The Sri Lankan Language Community and Social Effects of Sinhalese Diglossia
By Professor Mallawa Arachchige Nimal Karunaratne
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka
Introduction
Sri Lanka is a small island situated on the southern tip of the Indian Peninsula in the Indian
Ocean. Even though it is a small island, its significance in the Asian region has always been felt
with great interest with whoever came in contact with the island nation. Socially, culturally,
linguistically and geographically, Sri Lanka presents a variety of interests to be explored and
enjoyed. Strategic situation of the island in the Indian Ocean has always be a key factor for the
external powers to look for settlement in the island. Historically encounters with various rulers
from the mainland had the interest of making the island a part of their kingdom. In the latter part
of the history during the colonization, the Portuguese, Dutch and the British managed to maintain
their authority on the island nation for varying periods of time of which the longest being the
British who were the last colonizers. Except for the issue of sovereignty of the people on the
island under the colonial rule, there are certain aspects which lent to enrich or change the social,
cultural, political, economic and linguistic outlook of the country. Sri Lanka has always
maintained a close affinity to its neighbors in the region socially, culturally and linguistically.
Sri Lanka as a nation comprises of people from two main ethnic origins namely Sinhalese and
Tamil with smaller numbers of Malays, Persians, Chinese and Arabs living in harmony. The
island also enjoys the co-existence of all the major religions namely Buddhism, Hinduism,
Christianity, Islam and Baha‟i. Ethnically, Sinhalese are the majority and their main religion is
Buddhism. Three main languages are in use namely Sinhala, Tamil and English with Arabic and
Malay being confined to the cultural and religious activities of the respective groups. Thus it is
clearly evident that Sri Lanka belongs to one of the multilingual, multi-religious and
multicultural nations in the region. Like any other country in the region, Sri Lanka has its own
issues to address internally and where possible with the help of its neighboring nations. The
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point that I would like to bring to discussion is Diglossia1 which is one of linguistic interest even
though it has political ramifications. I would like to briefly examine the points of diglossia in the
Sinhala Language which is the language of the majority of speakers.
Sinhala Language Community and Ethnicity
Language is a collective creation of human society. Each language is closely connected with
each community to which it belongs. A community needs a language. On the other hand a
language also needs a community. Accordingly language and community can be identified as
interdependent. Man, the unique creature that is a blend of faculties of senses and intellect both
achieves perfection with his or her capability of language. Language capabilities not an
inheritance derived genetically from parents. It is acquired through regular contact with the
society and environment in which one is born. Man has created a lingual world; it is a result of
his own effort.
An investigation of various communities belonging to various countries in the world clearly
shows that the common use of any language by any community tends to create a true unity
among that particular circle of people. In the same manner, the Sinhala and the Tamil, the two
major communities in Sri Lanka seemed to have coexisted depending on the language preserving
their racial identity. This can be identified as language community. Further, a language
community need not be confined to one particular geographical, political or territorially
continuous area. English language community is a fine example in this regard. Although Britain
and continents of America and Australia consist of various different people speaking different
languages, English language binds all these countries together and makes them a single speech
community. It is the state language in many countries. The Tamil speaking community, which is
a minority in Sri Lanka, spreads out South India, South Africa etc.
Oxford Dictionary- “Diglossia” word (mod.l; ad. F. diglossie, f.Gr..bilingual+IA.) (2nded), 1959, C.A. Ferguson in word XV.325 Diglossia.
In many Speech Communities two or more varieties of the same language are used by some Speakers under different conditions…The term
‘diglossia’ is introduced here, modeled on the French diglossie, since there seems to be no word in regular use for this in English,
1964, E Palmer tr. Martinet‟s Elem. General Linguistics V. 139, Linguists have proposed the term ‘diglossia’ to designate a situation where a
community uses… both a more colloquial idiom of less prestige and another of mo learned and refined status.
1965, Language XLI.502, The Concept of diglossia rests on the observation that different languages or dialects enjoy varying Social and
political status within a community.
