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Sinhala alphabet

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The Sinhala alphabet, a descendent of the Brahmi script, started to appear in inscriptions
during the 3rd and 2nd centuries BC. Both the alphabet and the language have changed
considerably since then. The earliest surviving literature in Sinhala dates from the 9th century
AD.

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Type of writing system: syllabic alphabet.

Direction of writing: left to right in horizontal lines.

Abjads
Alphabets
Syllabic alphabets

Semanto-phonetic scripts
Undeciphered scripts
A-Z index

When they appear the the beginning of a syllable, vowels are written as independent
letters.

Direction index

Prenasalized consonants, such as mb, nd, d and ng, are formedby special conjunct
symbols that combine the stop and the homorganic nasal.

Languages by family

Conjunct symbols are used only when writing Sanskrit or Pali with the Sinhala alphabet.

Alternative scripts

A subset of the letters, known as Eu hdiya, was used to write classical Sinhala (Eu) shown in blue below. Many extra letters were added to write Sanskrit and Pali loanwords.

Used to write:
Sinhala or Sinhalese (
), an Indo-Aryan language spoken in Sri Lanka byabout 12
million people. There are also considerable numbers of Sinhala speakers in Singapore,
Thailand, Canada and the United Arab Emirates.

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Also used to write Pali and Sanskrit in Sri Lanka.

Sinhala alphabet
Vowels
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These numerals are no longer used in written Sinhala, instead the Western-style numerals are
used.
Spreadsheet of the Sinhala alphabet (Excel, 56K)

Sample text in Sinhala

Transliteration
Siyal manuyay nidahasva upata lab. Garutvayen h ayitivsikam samna veti. Yukti ayukti
piibanda hngmen h hdaya skiyen yut ovunvunvuna sakiya yutt sahdaratvaya
piibanda hngmen.
Translation
All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason
and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
(Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights)
Information about Sinhala | Sinhala phrases | Sinhala numbers | Sinhala learning materials

Links
Information about the Sinhala alphabet and language
http://www.sinhalapage.com
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhala_language

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http://tlt.its.psu.edu/suggestions/international/bylanguage/sinhalachart.html
http://www.sinhala-online.com
Sinhala lessons and courses
http://www.speaksinhala.com
http://www.sihaderana.com/lessons_intro.php
http://mylanguages.org/learn_sinhala.php
http://fsi-language-courses.org/Content.php?page=Sinhala
http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=rTFAAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y
Sinhala phrases
http://www.learningplace.com.au/deliver/content.asp?pid=31976
http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhalese-conversation.html?unicode=yes
http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/resources/language/sinhala-phrases.html
http://www.languageshome.com/English-Sinhalese.htm
http://www.the-backpacking-site.com/countries/sri_lanka-phrase.html
Sinhala and Tamil word and letter puzzles
http://panther.lk/toys/toys.asp?ToysCat=5
The South Asian Literary Recordings Project - Sinhalese authors reading extracts from their
work: http://www.loc.gov/acq/ovop/delhi/salrp/sinhalese.html
Online Sinhala dictionaries
http://lenadic.com/dictionary.php
http://www.sinhaladictionary.org
http://www.sinhala-online.com/sinhalese-dictionary.html
http://www.lanka.info/dictionary/EnglishToSinhala.jsp
http://dictionary.tamilcube.com/sinhala-dictionary.aspx
http://www.freepcclinic.com/madura_online_dictionary.html
English Sinhala Dictionary
Pow ered by Lena Dictionary

Search
Online Sinhala radio
http://www.nilwalaradio.com
http://www.miyurusara.com

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Online news in Sinhala

http://www.lankadeepa.lk
http://www.sinhala24news.com
http://lankaenews.com/Sinhala/
http://www.rivira.lk/edition/
Free Sinhala fonts and software
http://www.wazu.jp/gallery/Fonts_Sinhala.html
http://ananmanan.lk/free_sinhala_fonts/
http://www.sjp.ac.lk/fa/cc/sinhala_fonts.html
http://www.wideshaseva.com/home/free_sinhala_fonts.html
http://www.metta.lk/fonts/
Convert romanized Sinhala to the Sinhala alphabet
http://unicode.malindaprasad.com/
More Sinhala links
http://sites.google.com/site/soyouwanttolearnalanguage/sinhala

Indo-Aryan languages
Awadhi, Assamese, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Chakma, Dhivehi, Gujarati, Hindi, Kashmiri, Konkani,
Kotia, Kutchi, Maithili, Marathi, Marwari, Modi, Nepali, Oriya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Romany,
Saraiki, Sindhi, Sinhala, Sourashtra, Sugali, Sylheti, Urdu

Syllabic alphabets / abugidas

Ahom, Badaga, Balinese, Batak, Baybayin (Tagalog), Bengali, Brahmi, Buhid, Burmese,
Chakma, Cham, Dehong Dai, Devanagari, Dhives Akuru, Ethiopic, Evla Akuru, Fraser, Gondi,
Grantha, Gujarati, Gupta, Gurmukhi, Hanuno'o, Javanese, Jenticha, Kaithi, Kannada,
Kharosthi, Khmer, Khojki, Kulitan, Lanna, Lao, Lepcha, Limbu, Lontara/Makasar, Malayalam,
Manpuri, Modi, Mongolian Horizontal Square Script, New Tai Lue, Oriya, Pahawh Hmong,
Pallava, Phags-pa, Ranjana, Redjang, Shan, Sharda, Siddham, Sindhi, Sinhala, Sorang
Sompeng, Sourashtra, Soyombo, Sundanese, Syloti Nagri, Tagbanwa, Takri, Tamil, Telugu,
Thai, Tibetan, Tikamuli, Tocharian, Tolong Siki, Tulu, Varang Kshiti
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