Draft:Proto-Sinhala
Comment: Please see Draft talk:Proto-Sinhala#Six cited sources. Hoary (talk)WWU đď¸ 06:11, 7 June 2026 (UTC)
| Proto-Sinhala | |
|---|---|
| Ethnicity | Sinhalese |
| Extinct | Third century BCE |
Indo-European
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
Proto-Sinhala or Proto-Sinhalese was an insular Indo-Aryan language, spoken from the sixth to the third centuries BCE (500s-200s BCE), in modern day Sri Lanka.[1][2] The language developed from the mixing of the Indo-Aryan peoples (Who spoke Sinhala Prakit, also known as Elu) and the native Sri Lankans.[3]
Unlike continental Indo-Aryan languages that evolved with contact from related languages, Proto-Sinhala and the later Sinhalese languages developed in isolation from other Indo-Aryan languages. This led to the language absorbing substrate influences from the Vedda langauge[4] and adstratum influences from Dravidian languages in southern India, most notably Tamil.[5]
Due to Proto-Sinhala being a predominantly oral language, written records from this language are rare. The language eventually transitioned into Old Sinhala around the first century BCE, with written records in the Brahmi script,[6] lasting until the eighth century CE.[7][8][9]
References
[edit]- â "What are the historical stages of the Sinhala language development?". Talkpal. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "Verifying..." effectivelanguagelearning.com. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "eHRAF World Cultures". ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â CollegeManzil. "CollegeManzil". collegemanzil.com. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "Tamil Language | Policy Commons". policycommons.net. Archived from the original on 2025-01-14. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "Sinhalese language | Sri Lanka, Indo-Aryan, Pali | Britannica". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 2025-10-22. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "Details about the Sinhala language - Origin - History - Translation". TranslateSwift - Certified Translation Services. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "University of Cambridge Language Centre Resources - Sinhala". www.langcen.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 2026-06-03.
- â "Sinhalese Language - Dialects & Structure - MustGo". MustGo.com. Retrieved 2026-06-03.