1
2
Although the same language community is thus found in a number of countries due to historical
reasons, the origins of each of these language communities are different. The birthplace of the
Sinhala language community is Sri Lanka. Nowhere else in the whole world is found a Sinhala
language community. In Sri Lanka a community of Tamil speakers, a minority sprang up as a
result of the military policy of Medieval South India and the colonial control exerted over Sri
Lanka by Great Britain. In fact the spread of the English speaking community all over the globe
itself is a result of colonialism. In view of this it is clear that a language community is usually
confined geographically and both politically to one and the same locality
Except for a few languages such as English, French, Russian, German, Spanish, and Chinese
used in many parts of the world each of the rest languages, which comprises of some thousands
of languages seems to be confined to a particular area which is geographically independent of the
rest. Sometimes there may be a number of different states comprising a particular region, which
is geographically different from others yet using one and others yet using one and the same
language. The Arabic speech community is a nice example for this. Even if fall the states are
using one and the same language yet there may be good number of language sub divisions within
that speech community depending on various political, economic and cultural factors peculiar to
those states. A unit thus politically divided is known as a language society. Moreover, in the
modern world, it is common to find instances at which owing to historical reasons a number of
language communities have come within the control of a single state. A state of this kind can be
treated as a language community and such communities can be called as multilingual societies.
Sri Lanka is a multilingual society. It consists of the Sinhala language community and the Tamil
language community, which are the majority and the minority respectively. Although these two
language communities coexisted for a number of centuries there have been various conflicts
based on the language issue from time to time, between these two communities. The problems
such as the official language issue, which has been a controversial subject since the 1950 decade
up to a recent date, are excellent examples for this. History asserts that there have been
problems-conflicts- even bloodshed led by the language issue in almost all the fields such as
public administration, education and economic development etc.
3
Sinhalese nation and language has an unbroken history, which dates back to some thousands of
years. Some enthusiasts of language go to such an extent as to claim that Sinhala language which
is quite independent is whatsoever not affiliated as old as Sanskrit. 2 Sinhala seems to be a
language with written evidence of great antiquity which dates at least to the 3rd century BC. 3 In
the sense Sinhala is a language of great age.
Classification of language on the basis of nation (to which it belongs) goes back to distant past.
Factors which can be offered in support of the justification of such classification are innumerable.
Classification of languages by the names of the nations to which they belong has been the
practice from the very inception, because of the intimate relationship that existed between the
nation and the language. Thus the mother tongue of the Sinhalese or Sinhalese nation is the
“Sinhala” language and likewise “Tamil” is the language of Tamils. The expression that there is
no language without a nation and no nation without a language is an essential feature of
nationalism. It is evident from a investigation into modern language communities that the close
relations that had existed between the language and the nation at the beginning were
subsequently lost owing to the growth and spread of the kind of languages and nations referred to
above either through the spread of one and the same language among different nations or through
the learning of different languages by one and the same nation.
Numerous factors can be given to show that there exists no essential relation between the
language and the nation although there does exists such relation between the language and the
language and the community. Any child belonging to any nation acquires language from his
environment and not as something transmitted to him by birth. Even in the present-day world
there are nations which do not know what their mother tongue is. Indians who live in South
America use Spanish as their mother tongue in spite of the fact that they already possess their
own national language. Muslims who live in present Sri Lanka and South India use Tamil
language. But they are never identified as Tamils. This clearly shows that the strongest factor
which determines one‟s language is the environment in which he lives. Further there are
2
3
De Alvis, James, (1852), The Sidath Sangarava, A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language, Colombo, 1966 ed. pp. xviii
De Alvis, James, (1865-66), Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, Oxford University press. London , pp. 143-156; (1867-70), pp1-86;
Rhys Davids, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society, NS.vii, Oxford University press. London p 35 etc.
4
instances where the spread of one language causes the decline of another. Arabic is treated as the
language of Muslims when they are considered as a nation. However, in North India, especially
the Muslims and many other people belonging to other nations use “Urdu” language. Urdu
language emerged following the conquest of India by Muslims who spoke Arabic. Actually
speaking Urdu is not the mother tongue of Muslims but a mixture of Hindi and Arabic languages.
But Urdu has become a national language of Muslims today. These circumstances also confirm
that language and community are the two major forces which interact on each other.
Literary Language and Standard language
The Sinhala tongue also like any other language must have been only in the form of speech at
the beginning. The written form must have been established but with the passage of time when
the nation become more refined. The Introduction of a literature by means of the written form is
the feature/ nature of any developed language. Literature is a supplementary thing produced by
language itself. Literary language is but a higher phase of the speech form. However, the literary
language is governed by a code of rules which is responsible for the proper and regular guidance
of the former. This is what we called grammar. A language is governed by a grammar. This is
the reason why the literary language or the writing does not undergo a rapid change.
