What is the origin of Sinhala language?

What is the origin of Sinhala language?

Sinhalese language, also spelled Singhalese or Cingalese, also called Sinhala, Indo-Aryan language, one of the two official languages of Sri Lanka. It was taken there by colonists from northern India about the 5th century bc. Dialects of Sinhalese are spoken in the Lakshadweep and Maldive islands.

Is Sinhala oldest language in the world?

The oldest Sinhala Prakrit inscriptions found are from the third to second century BCE following the arrival of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, while the oldest extant literary works date from the ninth century….Sinhala language.

Sinhala
Native to Sri Lanka
Ethnicity Sinhalese people
Native speakers 17 million (2012) 3 million L2 speakers (2012)

Who was the founder of the Sinhala language?

The son of Singhabahu, prince Vijaya is believed to be the founder of the Sinhala race. It was him and his followers who introduced the Sinhala language to our island.

Which is the first language spoken in Sri Lanka?

Sinhala ( /ˌsɪn(h)əˈlə, ˌsɪŋ(ɡ)ə-/; සිංහල, siṁhala, [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), also known as Sinhalese, is the native language of the Sinhalese people, who make up the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka,…

Are there any Indians who speak Sinhalese language?

There is no scientific evidence of Indians originating in India who speak Sinhalese.” In the manner of Christian missionaries converting Buddhists and Hindus to Christianity in the 16th century A.D., Arahat Mahinda converted the Hindu King Devenampiya Tissa and his Hindu subjects (Tamils), to the Buddhist faith in 246 B.C.

Which is the oldest grammar in Sinhala language?

The author of the oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsangarava, written in the 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naramba (to see) and kolamba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source.