzo ($ f56). The form in 'iz

But the preterite of Transitive

verbs

is

;llott(r prtsolv<rl irr t,ftc rlccJt,rrsiotr of tJrir,t, v(rrb. ttoun, bub tlre rrourrs ending fur -irrt.u,, -u,m,u wh.i<:h a,r'e mr doubt related to it are flexible. The pleterite gerund ends in -d -n, in conj. 2, and in -i in i'qrrj . 3 : inarai, rdka, in conj. 1, in (older rtikci), dh (S 157). The -d of conj. I can easily be derived t'hrough the older -ay (in per.2 antl per.3) a,nd -aya (irr per. l) from Middle-trnd. -aya (P. ud,ctya, but also gahd,ya alterntr,ting wiL}r gayha). The form in -a (older -ri) of conj. 2 becomes perhaps intelligible, if we comp are i,pttido, having Lreen boln (v. upad,inu,) with P. uprytajja, Sk. utpad,ya. In a similar manner we can also derive rcika from *-ralclcha: Sk. -rnlcpya; m,ci(,a having trampled from x-maclcla:Sk. -m,yilga" 'Ihe ger. of conj.3 is again a later form; the olrler ytci,m,i,ry,a, 'ha,virig arrived': conj. 2 (v. primiqtenu) for primiqtn occlrrs still in the l2th century.

is

in Sk. -lr.'a, p. -tud,, -tuna, pk. -td,pa,, in Sinh. cxcept perhaps ko{a having rnade. It is also difficult to conrpare the Sinlralese gemncl rvith thci various forms of the lIIAVs., most in -Z (si. l. g.) trr -ri 1p1.;, si. also in -d,, -yo, -yii,inbg.in -iga. They must, I tlrink" be connected r,vith the pk. forms in -iyuna, ApaThe gerund forms
^i,ttu ltave no derivates
hlrra nrsr, iu -iui,, -a,ui, -eui,. But note of tlrem can be so clearly tracetl l.raek to the Old-Indian prototype as the Sinh. geruncLs

in

-ri,

?he formation o{ the inf initive requires only a, siroli, notice (S lbg). All forms occurring in Sinhalese arc tlr',r'irr.ri.l trom the verbal noun Sk. in -anal The same is the
casr,

irl

d.}le

bIIAVs.

Cf. Br,ocu,

IA p. 2g3, LM S 26b.

Art4: tr'inally, afewwords on p s j.u-l a) The sign of Passive ais s ive and. C au s ya in Sk., ya, iyo, :t*' i31ri in-P., y)cl in Pk., blt yya in paiS6cr. It is preserved in ;L',f.ri-MfAVs : si. ry, .i,".rj. In Sinh. this formation has been and replaced by a paraphrastic one : inf.fv. :-:lnrjnated tttoofltt to get ($ l5b). One savs gasanl:lubam,l get.beating.. ,(^r!,r,u , f got beating , instead of ,i um
,lcibuaem Itt':r.1t'n.' That worrlcl be

in p.

ghalnsanaqn tabh(imi (adtlhA

1*os;

,10

.IoultNAL, n.A.s. (cEYr,oN) [Vor,.

XXXIV.

No.

90-l

9ll7

| lrlcursTrc olrall,Ac'r'llll,

ori

srNr{At,Esrl 4I

'rnh,i). 'flic r,onstntct'itxr is Alyilrt. [f tvc a,rlmit :l foleigrl influence, it woulcl merely conceln tllc tendency. Thc same tendency is met with in the lIIAVs. In g. bg. h. pj. the passive voice is paraphrasecl by the pprt.fv. yii t'o go. Cf.
h..

mai mdrd, jata hil, I am beaten, mtti, marci gaya I $'as beaten. The sign of Ca u s ative is aa, aua in Sinh. This is -b) no doubt the paya, d,paya, d,pe of. P., ud, d'ue of Pk. Cf. Sinh. morauona I cause to kill : P. marapetnf ($ 153). The sanre formation is that of the IIIAVs: g. du, m. au, d'u, h. aa, pj. aii,u (si. l. op bg. a). Cf . m. basr.t'Z to sit '. bas"ai2td to ca,use to sit" Cf . Sin}'. uasinu, Dasucrnu. Double causatives which are frequent in Sinh. ($ 153 D) also occur in the MIAVs.
cald,aana{t',

Cf. Braj Bhake dial., LSI IX. 1, p. 81 : cal"na'[i to go, caus. d.c. cal" uaa"rwtr'.