There is a developed literary tradition even in Sinhala Language, which possesses written
evidence since the 3rd century BC. are splendid examples for this. It is also the literature which
is the chief factor which contributes to a standard language which had been either a dialect or an
under developed language confined only to speech at the beginning. The standard language thus
emerged becomes also the official language of that country. Florence language, a dialect in Italy
is said have been converted into a standard language owing to the literary works of a few writers
such as Dante, Petrarch and Boccaccio. The total credit for making the modern Bengali the
standard language of Bengal goes to modern men of letters led by (sir) Rabindranath Tagore.
World languages such as French, Russian and English captivate the minds of the learned and
critics all over the world for the value of colossal literature they possess. Although Arabic is the
religious language of the Muslims it is Persian which is honored as their literary (especially
poetic) language. The Muslims in countries such as India, Russia, Turkey and Indonesia learn
Persian even today for the essential affinity it has with its literature. Even the languages such as
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Sanskrit, Latin and old Greek etc. achieved international stays because of the worthiness of
literature they possess.
It is evident from the above circumstances that even the literary language assists in sustaining
not only any language tradition through a standard language which is cantered on a written form
in any country or in any nation but also it helps to have inter relations among different language
tradition in the world.
Language Policy and Ethnic Problem in Sri Lanka
While the Sinhalese, the major nation and Sinhala, the major language dates back to some
thousands of years. The Tamil nation and Tamil language also seems to have been established
since 11-12 centuries AD. in Sri Lanka. The Tamil community which has increased by now up to
18% of the total population of Sri Lanka seems to have migrated from South India to the North
of the Sri Lanka where they settled down.
Although Sri Lankan Sinhalese and Tamils, the two communities speak two different
languages they had never been divided, racially, culturally or socially and on the other hand
together they fought colonialists for the independence and territorial integrity till a recent date.
These two communities, the Sinhalese and the Tamil never considered language as a barrier
which kept them apart. But since the gaining of the national independence, circumstances were
changed where new national state concept and the language policy aroused an ethnic conflict.
As a result of this a civil war was waged for 3 decades in Sri Lanka. Many people think the
major reason is the establishment of Sinhala as the official language since the National
Independence4It was in these circumstances that (the issue of) language as the chief device for
restoring peace came to the fore. Accordingly Tamil language was also accepted as an official
language. It was made law by amendments Nos. 13 and 16 made to the Constitution. 5 The
Constitution (1978) specifies the present law pertaining to the language.
Although an attempt has been made by the contemporary (ruling) government so as to solve
the ethnic problem through the above procedure by then the matter had gone too far and it had
4
5
Official Language Act, No. 33 of 1956, Language chapter, Constitution of Sri Lanka, Government press, Colombo
Amendment to Constitution- 13-16 Chapter iv, 1978
6
been already grown into a state of terrorism. It was though the minorities would work together
with the major community yet without success up to date. Accordingly the Department of
Official Languages which was established in 1956 was made more functional in 1978 and an
attempt has been made to implement the new legislation on language more meaningfully
throughout Sri Lanka. The role of the Department of Official Languages can be presented in
summary form as follows.6
*Sustaining the responsibility vested with the Ministry of Public Administration, Local
government and home affairs for the implementation of the legislation enacted on official
languages.
*Conduct of researches and compilation of dictionaries, glossaries and books etc. in order to
make the legislation on language meaningful.
* Keeping the public informed of the legislation on language.
* Functioning as the chief government translator
* Holding language course for state and corporation sector employees so as to provide them
with language skills.
* Holding Annual Language efficiency Examinations and recommending minority incentives.
* Amending various forms issued by government institutions for the use among the public so as
to facilitate for them to understand those documents.
Although the freedom of using any language was granted by legislation rectifying the old
mistakes done by politicians who intentionally fulfilled their own trivial objectives the exercise
of the freedom has not been practically feasible up to date. Although language training projects7
were conducted in the recent past by the Dept. of Official Languages results obtained therein
proved inadequate. A large number of language centers were built spending a big sum for this
purpose.8 But this huge project on the theme “Ethnic Harmony and Peace through language,
provide fruitless than they thought it to be.
When a member of the community calls at a government office over an affair of his even today
6
Nimal Samarasundara, Commissioner, Official Language Dept., from a talk at a language conference, Colombo, 1978
7
Language Training Project 1999-2000, Department of Official Language, Sri Lanka
8
Location of Language Centers in the Provinces, Department. of Official Language, Sri lanka,2000
7
he will rarely be attended to through the medium of language he desires. One seldom gets even
his reply in the language in which he addressed the letter. This is the reason why there is a strong
tendency towards English as the link language in place of both Sinhala and Tamil which are open
to dispute.
