Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Sinhala

SOURCE

Human Rights Centre of the Sri Lanka Foundation, Sri Lanka

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Sinhala

Language Profile

TOTAL SPEAKERS

13,218,000 (1993)

USAGE BY COUNTRY (OFFICIAL LANGUAGE)

Official Language: Sri Lanka Home Speakers: Thailand

BACKGROUND

It belongs to the Indo-European family, Indic group. Sinhala or Sinhalese is the official language of Sri Lanka. It is spoken by about 14 million people, living mainly in the southern and western two-thirds of the island. Sinhala descended from Sanskrit, and was brought to Sri Lanka by settlers from northern India in the 5th century B.C. The alphabet, however, with its generally rounded letters, more closely resembles those of the Dravidian languages of southern India. The English words "tourmaline" and "beriberi" are of Sinhalese origin.