(lii.rr"ltit',Jt, BengS,li Language, p. 1049 sq. Of. a,lso Atsuonn, ZDf"f(i XCI, p. 445-6. Suchformations are due to Dravidian illlucrrce, as Cu",trrpn.rr has shown, but it was the Mudaliyar's incomprchensiblc error to take them as an icliom peculia,r to Sinhalcse. I may also point to the fact that similar combiriill,ions, sulxl,. v. gerundf t-. titthati or uiharati frequently occur in Pali. Cf. ubho atth| santad,higayha titthati ' cont1rr:ises two blessing objects,' S f.8621 ; pa{hamajjhd,narp u,pasampujja uihctrati 'he enters on thc first state of trance ' D I.373. The substantive velbs get b;r tittha,ti and uiharati

st. form *f inflected verb of more genelal meaning) a,re orter of the most characteristic features of all MIAVs. I r.cftr. to GnrnnsoN, Maithili Grammar, p. 290 sq., and to

I rcacl this statement,. Did rrot the learned }Iudaliy.r,r linorv thu,t thc for:mation of such composite verbs (substantivc velb irr
a,

The comparison of the Sinhalese nominal and verbal system with that of the IIIAVs makes its Aryan character rnanifest. This character is not altered by some discrepancies in details nor by the fact that a few formations in Sinhalese have not, yet satisfactorily been explained. I mention the conditional mood ($ 152) and in the colloquial language the forms in -ana'ud,, -inaad,, -enauii for all persons in the present tense and the future forms sg. I and pl. I in -it'fi'd', -ilfi'arnu (S 160). The formation of the optative m'aram-ati, marahi-ud' &c. ($ l5l) is no doubt strange, but certainly made with Aryan elements. Weare perhaps allowed to quote as analogous formatiorr, extrinsically only, the past conditional in
Lahndd,

thc rneraning of an accornplished action or of a permanent

sta,te.

IV. Morle of Expression. I hope I can bc brief in this chapter. trf we compare a Sinha,lese text with an older one, for instance, a Pali text, we notice, of c<turse, some discrel.lancies, but for the main their similarity in style is obvious. llhe Sinhalese mode of expression is somewhat prolix owing to the ma,ny verbal and nominal honorifics which a,re partly rltre to' Bnddhist mentality. Ifor bhagaud, bhauantardna 'paticchonnaln kdlarynm pakatarp akasi (Jd" I 13723) the Sinh. .Iitalra-book has bhd,gy aaot -uil, builu -raj ano,n-uahans e bhouontara -praccha,ntut, -uil, kararyaya aad,ala- sdka.

rniird,-ho, rnlir6-ha, md'r-hd'

&c. (LSI VI[. ],

p.

307)"

mtrst add here a short remark which would have its proper place rather in the chapter on the Sinhalese Vocabulary. W. f'. Gunawardhana (quoted JRAS.CB. No. 89, p. 236) says : ' In Tamil, there are two verbs pod,u 'to put ' and, uiQu 'to leave ofl',' which are affixecl to other verbs just for the sake of vivid expression, the subst'antive verb,

But

slrares the peculiarity that it does not possess an orati,o rll,iclua, but quotes all that one may think or say in his own r1',.;1.{s ; go (: Sk. iti) and ki,ya ,having said so, or sitcT,having ilrought so' a,r'e put at the end of the senterrce. The prolr,;ity cf Sinhalese sometimes becomes manifest in the fact 1 i,,1f , Jrsgiflss ltiya at the end of the sentence, the gerwcl kiya;tt:tr. 'saying' may be put at the beginning of the oratio recta.
it'st.r a's

With Otd- and }fiddle-Indian the

Sinha,lese language

put in the perfect participle. There is no such idiom in any known Aryan language' But the irlionr ohtnirrs in Sinha,lese.' I rva,s leally astorrished when

in this

case, being

ilhe use of the g e r. u n d is as much in vogue in Sinhait is in the older Aryan languages. All the actions

42

JOlni,NAL, n,.A.s.

(clryr,oN) [Vor,. XXXIV.

No. 90-tr.937] r,rNGursrro crrARAcrax,

t1r.r6ic 1,rvo l)ilssli,gos

on'srNrralnsE

43

which are subordinate in time or otherwise are expreSsed by

gerunds, the main action alone by a finite verb. The length of a sentence carr become very great by the gerundial con-

which tr,re picked orrf, qrrito ctt,su:llly.