Other Languages used in Sri Lanka
Majority of people living throughout Sri Lanka except Northern Province and Eastern coastal
region speak Sinhala Language. As, it has already been pointed out that Tamil which comes
second is the principal language mainly among the Tamil living in Northern and Eastern
provinces and Indian Tamils living in central hills. In Addition to this, Tamil is spoken even by
Sri Lanka Muslims. Muslims who count about 7% of the Total population of Sri Lanka spread
island wide. Especially in the Eastern province, following their invasion which took place in 1314 centuries AD.
In addition to the two major languages mentioned above the language of Vaddas (Sri Lankan
aborigine) means bowmen in Sinhala - a dialect of Sinhala which looks quite unusual in form is
in use among Vaddas, The people restricted in number and confined to the Eastern hill country
of Sri Lanka. According to Wilhelm Geiger9 Vaddas are primitive tribes who are akin to the
ancient South Indian tribes. The dialect of Vaddas also seems to be on the wane due to their
contact with the Sinhalese, adoption of Sinhala to their secret language, gradual separation from
their tribal pattern of life and the influence of education.10
Moreover, the Rodiya tribe living in some parts of Sri Lanka speak „Rodi dialect‟11 C.M. Austin
de Silva says that the Rodiya dialect “which contains a lot of features not connected with Sinhala
Language has certain characteristics which belongs to Austro- Asian languages.12 As the above
two languages, i.e. Vedda‟s dialect and Rodiya‟s dialect are confined to speech they belong to
the category of languages which are gradually being disappeared. Even the Maldives dialect 13
used only in the Maldives Island is treated as a dialect which has emerged from Sinhala language.
9
Indian Historical Quaterly xi, 1935, p 515)
ibid
11
Geiger, W., 1934, The Language of Ceylon, in CALRV. pp. 103-118
12
Raghavan, M.D. 1957, Handsome Beggars (The Rodiyas of Ceylon), chapter xv, pp. 106, 107, Colombo,
13
Geiger, W., 1919, Maldivian Linguistic Studies, RCBRAS, Vol. xxvii,), London
10
8
Problems of Diglossia
Professor Ariya Rajakaruna who made an authoritative investigation into Sinhala prose
literature referring to the age of transition of the Sinhala language says thus;“Sinhala writers of the 19th century were devoid of any clear understanding of the written
tradition of the ancient Sinhala language. They who did not distinguish between suitableness
and unsuitableness began to mix in their spoken form and written form of the language. The
difference between the speech form and the written form of the language began to diminish
unprecedented. Consequently there appeared a disorderly tradition of written prose which
was not responsive to any rules of grammar or syntax during the period from the beginning
of the 16th century to the end of the 19th century.”14
This implies that the written tradition once it is worn out will begin to follow the spoken form.
Written tradition is to be learnt using very much effort trough a formal education. Whenever
literature and art of writing which depend on education (suddenly) become in active naturally the
prevailing speech influence the writing to such and extent that the two forms would not differ
much from each other. In other words, Diglossia would be much minimized. Although this is the
general tendency everywhere in case of the written form of Sinhala of the 17th-18th-19th
centuries it was somewhat different. The written form of Sinhala used during the colonial period
referred to above comprised of a coarse, unrefined tradition of writing which neither belonged to
speech nor to writing.
One can see that there was in progress a catholic campaign of which the chief aim was the
propagation of Catholism in Sri Lanka during the Portuguese rule, i.e. 1505-1658 AD. even the
King himself embraced catholism. The Portuguese themselves record.15 That Buddhist Temples
and Monasteries, the leading institutes of education and of literary activities had been destroyed.
There is evidence to show that the court, the sovereign, KingWimaladharmasooriya ll and his
councilors used to speak Portuguese16 However, as the control of the Portuguese was confined to
the maritime regions in other areas Sinhala Literary activities were continued in secret. But these
14
Rajakaruna, Ariya,1994, 19 Siyavase Sinhala Gadyaya Sahityaya, (Sinhala Prose literature of the 19th century), Colombo, p. 141
Couto de Cads, JRAS, Ceylon Branch, Vol. xx, p. 373-374
16
Maha Hatana, 721 padya,(Great Bottle)-721 poem (written in 17 century)
15
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literary works indicated in both form and contents degenerated features. So, they contained in
other words characteristics of “the Lesser Tradition”.
