Facts about the Sinhala Language
The Sinhala language is also referred to as Simhala or as Helabasa. Sinhala is the mother tongue of the Sinhalese, who make up the largest ethnic group of Sri Lanka, numbering about 15 million.
Sinhala is also spoken as a second language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka (Ceylon). It belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages.
The oldest Sinhala inscriptions found are from the 3rd or 2nd centuries BCE; the oldest existing literary works date from the 9th century CE.
The closest relative of the Sinhala language is the language of the Maldives and Minicoy Island (India), Dhivehi. Sinhala is actually a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indic word is Sihala; the actual Sinhala term is Hela (also Elu, Helu).
This lens includes a number of Sinhala learning resources, recommended learning tools, videos, rss feeds, and more. So if you are interested in learning Sinhala check out the resources below.