'I'1c wr.rrcls pr:intetl in Ittr,lics arc tho rururing Sinhalesc text,.

struction, chieflv in literary works (see below). 'Ihat depends upon the taste or eruclition of the author. Brrt gerunds are also used in the colloquial language i tn(r?ne, gohin efi.ft,a,

Jn

18912

PspJ 8933: tadd e-kathi, Ekd ek kukkur6

mahgul
-

sunc,klr,ay ek mangala-hatthi-sElarn

cit

-hala

ta

gantv E"

lit . I

having gone sha,ll come.

gos rrrarigala-hatthissa maitgul. ritd, bhufljana-llhd,nd onuItluttu,-lr:arana-tanhi'

lul

r,t,

patitdni aritu2td,-ul7 bhatta-sitthd,ni batklra"dali anubhaua-karannd.ya . ' At that time a dog having

\{rithin the serrtence the order clf words is quite the same as it is prescribed in Sanskrit. The subject comes first, the verb or prealicate stands at the end, o{ the sentence, the object and adverbial determinations stand between
subject and preilicaLe : kailuuo Sudd,ha-no-kiromen malakad,a kd,aa,lit'. the sword by not cleaning ate rust (GuF., Gr. p. 465, No. f38) ; ?ninii,-m&ruad, elld,-daman-ta ,iss&ra, ellr, mciruq,a, lit. the murderer before hanging (i.e. before being hanged)

r,ourt-'

to th.e stable of the royal elephant, used to eat the bits of rice that had dropped at the royal elephant's

placc of feeding.'

lraving hanged himself (v" ellenu) died (ib. No. f33). Of course, the order of words can be altered owing to momentary reasons. Often the adverbial determination may stand at the beginning of the sentence, as e.g. e-kalhi . 'at that tirne . .' : Sk. P. t&dii. . . ("f. below).
The attlibute, be it an adjective or a genetive, has its place before the noun v'hich it qualifies. This too corresponds to tbe olcl Aryan sL-v\e: mama ohu.gd bd,l,a, putd,'I am
lris youngest son ' wculd be in P. aham tassa kani,ttha-putfti. The uninflected arlj. f subst,. is really a karmadhdraya compound. 'Io an attril-rutive aoj. sometimes -od (Sk. P.bhilto,) is affixed.

.In'1. 26512 : PspJ 1626: idjd rajjrcru,ulparysun6 sithila" lrlravanr pas-si,thi,la-niyd,ua fi,atvtt, d,cina sigalam krit.tahild, virsaijetvd htira, n5,ga-bal6 cit-bala-citi thama-sampanno .i*,ki,i sarnltann&-kincittd apariparam obinoba samcar ant-o karakri't,n lde-Iti,ta-ttt, nrimn) ubho hatthE dd,ta ukkhipitvd, osaurl ;.r,vnta-mukhava!{iyam rnuu&-ai[a, 6lubbha elba vaLa-cchinna-

Prototypes of this construction are met with in P. (S 120.1).

'\d|[rol the king saw that the earth had become loose he lt'ilrased the jackal and with the strength of an elephant, irr-rirrn with vigour, he rnoved to and fro antl having "nUowed grtl iiis two hands free he planterl them orr the erlge of the tri1, a'ixl got out of it like unto a cloucl which has been torn lrl' tire rvind, he encour:r,ged his ministers and rcmovirrg the
,;,r,rtltc{i{r;',!'

naera nikkhamitvd,. nciitgr,-sita amttccl anrcityayan assd,setvfl, n,vuo.srl pamsum pas viydhitv-a prrd sabbC siyallauun :uddhar itvl. g ot{.ct -nair,g d, amacca-parirmto amdty o,yan aisin p iriuaranafn,rl,u-trr 5,maka-sus6,nE arnu sohonehi althd,si si,tiyahuya.
v
a,

vrilrrhako

thit6 ltaalin udof

iy

sulaitgi,n kad.o,fuimil, uald,hul,ak

lttlf h lit' hclperl thern out (of the pit) and stootl srrrr.orrnrl.rrl by lris mirristers.,

in

the

The near relatiorr in style of Sinhalese to Pali becomes manifest by comparing the translation of the Jdtaka-book with the original text. The translation, if we omit words or phrases which are inserted in order to make the narration
clearer, is indeed almost a chdya, i.e. a word-for-word translation, and I must emphasize that this Pansiyapanas-j5,takabook is read and understood rlot, only by all educated Sinhalese, but also by people of the middle and" lower cdasses. I N()'lI.l

Quotations in brackets as, e.g. ($ 60), refer to my Gramrnar ",i,'h; of th_e Sinhale*u abbreviatr.ons are J.a"gu"gu, rnainl.y those usecl rn'it*' 1'9Ub. sir*,ur-"*" ijiiuora",