Although, Portuguese language was used as the language of administration their prime motive
was not the spread of their language but the propagation of Catholism, their religion.
Accordingly the activities of the Portuguese include the translation of the Bible into Sinhala and
learning Sinhala in order to facilitate the promotion of Catholism.17 In consequence more and
more Portuguese vocabularies were added to Sinhala.
Even during the Dutch Period (1658-1796) which followed the Portuguese rule written form
(of Sinhala) seems to have functioned closely following the speech owing to the gradual decline
of education. The complete Bible was translated into Sinhala in 1780. Works such as Syama
Duta Varananava, Sangharaja Sadu Chariyava etc. are examples in this regard.
Next comes the British Period during which a turning point in the history of the language in Sri
Lanka was brought about with the establishment of English as the Official language. A great
social change took place through the now recommendation made, i.e. recommendation of
Colebrook Commission (1832). 18 Morgan Committee Report on 19 .etc. as English was given
Priority not only in spheres of education, public administration and judiciary but also in every
other area of the Sri Lankan community.
Thus as a result of the foreign domination over 400 years the great change brought about
therein in Sri Lanka affected not only political, religious and cultural aspects but also that of the
language of this country. Even in the Sinhala Language signs of Diglossia began to emerge
surviving various rehabilitation schemes which appeared from time to time. Although Sinhala
Diglossia seems to have been a social problem at the time when English was made the Official
Language, on the other hand it certainly did introduce difficulties in the Sinhala language
community with the establishment of Sinhala as the official language following the National
Independence. It was to some extent due to this fact that the need of a standard Sinhala arose.
17
Ars. Chingalensis Linguae, 1626, A Grammar Book arraigned to study Sinhala language through Portuguese.
Mendis, G. C. 1956, ed. The Colebrook Cameroon Papers, Oxford University Press, London p. 152.
19
Jayaweera, S., 1976, Morgan Report on Education, Colombo, pp.72-77
18
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Sinhala Language rehabilitation campaign which was hand in hand with the National
Independence campaign could not preserve Independence. Sinhala Diglossia increased due to
this. While the speech rapidly changed by mixing with other languages and progressed as living
tongue the writing on the other hand had limitations and thus the difference between the two
forms widened. Consequently the Sinhala written language which came to be used in 18th 19th
centuries was denounced by many people.
Although the circumstances did not present a crucial social problem no doubt practical
problems in regard to the use of language would have emerged following the establishment of
Sinhala as the Official language.
Need of a standard Sinhala language has arisen on that account. But up to date no standard
Sinhala language has been established. Use of the current Sinhala language seems to have
introduced a lot of problems. Especially, many people do not like to write in spoken form of the
language as the written form gives preference to grammar. However, electronic (Private) media
which are universal and both the majority of newspapers seem to favor and give first preference
to the spoken form. Although by now many old objections have gradually been vanished love of
tradition is still being retained among the learned circle and language lovers both.
The present day student population is in particular confronted with problems in the sphere of
education owing to diglossia. The students who do not study correct traditional Sinhala grammar,
orthography, and language devices meet with problems. Their knowledge of language or the
education which they undergo will be at risk if they become victims of teachers who either
belong to different schools (of thought) or excessively traditionally minded. This sate of affairs is
seen even among university teachers. Art students are in particular victims of this tendency.
Actually speaking this is a sad state. The scholar or scientist who does not know his mother
tongue- especially the written form- meets with that particular problem not only due to the
absence of standard tradition but also as a result of unsatisfactory system of education. This
could be remedied neither by writing through spoken form nor by speaking through written form.
Unnecessary rules of grammar, which are being taught and followed for the sake of tradition,
should be made more lucid. Students should be taught correct usage from childhood. Even there
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are teachers who make students reject grammar solely due to the way it is taught. A version to
grammar found among the students could be removed by teaching Sinhala grammar and spelling
correctly if the practice is begun from early childhood.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Sri Lanka is a trilingual country where Sinhala and Tamil are official languages and
English is the link language. Apart from these people belonging to Rodiya tribe speak Rodiya
dialect and people called Vedda speak Vedda language or dialect. Like all other living languages
Sinhala has both social and regional varieties and also is in diglossic situation where the spoken
variety is different from the written variety phonologically, grammatically and in lexicon. In the
context where there is need for an official language policy which is nationally accepted and
practiced by the whole nation, the issue of Diglossia needs to be addressed within the language
community so that the speakers can proudly integrate into their own language community and
enjoy own cultural identity.
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